The Mexican military’s involvement in the migrant slaughter is being closely examined

On this peaceful dirt road, the only reminder of the six migrants slain by Mexican soldiers who opened fire on a pick-up truck here earlier this month is a wooden fence that has been twisted and smashed by a collision.

Locals contacted by Reuters questioned the military’s claim that soldiers opened fire on a convoy they believed to be organized crime after hearing explosions.

Just hours after Claudia Sheinbaum was sworn in as Mexico’s first female president, the murders took place on the evening of October 1. This sparked a renewed outcry about the military’s role in public security and the human cost of U.S. pressure to limit the number of migrants arriving at Mexico’s southern border.

Sheinbaum called the episode “deplorable” and demanded an investigation, but she also made a broader promise that her new government would not tolerate impunity. However, according to Human Rights Watch, Mexico has a poor track record of successfully prosecuting violent crimes; just around 1% of all offenses are resolved. Investigations often terminate without a resolution, especially when they target the military. This is most evident in the case of the 43 students who vanished in 2014, in which the army has been implicated on multiple occasions.

The killing last month also demonstrates how security forces can injure the vulnerable populations they are tasked with protecting when they are under pressure to stop the pervasive lawlessness in areas like Chiapas.

Residents and a police officer told Reuters on a recent day that the security situation is getting worse as smugglers move more migrants through this impoverished area, which is around 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala.

According to Mexico’s military ministry, two troops heard explosives and opened fire on the migrant-carrying pick-up truck. Two migrants passed away in the hospital, while four migrants died instantly. A major concern for human rights advocates who claim the process is opaque is that the troops have been jailed and will be judged in accordance with military law.

“The ministry of defense, within its sphere of competence, reaffirms its commitment to act in strict compliance with the rule of law, under a policy of zero impunity and is attentive to requests from civil authorities to clarify the facts,” it stated in a statement following the event.

Three locals claimed to have heard a car wreck followed by shooting, but no explosions. Because they were afraid of retaliation, they talked on condition of anonymity.

Additionally, locals expressed their confusion at how soldiers could have mistaken the migrants for cartel members.

Residents claimed that migrants had fled as the shooting began, and six tracks were visible through the long grass of fields growing alongside the street where the incident occurred. Young children’s cries could be heard by them.

Minutes after the attack, a police officer who had arrived at the scene described the military’s use of force as “excessive.”

He told Reuters that “you cannot fire shots at people who are not armed,” and that local security personnel were not allowed to enter the crime site because of military restrictions.

Several requests for response on the citizens’ and police officer’s testimonies were not answered by Mexico’s defense ministry or the president.

Sheinbaum has provided few information regarding her immigration strategy, but it appears that she will follow in the footsteps of her predecessor and mentor, former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, by continuing to rely on the military and the National Guard, a militarized police force, to manage migration.

“URGENT” POLICY CHANGE

Citing the murder of the six migrants as another evidence that the program is failing, civil society organizations are pressing Sheinbaum to reverse course and lessen the use of the military to control migrants.

Reuters was able to locate at least six border checkpoints with military personnel, local police, and immigration authorities along a 40-kilometer stretch between Huixtla and Tapachula, a city directly on the Guatemalan border.

Israel Ibarra, a researcher at Colef, a center for the study of the U.S.-Mexico border, stated, “It is urgent that the new administration of President Sheinbaum changes this strategy to avoid more abuses and human rights violations.”

According to experts, the attack’s location in Chiapas serves as a prime example of Mexico’s inadequate security strategy.

Despite having a history of civil unrest and being among the poorest states in the nation, the state was not notorious for cartel violence until lately. It was also a well-liked tourist destination because to its natural beauty and archaeological monuments.

Some locals are now forced to leave their homes due to the almost continual surge of conflicts between competing criminal organizations vying for control of narcotics and human trafficking routes.

Chiapas saw close to 500 killings between January and August, which is almost twice as many as during the same time last year (309) and 2022.

Some migrants claim they are too scared to leave the shelters in Tapachula, where many initially enter Mexico and are currently awaiting an appointment for U.S. asylum.

“Until my (asylum) appointment,” Nadia, a 50-year-old Venezuelan immigrant, made the statement. “Even outside the shelters (criminal groups) are kidnapping.”