Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Villagers in Guatemala burn their mayor to death after political rivalry escalates...

A mob has killed a village mayor in western Guatemala in apparent reprisal for an attack on a political rival that resulted in the death of two teenage girls.

A prosecutors’ office spokeswoman, Julia Barrera, confirmed the death of 43-year-old Bacilio Juracan of ConcepciĆ³n, about 180km west of Guatemala City and near the popular tourist destination of Lake Atitlan.

Villagers blamed Juracan for an attack on Sunday on a former mayoral candidate, Lorenzo Sequen, who was riding in a pickup with relatives when about 10 armed and masked men opened fire. His daughter and niece, both 17, were shot dead and at least five others, including Sequen, were wounded.

Hours later hundreds of people surrounded city hall and a home where Juracan had sought refuge, then burned him to death. They also burned vehicles and at least six buildings including a restaurant and an internet cafe.

Sequen told police he had been threatened repeatedly by civic authorities after he called for an audit of the village government. Full story...

No comments:

Post a Comment