At least 19 bodies were discovered Monday (1) in an abandoned truck in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, near the border with Guatemala, according to the state’s attorney general.
Five of the bodies had gunshot wounds and all were wearing dark clothing and tactical vests containing ammunition, authorities said.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador blamed the deaths on cartel violence and said some of the victims were migrants from Guatemala.
“What causes this? Well, drug trafficking and migrant trafficking, that is, human trafficking, is a route,” López Obrador said Tuesday (2) during his daily press conference.
“There are two groups (cartels) fighting… people in the region are being protected,” he added.
Some Chiapas natives disagree.
“It’s sad and I can’t say otherwise, it’s sad that the violence has reached here,” a resident told CNN Spanish.
“Very scared, I was born and raised in Chiapas, but given the state violence I had to migrate, I live somewhere else now, outside the state, and I only come to visit my family,” said another.
The president promised a full investigation into the deaths and said security in Chiapas would be tightened.
Violence has been rising in Chiapas as cartels fight for control of lucrative routes for migrant and drug smuggling.
The Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel are engaged in a turf war in the area, with hundreds of people forced to flee their homes last January.
Source: CNN Brasil
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