Tragedy Strikes: 16 Lives Lost in Guanajuato’s Christmas Season Shootings

By Dhivya Easwarasamy On Dec 18, 2023

16 Lives Lost in Guanajuato's Christmas Season Shootings

Twelve people were killed when gunmen broke into a Christmas party early on Sunday in the town of Salvatierra in the north-central state of Guanajuato, Mexico, according to prosecutors.

In addition, four more persons lost their lives in a shooting in Salamanca, according to state prosecutors, although they did not provide details about the incident.

According to the local media, the victims in Salvatierra were shot and killed as they were exiting an event venue after a “posada,” or Christmas party.

16 killed in Christmas-season shootings in central Mexico state of Guanajuato:

16 killed in Christmas-season shootings in central Mexico state of Guanajuato https://t.co/p1IHa2W7RE

— Bo Snerdley (@BoSnerdley) December 18, 2023

The Jalisco cartel and local gangs supported by the Sinaloa cartel have engaged in violent turf wars in Guanajuato. The state has historically had Mexico’s highest rate of killings.

Meanwhile, authorities reported that an attack at a bar in Tulum, a resort on the Caribbean coast, on Sunday resulted in the shooting deaths of three individuals and the injuries of four others.

The shooting “may have been a dispute involving retail drug sales, and for that reason the safety of the public and that of our visitors, was never at risk,” according to state prosecutors Quintana Roo’s preliminary inquiry.

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But in the past, visitors caught in the crossfire of Tulum’s local drug gang shootouts have resulted in fatalities.

Two visitors died in Tulum in 2021 while eating at a restaurant. One was a travel blogger from California who was born in India, while the other was German. It seems that they were entangled in the crossfire of a gun battle between competing drug traffickers.

Travelers visiting Mexico’s Caribbean beach destinations, such as Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum, are advised to “exercise increased situational awareness,” particularly after dark, according to a travel advisory released by the U.S. State Department early this year.