Juana Santiago Chel is 77 years old. On July 30, riot police officers arrived at her home in Santa María Nebaj, Quiché, and forcibly removed her along with her daughter, carrying out an order signed by Judge Ada Madaí López Morales.
What few expected was that the complaint had come from within the family itself: it was Pedro Santiago López, one of Juana’s sons, who initiated the eviction amid a property dispute. A neighbor who tried to defend her ended up being arrested.
That same night, outrage erupted in the village of Tzalbal: residents set fire to the judge’s house. The Judicial Branch supported López Morales and condemned the attack, while the Public Prosecutor’s Office investigates everything that happened. Juana was hospitalized and discharged on August 2.