Massacre Leaves 5 Dead Inside Hotel in Guanajuato

Five people dead and three injured was the official toll of an attack carried out inside a hotel in Comonfort, Guanajuato, on Friday. The hotel is located on Magisterio Street, a few blocks from the municipal hall in Comonfort’s historic center.

Heavily armed men stormed the hotel and headed towards Room #19, where eight people were in. Eyewitnesses said that the gunmen forced the hotel receptionist to lead them to the room where the victims were staying. Four people were killed at the scene, while the fifth one died after he was taken to the nearest hospital. All the wounded were reported in critical condition.

The Guanajuato Attorney General’s Office carry out the corresponding investigations at the scene. There has not been an official announcement of this incident by any government entity. The hit men, as is often the case, escaped and have not been arrested. The corpses have not been identified and were taken to the local morgue.

Background 

At the end of January, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) reported that Guanajuato has the highest homicide rate in the country. For this reason, he dispatched 5,000 elements of the National Guard to the state.

Of the 2,325 murders that were committed during January 2021 throughout Mexico, 250 occurred in Guanajuato, representing 10% of the total. According to the National Search Commission, there are more than 2,500 missing persons in Guanajuato. Most of these disappearances occurred since 2016.

Comonfort is about a 15-minute drive from Celaya, one of the most dangerous cities in Guanajuato. As reported by Borderland Beat, Celaya has increased a rise in homicides since the August 2020 capture of the local Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel (CSRL) leader José Antonio Yepez Ortiz (‘El Marro’). The rival Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) also operates in this region.