El Ejército de Guatemala y la PNC desplegaron 700 efectivos desde el jueves 15 de octubre en Tajumulco e Ixchiguán, municipios de San Marcos ubicados en la frontera con México, para recuperar el control territorial ante la presión de estructuras del crimen organizado que buscan el retiro de posiciones militares estratégicas.

La operación podría extenderse entre 15 y 20 días, según evolucione el conflicto armado que afectó a comunidades de ambos municipios. El despliegue se produjo después de ataques con armas de fuego que interrumpieron la actividad escolar y dejaron a un soldado muerto, de acuerdo con información oficial.

Más de 400 militares y cerca de 300 agentes ingresaron a la zona pasado el mediodía del 15 de octubre. El subdirector general de Operaciones de la Policía Nacional Civil, Esvin Jacinto Quiché, explicó que el contingente instaló puestos de control, realiza patrullajes a pie y motorizados y cuenta con equipos de investigación criminal. Según reporte de medios locales.

Las pesquisas buscan determinar si organizaciones delictivas guatemaltecas o mexicanas participaron en los ataques contra pobladores y fuerzas de seguridad. También apuntan a identificar a quienes emplean fusiles de alto poder y rifles con miras de precisión para disparar desde posiciones distantes contra comunidades rivales y personal militar.

Los ataques armados y la muerte de un soldado

La violencia obligó el 13 de octubre a suspender las clases presenciales en establecimientos situados en el cantón Las Brisas y el caserío Villa Linda, ambos en la aldea Tuichán. Videos registrados durante los enfrentamientos mostraron a niños y niñas resguardados bajo sus pupitres mientras se oían ráfagas de disparos en las cercanías.

El Ministerio de Educación dispuso que las escuelas afectadas continuaran con clases a distancia mediante guías de trabajo y el acompañamiento de supervisores educativos, docentes y familias. La Dirección Departamental de Educación de San Marcos mantiene el seguimiento junto con autoridades locales hasta que existan condiciones para el retorno a las aulas.

La escalada había cobrado una víctima mortal cinco días antes. El soldado Isaías Valentín Ramírez Salvador recibió un disparo en la cabeza el 8 de octubre mientras resguardaba una posición militar en la elevación conocida como “tres mil”, en el municipio de El Tumbador.

De acuerdo con reportes de medios de comunicación en Guatemala, el ministro de la Defensa Nacional, Henry Sáenz, atribuyó el ataque a un francotirador que disparó desde una ubicación lejana. El Ministerio Público inició diligencias para establecer de dónde procedió el tiro y quiénes fueron los responsables.

El Ministerio de la Defensa sostiene que grupos criminales pretenden que sea retirado un búnker construido junto con el Ministerio de Gobernación en un punto limítrofe entre Guatemala y México. Informes de inteligencia militar vinculan esas presiones con organizaciones relacionadas con el Cartel de Sinaloa, que buscan la salida de los soldados destinados en Tajumulco e Ixchiguán.

Una disputa territorial abierta desde 1933

El conflicto entre ambos municipios comenzó en 1933, cuando Ixchiguán fue elevado a la categoría de municipio sin una delimitación precisa de sus fronteras con Tajumulco. La falta de una resolución oficial derivó durante décadas en desplazamientos de familias y enfrentamientos esporádicos por tierras y nacimientos de agua.

La fertilidad de los terrenos, aptos para el cultivo de amapola y marihuana, y la proximidad con México transformaron la zona en una ruta para el trasiego de drogas. La disputa histórica entre las comunidades se entrelazó así con los intereses de organizaciones dedicadas al narcotráfico.

El enfrentamiento del 13 de octubre ocurrió cuando pobladores de la aldea Villa Real, en Tajumulco, intentaban destruir búnkeres situados en la aldea Tuichán, en Ixchiguán, de acuerdo con la Comisión Presidencial de Atención a la Conflictividad. El organismo señaló que el crimen organizado habría aprovechado la disputa para reclutar habitantes destinados al microtráfico de drogas entre ambos países.

La comisión advirtió que los choques armados funcionan como “un distractor” para las operaciones de narcotráfico en la frontera. También consideró agotadas las posibilidades de diálogo directo entre las comunidades y propuso trasladar el caso al Consejo Nacional de Seguridad.

La propuesta contempla la participación del Organismo Judicial para gestionar allanamientos y evaluar una eventual declaratoria de Estado de Sitio. La Gobernación Departamental de San Marcos indicó que la presencia conjunta de militares y policías busca “garantizar el orden y la tranquilidad de las familias marquenses” y generar condiciones para retomar el diálogo y la gobernabilidad.

