The village of Las Flores, in Ciudad Pedro de Alvarado, Moyuta, Jutiapa, is located near the Paz River, which divides Guatemala with El Salvador, and where until a few days ago its inhabitants lived in harmony; however, after the hardening of the anti-gang plan by the government of Nayib Bukele everything changed, some even left their homes.
“There have been threats in the border area from gang members trying to force rent or expel Guatemalans from border areas from their homes,” said last Monday the Minister of the Interior, Napoleón Barrientos.
Due to the above, a team from Noticiero Guatevisión and Prensa Libre traveled more than 150 kilometers to the east of the country to talk with the families that live in that village and learn about their concerns.
According to the families, they did not leave their homes because of threats, as had been said, but because of fear of the possible arrival of gang members, since during the day the men must leave their wives and children alone, and it causes them concern, as in the case of Roberto, who is 49 years old and has been in this place all his life.
He relates that he left his home on March 25 along with his seven children and four grandchildren, as well as his wife. DFor 10 days they stayed in a rented house in Colonia Antigua, located a few miles from home. There she paid Q400 for rent.
This Tuesday they returned home together with their nephew’s family, under the promise of the authorities to carry out combined patrols of the Army and the National Civil Police (PNC), although he points out that at other times they see how Migrants and suspected criminals from El Salvador transit the river.
“Our departure was for the safety of the children and the wives, because we went to work two kilometers up to our jobs and here the women are left alone and defenseless with the children,” said Roberto.
He added that they returned because they were offered to increase security in the area, in addition, he assures that they have had support from the Army and the PNC.
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It is a chaotic situation that one lives and although they have not told us anything, what one wants is to protect oneself when seeing danger”, said Roberto’s nephew, who preferred to remain anonymous.
In addition, he said that there is no telephone signal in the village, so being in contact with the security forces is complicated.
To reach the village of Las Flores, one must travel more than 150 kilometers from the capital, then travel around six kilometers of dirt road and later more than 600 meters of descents on paths to get to where three houses are located on the banks of the Río Paz.
Fishing, bean cultivation, corn, sesame and cattle care are the economic activities that allow them to survive, since there are no job opportunities in the sector.
A few meters from Roberto’s house, which is built with bajareque (bars covered with mud), lives his nephew, who also returned home with his family. He points out that he was not threatened either, but for prevention he decided to spend 10 days in another house in the Antigua neighborhood.
He points out that there is fear in the place due to the current situation, and points out that the authorities have abandoned the place, since they do not carry out routine patrols.
During the tour it became clear that there was only one PNC checkpoint in Ciudad Pedro de Alvarado and the deployment of a J8 unit and soldiers in the Las Flores village area.