Guatemala Deploys Special Forces Soldiers After Mexican Cartel Forces Invade Border Towns

Guatemala deployed special forces, known as Kaibiles, to guard its northern border with Mexico just days after teams of cartel gunmen from Mexico entered the country and carried out violent attacks in rural border communities. The teams of cartel gunmen also clashed with Guatemalan military forces.

The invasion took place on December 8, when groups of cartel gunmen from Mexico entered Guatemala and began carrying out attacks in at least six rural communities in the municipalities of San Marcos and Huehuetango, the Guatemalan Defense Ministry revealed in a prepared statement.

Military forces that were patrolling the border area responded to the scene and clashed with the gunmen, setting off a large-scale shootout where one soldier was injured. According to authorities, the soldiers arrested one gunman, while three others died in a shootout. Military forces also captured three more gunmen who were wounded in the clash and required medical attention.

There are different accounts as to which cartel was behind the attack. On Wednesday morning, Mexico’s Secretary of Defense Ricardo Trevilla revealed that there are two leading criminal organizations operating in the region: the Sinaloa Cartel and the Cartel Chiapas y Guatemala, a faction of the Cartel Jalisco New Generation. Both organizations are currently designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. Government.

In the aftermath of the shootout, Guatemala’s government deployed Kaibiles to the border region. At the same time, Mexico’s military also deployed military forces along its border with Guatemala in the state of Chiapas.

 In recent years, Chiapas has seen a dramatic rise in violence as the Jalisco Cartel began making a big push into the region, which the Sinaloa Cartel previously controlled. The turf war is mainly tied to the control of cocaine and human smuggling routes into Mexico.