Support from neighboring villagers who took 21 police and 17 soldiers hostage for several hours may have aided their escape. The eviction forces failed to carry out 25 arrest warrants against the campesinos' leaders, but managed to arrest four villagers. Campesino groups say the four had nothing to do with the occupation. This David and Goliath scene has been repeated six times on these estates, sometimes with tragic results. An eviction in April of last year left one campesino and one police commissioner dead.
Police say eight other occupied estates across the country are also poised for eviction.
Soldiers will garrison the cleared lands to make sure the families do not return, said Salvador Gandara Gaitan, vice minister of the interior. On signing the peace, Arzu gained national and international credibility, but in practice he is violent and repressive. The use of force also contravenes the recently signed peace accords. Only an estimated ten percent of the petitions to resolve conflicts received so far fit these requirements, the office's director said. And this timed exiled former commander Gaspar Ilom was not left out of the picture.