Dec. 11 (UPI) -- After a series of incidents along the Guatemala-Mexico border in which suspected members of the Sinaloa cartel attacked several communities and clashed with Guatemalan troops, President Bernardo Arévalo ordered military presence in the area to be tripled.
The move aims to protect Guatemala's territorial sovereignty and the safety of residents in border communities after an armed group crossed from Mexico into several Guatemalan towns to attack rivals from other cartels competing for territory.
Arévalo said he has called for strengthening the armed forces' presence to prevent any incursions by the cartels and has begun coordinating with Mexico's Secretariat of National Defense to conduct operations from the Mexican side of the border, the newspaper Prensa Libre reported.
In recent days, residents of Guatemalan border communities have reported attacks involving high-powered weapons, burned vehicles and direct threats amid a territorial dispute between the Sinaloa cartel and rival organizations that operate between Chiapas and northwestern Guatemala.
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