Family members grieving the deaths of 13 people over the weekend blocked a major road in Guatemala on Monday with the victims' coffins as well as tree trunks and rocks to call attention to systemic violence.

Thirteen people, among them four children, were murdered near the Mexican border over a land dispute between the Mayaan K'iche community in neighboring Nahuala and Santa Catarina Ixtahaucan.

Guatemala's human rights prosecutor Jordan Rodas said the massacre in Chiquix started on Friday when families from Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan were "ambushed by a group of men carrying high caliber weapons" as they went to gather corn.

They were murdered and "burnt inside the truck they were traveling in," Rodas said. The four children, aged 5 to 16, "were chopped up with machetes."

What happened during the protest?

As coffins for at least seven of the victims were assembled along the Interamericana highway, Indigenous women in traditional clothing wept. Demonstrators carried signs that read, "We have The Right to Live in Peace."

Family members and friends of the victims called for justice and asked the government to resolve the conflict.

Alonzo Guarchaj, 30, told AFP, "There are no words to describe what these people did," as he stood beside his father's coffin. Guarchaj's father was an evangelical pastor.

What is the reaction of officials?

For decades, the two communities have tussled over forest and water resources.

Guatemalan President Alejando Giammattei called an emergency cabinet meeting to request that ministers approve a state of siege designation in both municipalities of Nahuala and Santa Catarna Ixtahaucan.

"These events are no longer the product of an ancestral land conflict," Giammattei said, blaming armed criminal groups.

In Chiquix, police and soldiers stood amid fears of escalation. Chiquix is located approximately 170 kilometers (107 miles) west of the capital, Guatemala City.

According to official statistics, more than 40% of Guatemala's population of 17 million live in poverty.

ar/msh (AFP, AP)