Deadly shootings in Guatemala: seven killed, suspicions raised about the army

At least seven people, including a young girl, lost their lives after armed violence in Huite, eastern Guatemala. Images circulated online showing people in military-style clothing carrying weapons raised questions about the involvement of the armed forces, but the army denied it.

Huite is located about 130 kilometers from the capital. According to military authorities, Sunday’s events were linked to clashes between drug-trafficking groups.

The prosecutor’s office announced that the bodies of two women and a girl were found in a white car parked at the entrance to the town. The bodies of four murdered men were discovered at another location in Huite.

In a video posted on X, army spokesperson Natalia Molynedo said the killings resulted from “territorial disputes between transnational criminal organizations.” She was responding to suspicions sparked by videos on social media, which were later also broadcast by the media. In the footage, unidentified people wearing camouflage uniforms and carrying rifles move around a white vehicle.

Molynedo insisted that the people filmed were not soldiers. According to her, the armed forces decided not to enter the town at that moment in order to avoid escalating the situation.

Interior Minister Marco Antonio Villeda did not give a definitive answer when asked whether members of Guatemala’s or the US security forces had fired on civilians. He said he did not want to draw conclusions without “more information about exactly what happened.”

Villeda also announced that an investigation would be conducted to gather evidence and denied that the police had been involved.

The incident occurred a week after the United States and Guatemala declared that, together with their allies, they intended to continue imposing sanctions on around twenty drug cartels. The measure is planned as part of the “Shield of the Americas,” an alliance created at the initiative of US President Donald Trump.