PUERTO VALLARTA (PVDN) – Mexican officials have launched an investigation into allegations of extrajudicial killings perpetrated by army personnel in the border city of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas state, last month. The inquiry follows a video broadcast by US Spanish-language network Univisión and Spanish newspaper El País, depicting a violent encounter involving soldiers and five men.
Incident Captured on Video
Footage, seemingly from a security camera, shows a black van crashing into a wall before a Mexican military vehicle arrives, colliding with the van to block its right front and rear doors. Around eleven uniformed men, armed with rifles, exit the military vehicle.
In a sequence of disturbing events, the soldiers shoot at the van’s wheels, pull out its five occupants, and allegedly proceed to assault them. The civilians are then forcibly moved and lined against a wall, where some soldiers appear to fire at them. The video ends with rifles being placed next to the bodies by one of the uniformed men.
In a subsequent scene, the military personnel take cover behind the damaged van, firing into the street in response to an apparent attack. One soldier appears to shoot at the incapacitated civilians against the wall.
Contradictory Statements Raise Questions
Sergio Hernando Chávez, Secretary of Public Security for the northern state of Tamaulipas, claimed in an interview with local television station Milenio that the military had come under attack on May 18 in Nuevo Laredo. He stated that “five of the attackers” were killed after the military repelled the assault.
The Secretary of National Defense (Sedena) has said it is collaborating with the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) to investigate the incident. In a statement, Sedena confirmed that the Military Justice Attorney General’s Office has launched an official inquiry into the matter, ensuring Mexican society that there will be no impunity for any misconduct by military personnel.
Human Rights Groups Demand Accountability
The Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Human Rights Center — one of Mexico’s prominent humanitarian organizations — called the case “extremely serious.” It demanded a thorough investigation via its Twitter account.
This incident comes on the heels of two similar episodes in Nuevo Laredo, raising concerns about the escalating violence in this city dominated by drug cartels. A young pregnant woman and a man died two months ago when National Guard members reportedly fired at their vehicle.
In February, an army patrol shot and killed five men, leading to four soldiers being charged and stirring criticism of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s policy of assigning more public security duties to the military.
These cases echo a controversial incident from 2014 in Tlatlaya, State of Mexico, where soldiers allegedly killed 22 suspects in a warehouse after they had surrendered. Following a human rights investigation, seven soldiers were charged with abuse of authority and temporarily released, only to be detained again years later.
Given this history of violent incidents involving the military, Mexican authorities will likely face mounting pressure to ensure accountability and the rule of law in this latest incident.
PUERTO VALLARTA (PVDN) - Mexican officials have launched an investigation into allegations of extrajudicial killings perpetrated by army personnel in the border city of Nuevo . . .
