One man is wounded after gunmen opened fire on soldiers at a checkpoint providing area security for a visit by Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei to a town near the Mexican border

GUATEMALA CITY — One man was wounded Saturday after gunmen opened fire on soldiers at a checkpoint providing area security for a visit by Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei to a town near the Mexican border.

Rubén Téllez, a spokesman for the Guatemalan army, said soldiers were working a highway checkpoint intended to act as perimeter security for the presidential visit to La Laguna, a town in Huehuetenango province.

Téllez said a car approached the checkpoint and its occupants then opened fire on soldiers, who returned fire.

One man, possibly a Mexican, was shot in the legs during the incident and was 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.

“Personnel of the Guatemalan army halted a vehicle that approached their location,” Téllez said. “But the occupants of the vehicle, upon seeing the presence of the military personnel, started firing, to which the soldiers responded, leaving one person wounded while the rest of the occupants of the vehicle escaped in the direction of Mexico.”