Rubén Téllez, a spokesman for the Guatemalan military, said the soldiers were working at a highway checkpoint to act as perimeter security for the presidential visit to La Laguna, a city in Huehuetenango province. Téllez said a car approached the checkpoint and the occupants opened fire on soldiers, who returned fire. A man, believed to be Mexican, was shot in the legs during the incident and taken for medical treatment. It does not appear that Giammattei was ever in danger, was the target of the attack, or was anywhere near the shooting. The area is frequented by human traffickers and drug smugglers, many of whom work for Mexican gangs. “Guatemalan military personnel stopped a vehicle approaching their position,” Tellez said. “But the occupants of the vehicle, seeing the presence of the military personnel, opened fire, to which the soldiers returned fire, leaving one person injured while the rest of the occupants of the vehicle fled in the direction of Mexico.”
