The senseless death of fifteen Nicaraguan migrants heading to Guatemala raises concerns over immigration in Central America.Originally, it had been reported that no foul play was suspected in the deaths of the sixteen passengers of the charred bus. Yet doubts over why the dead remained in their seats led investigators to find that the victims were shot at point-blank range.
Guatemalan officials have claimed that they have “various hypotheses” over the murders though they didn’t release more details. Meanwhile, Nicaragua’s government has put pressure to try to find out precisely what happened:
Nicaragua's Ambassador to Guatemala Silvio Mora said Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega was "very concerned" about the "murder" of the Nicaraguans.Thus far, reports have not said if the Dutch government will be involved in this case. (All the dead on board were Nicaraguan apart from a Dutch national.)
"It looks like there were 16 people and we're afraid because they were killed. Up to now, the (Guatemalan) authorities have given us nothing to go on. It's all under investigation," Mora told reporters at the scene of the tragedy...
"We presume they were traders, but others say they were tourists and some others that they were undocumented workers, but we still don't know the truth," Mora said.
Image- AP (“In this photo released by Guatemala Fire Department, the bodies of fifteen people lie on the ground after a bus fire in Zacapa, Guatemala, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2008.”)
Sources- The Latin Americanist, IHT, Reuters, Xinhua, BBC News, AFP
Migrants passing through Guatemala across the Mexico/Guatemala border run a real gauntlet of brutality from both private parties and governmental forces. There certainly needs to be a more far-reaching conception of migrant safety and work programs than just between Mexico and the United States for the sake of those who pass over other borders.
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