Four soldiers involved in massacre of five youths in Nuevo Laredo prosecuted

As relatives bury or say goodbye to the five young people who died at the hands of the military in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexican authorities are investigating how the events that shook Mexico and the world happened.

One of the actions taken by the Minister of National Defense (Sedena) was to tie up the four elements involved in the massacre, albeit only for insubordination.

According to the Code of Military Justice, commits the crime of disobedience “one who does not carry out or does not comply with the order of his superior, changes it on his own initiative or goes beyond the limits in carrying it out”. When this offense is committed while on duty, it will be punished by one year in prison, in case of serious injury the penalty is increased to two years.

According to Latinus media, Sedena’s investigation is independent of the investigation being conducted by the Tamaulipas Prosecutor’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office (FGR). The population demanded that the military be tried as civiliansbecause if the investigation moves forward, military elements could be charged with murder and injury.

It should be noted that this unfortunate event attracted international attention, even the United Nations (UN) asked Mexico to conduct a prompt and impartial investigation of what happened.

What happened in Nuevo Laredo?

Two versions of events are circulated: the official one provided by Sedena, which was made public two days later, and the version provided by residents and survivors of this tragic event, which is far from the first.

According to the official announcement, on the morning of February 26 The military was on patrol when they saw a truck that was speeding and without headlights.whose crew members, noticing the presence of the authorities, increased their speed, due to which a chase began.

The culmination was the collision of a truck with another unit, making a loud noise, which alerted the military, who they mistook the noise for gunshots and opened fire on the occupants of the car..

However, the official version differs from that of the Nuevo Laredo Human Rights Committee, which has documented that, according to relatives of the victims, the youths were not armed. In addition, a few hours after the extrajudicial execution of the young men, their relatives had a conflict with the military, who used weapons to disperse the population.