13 dead in clashes in Guatemalan Indigenous region: mayor

Clashes in Guatemala’s predominantly Indigenous town of Nahuala have left 13 people dead, the mayor told AFP on Sunday (December 14, 2025), blaming the army in part for the incident.

Tensions have flared in recent days in the area — about 150 kilometres (93 miles) west of the capital, Guatemala City — prompting President Bernardo Arevalo on Sunday to declare a special state of emergency.

Nahuala and the neighbouring Maya community of Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan have been embroiled in a century-long border dispute, which has left several dead in recent years.

Arevalo claims that organised crime groups are stoking violence in the region in a bid to prompt the Army’s withdrawal.

“Thirteen people were brutally killed in an ambush carried out by the Guatemalan army and people from Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan,” Nahuala mayor Manuel Garchaj told AFP by phone.

Mr. Guarchaj said the people killed were between 14 and 70 years old and were attacked while working at a local quarry.

“We’re not making anything up here. I’m only speaking the truth,” Mr. Guarchaj said in the phone call, during which he read the names and ages of the victims.

Two days of mourning have been declared in Nahuala, where burials were already underway Sunday.

Earlier, Arevalo announced at a press conference that he was declaring a 15-day “state of prevention” in the Solola department — where the two communities are located.

The order allows the restriction of certain rights in the area, such as the freedom of assembly and demonstration.

“We are at a critical moment for the Solola department and for security in the nation,” Arevalo said.

The “criminal groups” have a clear objective, “to take control of the territory so they can operate freely and continue extorting and carrying out illegal activities,” he said.

He accused the unspecified organized crime groups of “maliciously taking advantage of a community conflict.”

Arevalo said that earlier in the week, criminal groups attacked a military outpost for more than 10 hours with high-caliber weapons, injuring seven.

“In this case there was no clash between the communities, it was an intentional attack on the military outpost,” he said.

The “state of prevention” was intended to dismantle the criminal groups, he said.

In a separate confrontation on Thursday, four soldiers were wounded in an exchange of gunfire between the two communities, whose border dispute includes an area of forest and water reserves.

Authorities have declared a state of siege before in the persistent conflict, despite efforts to promote dialogue.

In December 2021, 13 people were killed in one of the bloodiest clashes recorded, including three children and a police officer.