Mexico City, Mexico – President Claudia Sheinbaum said Tuesday that Mexico’s attorney general is investigating the killings of a middle-aged woman and an eight-year-old girl allegedly at the hands of members of the military in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas last weekend.
The murders of 46-year-old nurse Yuricie Rivera Elizalde and 8-year-old Lidia Iris Fuente Galvan on October 11 and 12, respectively, add to a series of executions and human rights violations allegedly committed by the Mexican armed forces.
“In both cases, the investigations are being conducted by the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic (FGR) and the Army is providing all the information,” Sheinbaum said of both killings on Tuesday.
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On October 11, Elizalde was traveling with her husband and nine-year-old son in their car when military officers reportedly opened fire on the family’s vehicle while confronting armed civilians. Elizalde’s car caught fire and she was shot in the head, dying at the scene, while the military officers fled and left the family there.
The next day, Lidia Galván Reséndez was driving with her granddaughter when they were caught in a chase between National Guard troops and suspected criminals. According to the Human Rights Committee of Nuevo Laredo, Reséndez’s car was fired upon directly by National Guard officers, killing young Iris with a bullet to the head.
During her press conference on Tuesday, Sheinbaum apparently defended the use of deadly force by military officers on open and public streets in both cases, pointing out that Nuevo Laredo is the main state with aggressions committed against Mexican soldiers.
“Something very important must be said: Nuevo Laredo is the place where criminal groups attack the Armed Forces the most,” she said.
However, the Human Rights Committee of Nuevo Laredo reported a third killing allegedly carried out by the Mexican military on the same day as Iris’s murder, which was not publicly acknowledged by Sheinbaum or the military.
According to the human rights watchdog, a young man named Diego Alfredo was found dead in a truck allegedly being followed by National Guard and army officials. It is learned that the man’s body had signs of torture and there was no weapon or tactical equipment near him, which could indicate that he was a victim of kidnapping.
The three possible killings, within just 24 hours, add to a series of human rights violations, including the killing of six migrants by military troops in Chiapas in southeastern Mexico on October 2.
READ MORE: The Mexican military killed six migrants from Egypt, El Salvador and Peru in Chiapas
Additionally, on October 9, Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission confirmed that army and National Guard officers in Sonora tortured two minor boys in June 2023.
“In the event of misconduct by any member of the military, the Guard or any officer, they will be sanctioned, but we must await the investigations and maintain the necessary support for the victims,” Sheinbaum said.
