Arrest in Cristina Siekavizza murder

Ten days ago, Roberto Barreda was arrested in Merida, Mexico. He is a Guatemalan suspected of killing his wife, Cristina Siekavizza, and then kidnapping their two children in July 2011. Barreda was arrested in a joint Guatemalan-Mexican operation.

There have been fruitless searches for Cristina Siekavizza’s body. The prosecution in Guatemala points Barreda Leon as the prime suspect for Cristina Siekavizza’s death, as traces of blood were found in his car, so it is believed that he got rid the body to clear evidence. Even the Barreda’s mother was detained for alleged involvement in the disappearance of evidence.

Cristina Siekavizza's disappearance and suspected murder received extensive coverage in Guatemala and the US press. Authorities are still piecing the puzzle together but it looks to get interesting. Barreda fled to Mexico after first securing false travel documents in Belize. Belize is apparently the go to place for criminals to secure travel and nationality documents. However, Barreda would return to Belize to meet his lawyer and to receive money from his family in Guatemala (Guat Fugitive Facilitated in Belize?). After his lawyer died, family members would travel to Belize to provide Barreda with money.

According to Siglo XXI

“The authorities believe that a criminal enterprise, with ties in several countries, helped him change his name and that of his children, and obtain new travel and government identification documents; in the birth certificates of the children it is noted that they are of Mexican nationality and are recorded with one year less than their actual age.”

Belize has been working through several immigration scandals over the last few months and this looks like one to add to the list as Belize again makes international headlines for all the wrong reasons.

According to Plaza Publica's Martín Rodríguez Pellecer, over one thousand teenage girls went missing in Guatemala last year. While in all likelihood Cristina is no longer alive, at least the authorities were able to track down her alleged killer and rescue her two children. They did so because her family has pushed the case from the very start. Not all victims get the same attention.

There should be more to come as Barreda could not have made it out of Guatemala alone or have survived in Mexico for as long as he did without support from home. Barreda's mother was arrested at one point - she is a former Supreme Court justice. We shall see.