MEXICO CITY (AP) – Mexican soldiers opened fire on a truck carrying migrants from 22 countries, and six migrants from Egypt, Peru and El Salvador were killed in an incident that President Claudia Sheinbaum described Thursday as “tragic.”
Ten other immigrants were injured in the incident. Sheinbaum did not say how many migrants from each country were killed, and Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs could not immediately provide details.
Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that one Peruvian was killed and called for an “urgent investigation” into the killings. The two countries have had a strained relationship since the 2022 dispute.
Sheinbaum said the two soldiers who opened fire on Tuesday, his first day in office, have been referred to civilian prosecutors for investigation, but apparently have not been charged. It was the worst case of the killing of immigrants by the authorities in Mexico since police in northern Tamaulipas killed 17 immigrants in 2021.
He said that shooting incidents are being investigated to see if there are any commanders who may be punished, adding that “a situation like this will not be repeated.”
But he left out any mention of that recent Thursday at the Mexico City military base, where army and marine commanders pledged their allegiance to him in front of dozens of armored vehicles and hundreds of soldiers.
“In our country, there is no state of siege, no violation of human rights,” said Sheinbaum, as he promised to increase the salaries of soldiers and sailors.
The shootings took place on Tuesday near the town of Huixtla, in the southern state of Chiapas near the border with Guatemala, Mexico’s Defense Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
The ministry said the soldiers said they heard gunshots when a convoy of three trucks approached the military base. According to the confused report, the Ministry said that the first vehicle of the convoy of three trucks was seen to be running too fast for the soldiers.
Two soldiers shot at one of the trucks, which was also carrying migrants from Nepal, Cuba, India, Pakistan and at least one other country. The soldiers then approached the truck and found four migrants dead and 12 injured. Two of the injured later died from their injuries.
Local prosecutors confirmed that all victims died from gunshot wounds. The Defense Department did not say whether the migrants died as a result of military fire, and Sheinbaum declined to say whether any weapons were found in the migrant truck.
There were 17 other migrants in the truck who were not injured. The car was carrying 33 migrants in total. The area is a common route for people smugglers, who are often packed into overcrowded cargo trucks. It has also been the scene of drug wars, and the Department said the trucks were “similar to those used by criminal gangs in the region.”
The two soldiers who opened fire have also been relieved of duty pending an investigation. In Mexico, any incident involving civilians is subject to civilian prosecution, but soldiers can also face court-martial for such charges.
Irineo Mujica, an immigrant rights activist who often accompanies migrant delegations to that area of ​​Chiapas, said he doubts the migrants or their traffickers opened fire.
“It is absolutely impossible that these people would shoot the soldiers,” said Mjica. “Most of the time, they succeed by paying bribes.”
The Roman Catholic Bishops’ Conference called the killing an “abuse of lethal force,” and said in a statement that “this tragedy is not an isolated incident.”
“Instead, it is the result of the militarization of the immigration policy, and the heavy presence of the army on the southern border of the country,” the newspaper said.
If the death was the result of artillery fire, as seems likely, it could prove a great shame for Sheinbaum.
The new president followed the lead of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador in giving the military extraordinary powers over law enforcement, public companies, airports, railways and construction projects.
This is not the first time Mexican forces have opened fire on vehicles carrying immigrants in the area, which is also the scene of battles between warring drug gangs.
In 2021, the National Guard opened fire on a truck carrying immigrants, killing one and wounding four. Security forces initially claimed that some of those traveling in the migrant truck were armed and had opened fire, but the government’s National Human Rights Commission found that to be untrue.
And in 2021, state police in Tamaulipas killed 17 immigrants and two Mexican citizens. Those policemen also first said that they were attacked by the cars of immigrants.
They initially argued that they were shooting back at the gunmen and believed that they were chasing the cars of a drug company in the country, which often participates in the smuggling of immigrants. But later it turned out to be a lie, the police actually cremated the bodies to cover up the crime.
11 police officers convicted of murder were sentenced to more than 50 years in prison.
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