Sáenz afirmó que las operaciones militares afectaron el traslado de estupefacientes en la región, aunque reconoció que aún no han debilitado de manera sustancial a las estructuras criminales. “Reconfiguración no ha habido, lo que ha habido es diferentes niveles de permanencia u operación en el territorio”, sostuvo.

El ministro señaló que el Gobierno buscará actuar de forma más directa contra esos grupos, además de impedir el traslado de droga hacia territorio mexicano. El Ministerio de la Defensa informó en la red social X que mantiene patrullajes y puestos de control conjuntos con la PNC en San Marcos para reducir la capacidad de acción de las organizaciones criminales.

soldados,fuerzas armadas,uniforme militar,Paul W. S. Anderson,Soldier

Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico is facing lingering frustration from inside his own political backyard over the cancellation of an event that was supposed to take place on Oct. 5 with a Black civic-service group.

The Central Texas African American Civic Engagement Symposium (CT-AACES) expressed deep frustration in an email, sent to the Talarico campaign and obtained by Digital, after the campaign cancelled an event – which had 325 confirmed registrants – during Talarico’s two-week absence from the campaign trail due to illness.

CT-AACES said the cancellation left them with «irrecoverable financial loss,» and that Talarico’s campaign had not engaged in rescheduling efforts

«While we understand Representative Talarico’s health required priority, we are deeply disappointed by the campaign’s decision to issue a flat cancellation rather than committing to a rescheduled date,» the email reads. «It was a missed opportunity for Representative Talarico to directly address community skepticism and demonstrate the sincerity of his commitment to Central Texas African Americans.»

The cancellation is the most recent instance of the tensions that Talarico’s campaign has faced with the Black community. It also casts doubt on the effectiveness of his efforts to reach Black voteBlack voters through a $25 million outreach pledge aimed at mobilizing black voters is fully reaching the ground.

TALARICO DISAPPEARANCE HAS DEM VOLUNTEERS WORRYING AND TRUMP ASKING, ‘WHAT IS GOING ON?’

The frustration isn’t isolated to CT-AACES.

At least one Austin-area Democratic operative who has met directly with Talarico told Digital that she remains frustrated by what she described as uneven follow-through on outreach to Black Democrats and candidates further down the ballot.

«Black voters aren’t a monolith,» the source cautioned, rejecting any blanket assertion that Black Texans distrust Talarico outright. «I think that there are pockets that do. There’s a pocket that doesn’t. And then there’s the pocket that’s really unsure,» she said.

The operative, who previously ran for Talarico’s prior state House seat and spoke to Digital, is particularly familiar with the nominee and the Democratic organizing landscape in the Austin region.

Asked about a $25 million investment to focus on door-knocking in Black neighborhoods, in-person community events and engagement with Black churches, the source said those investments haven’t manifested yet.

«We haven’t received the money, but we’re being told it’s coming,» she said of some accounts she has heard from the ground. «We received, you know, one or 2% of what we were told we were going to get. And then it’s been silence since,» she said.

DAVID MARCUS: HOW CROCKETT’S LAST STAND IN TEXAS COULD BRING DOWN TALARICO

The comments come after Talarico appeared on a Black voter coalition Zoom last week, delivering brief remarks about «put[ting] in the money … time … and effort to win» before his feed disappeared from the call reportedly without a public question-and-answer session. At the July Houston town hall where Talarico announced the $25 million pledge, nurse Kandice Webber confronted him as the event approached its scheduled end and demanded that he remain to answer questions. «Black people don’t trust you for this reason,» she said, according to the Texas Tribune .

«And you cannot win without us, so you stay here and you answer our questions, or you suffer the consequences,» Webber said.

During his primary, Talarico also encountered controversy over the black vote when reports surfaced the he had characterized rival candidate and former NFL linebacker Collin Allred as a «mediocre Black man.» «He had the audacity to say to a Black woman that he had signed up to run against a mediocre black man,» Allred said in a video response posted to X.

«We should say ‘thank you.’ Thank you for taking off the mask. Thank you for telling us who you really are and what you really think… keep my name out of your mouth while you’re at it.»

Talarico, for his part, described the wording as a mischaracterization, stating that he «described Congressman Allred’s method of campaigning as mediocre» and that he would «never attack him on the basis of race.»

