Armed gang members stormed into the funeral of a rival gang member in Guatemala, killing at the least 7 individuals and wounding 13 others, authorities officers stated.
Guatemala is affected by the violent rivalry between the Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, gangs. Inside Minister Francisco Jimenez blamed the assault on the funeral house on Tuesday within the capital, Guatemala Metropolis, on their rivalry.
The funeral, Jimenez stated in an announcement, was that of a Barrio 18 member who was killed Monday. Whereas the wake was happening, “rival gang members from Mara Salvatrucha stormed the funeral house and fired on the household and associates” of the deceased, he added.
The attackers, who arrived on the funeral house on bikes, fled the scene.
JOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP through Getty Pictures
Authorities cordoned off the world as forensic groups recovered the our bodies.
Jimenez stated the wake had been thought of “excessive danger” on account of “the profile of the deceased,” and regretted that the cops assigned to watch the occasion had deserted their posts earlier than the assault.
He referred to as the scenario “unacceptable” and stated the officers could be investigated by the interior affairs unit.
“If discovered accountable, they may instantly be introduced earlier than the courts,” he stated.
The MS-13 gang was shaped in Los Angeles within the Nineteen Eighties by Salvadoran immigrants who fled the civil conflict of their house nation.
The brutal gang has since unfold to Guatemala and Honduras, turning the area into some of the violent on this planet. It is violent grip in Central America is likely one of the forces driving hundreds of migrants to flee to america.
Earlier this 12 months, the U.S. designated MS-13 a terrorist group, with President Trump calling it “in all probability the meanest, worst gang on this planet” and “an evil group of individuals. They’re sick and deranged.”
The Barrio 18 and MS-13 gangs are battling for territorial management in Guatemala, extorting shopkeepers, transport employees and civilians. Those that refuse to pay are sometimes killed.
JOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP through Getty Pictures 
Tuesday’s assault “was not directed towards strange residents, however somewhat the results of the most cancers that gangs symbolize for the nation,” Guatemala’s safety chief stated.
Guatemala ended 2024 with a murder fee of 16.1 per 100,000 inhabitants — twice the worldwide common — in accordance with the inside ministry. Nonetheless, the determine has dropped from 29.6 in 2014.
Authorities attribute half of violent crimes to drug cartel exercise and territorial disputes between gangs.
