Mexicans flee to Guatemala after drug cartel shootouts

Nearly 600 people fled Amatenango la Frontera to escape warring drug cartels in Mexico, relying on donations and support from Guatemalan locals.

When a 72-year-old Mexican farmer heard the bullets from the most recent cartel shootout landing close to his home, he knew it was time to go. He collected his children and grandchildren and fled on foot across the border to Guatemala.

They left behind their animals, documents, money and took off running, among nearly 600 people who fled various communities of Amatenango la Frontera this week to escape warring drug cartels that have terrorized the rural borderlands of southern Mexico.

“I left my home because of the shooting, and out of fear,” said the farmer, who requested anonymity for his family’s safety. “The cartels kill even the innocent.”

They walked more than 2 miles (4 kilometers) over the mountains and through thick brush until they found a path that brought them to Ampliacion Nueva Reforma, an impoverished Guatemalan hamlet in the Cuilco municipality.

In this single community, more than 200 Mexican refugees have arrived in recent days. Locals have scrambled to shelter them in their modest school and collect donations of food and water.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/mexicans-flee-to-guatemala-drug-cartel-violence-rcna163786

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