Talarico also received criticism from Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, his primary opponent in the Senate primary, after she accused him of darkening her skin in campaign ads against her.

«And you know, I’ve been asked a couple of times about it. And you know, I look at this specifically as a civil rights lawyer, and I see when they’re sending out ads and they’re darkening my skin. And I’m just like, I know what this is, right?» Crockett said at a press conference.

The operative said she personally pressed Talarico during a June meeting to do more to endorse and support down-ballot Democrats after hearing from campaigns that donors had already exhausted their political giving on his Senate bid and were asking whether he had endorsed those candidates.

POLL: IT’S A LONE STAR SENATE SHOWDOWN BETWEEN TALARICO AND PAXTON

«He was very gracious. He said he understood,» she told Digital. «I followed up with his staff multiple times and to this day have still not heard anything, which has been really frustrating to me.»

Digital reached out to the Talarico campaign for a response to the characterizations and comments.

politics, campaigning, texas, democrats senate

Several high-profile Democratic lawmakers renewed calls for gun control after a teenager broke into an Oregon elementary school Thursday and fatally shot three children and a teacher before being killed by an armed bystander.

Sen. Ron Wyden, who has represented Oregon in the Senate since 1996, made one of the most explicit calls for tighter gun laws following the shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, where the 16-year-old attacker used his mother’s shotgun, according to The Associated Press.

«The best way to honor these victims is to at long last pass common-sense gun laws that reduce the risks of more children, parents, teachers and staff forced to live in fear of similar nightmares for their schools,» Wyden said in a statement.

Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., said Thursday night that «the epidemic of gun violence in schools across America must come to an end.»

GEORGIA HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTING SUSPECT COLT GRAY CHANGES PLEA TO GUILTY, NOW FACES LIFE IN PRISON

«No parent should have to wonder if their child will come home at the end of the day,» Bonamici said. «Children deserve to feel safe — and be safe — in school.»

Democratic Rep. Janelle Bynum represents Oregon’s 5th Congressional District, which includes Bend. She attended a nighttime vigil for the teacher and children — aged 5, 8 and 11 — who were killed in the shooting.

«When are we going to step up and say enough of killing our babies? When are we going to say that we need safe schools, that we need to make sure that people who should not have firearms don’t have them? When are we going to stop making excuses? When are we going to practice that same bravery that that bystander had?» Bynum told KTVZ 21, a local NBC station in Bend, at the event.

Statements from Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and the state’s Democratic governor, Tina Kotek, stopped short of calling for new regulation on guns, but both made it clear gun violence should have no place in American schools.

FEDERAL APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS CONTROVERSIAL ILLINOIS BAN ON SEMIAUTOMATIC GUNS

Democrats outside of Oregon appeared a bit freer to express support for going further on gun control, especially in the early aftermath of the shooting, which also left another child, 7, and a teacher, 54, critically injured.

Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., said the gun reforms Congress passed after the Uvalde school shooting — including enhanced background checks for buyers under 21 — did not go far enough.

«Much more must be done. Not a single child should be lost to gun violence. Ever,» Heinrich said in a statement posted to social media.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who supports federal red-flag laws and universal background checks, had a similar message.

«No family should ever have to suffer like this—and there have been over 50 school shootings just this year,» she wrote on social media. «Congress must do much more to prevent gun violence.»

DOJ TARGETS SPANBERGER, NEWSOM GUN LAWS WITH TWIN LAWSUITS AFTER SCOTUS AFFIRMS SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS

The reactions from lawmakers came as authorities in Bend continue to piece together how the deadly attack unfolded and how the teenage gunman obtained the weapon he used.

Police said they did not know if the shooter knew anyone at the school or if he had attended when he was younger.

The first emergency call came at 12:59 p.m. from a person in a vehicle who reported being shot at multiple times by someone carrying a long gun, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said Thursday. Dispatchers then received dozens of calls reporting that a shooter had entered the school.

Officers arrived within three minutes of the first emergency call. Moments later, an officer reported that a «community member» had shot the teenage suspect.

Silver Rail Elementary School, which is about 125 miles southeast of Portland, has a total of 467 students this academic year. It serves students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

After the shooting, students were bused to a nearby church that served as a family reunification center, where relieved parents embraced their children and walked them to their cars, some carrying stuffed animals and other comfort items they had brought from home, The Associated Press reported.

The Bend-La Pine school district canceled classes, sporting events and extracurricular activities Friday across all 32 of its schools.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

oregon, democratic party, democrats, mass shootings, politics, democrats senate