Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador expressed gratitude to Guatemala for assisting around 600 Mexicans who fled into Guatemala to escape violence by drug cartels. López Obrador downplayed the severity of the violence that led to the exodus, mentioning that conflicts exist in many parts of the world and that the situation would be addressed by the National Guard.
According to a report from the Guatemalan government, the refugees fled from drug cartel violence in the Mexican state of Chiapas, with men, women, children, and elderly individuals seeking safety. Families who reached the Guatemalan municipality of Cuilco reported being forced to flee due to shootouts and being used as human shields by the cartels.
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo mentioned that his administration would coordinate a humanitarian response for the displaced Mexicans, citing the conflict between groups on the Mexican side. However, there were no immediate signs of assistance being provided.
The Mexican authorities did not initially comment on the situation, with their first response coming on Friday. The violence in southern Mexico involves clashes between two powerful cartels from Sinaloa and Jalisco vying for control of smuggling routes, leading to numerous displacements in the region.
Previous incidents in Chiapas include 5,000 people being displaced in June due to armed men setting houses on fire in Tila. Last September, López Obrador acknowledged that cartels had disrupted electricity supply in Chiapas towns near the Guatemalan border, preventing repairs by government workers.
