El Paso, Texas.- A Latino organization asked this Friday to investigate the recent death of a soldier of Mexican origin who denounced sexual harassment in the same Texas barracks where another soldier was murdered in 2020 after a similar claim.
Ana Basaldua Ruiz, 20, was found dead on March 13 inside the Fort Hood military base where she served, in the southern United States, the military organization itself reported in a statement on Wednesday.
“We are concerned about what the family has reported, that their daughter was the permanent object of sexual harassment,” said Analuisa Tapia, Texas representative of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), who arrived this Friday. to the exterior of the Fort Hood barracks, north of Austin, along with other members of his organization.
“We demand an immediate, full and transparent investigation into these claims, which must be carried out by an external authority.”
Ana’s mother, Alejandra Ruiz, told the Telemundo network that her daughter had told her that “a sergeant was harassing her” and that she was constantly harassed. She later commented that she was officially informed that her daughter “hanged herself”, but that she did not believe it.
A naturalized American, Ana Basaldua lived with her father in California, United States, before enlisting. “Supposedly they took it as a suicide, nothing more, and that they were going to start the investigations,” Baldo Basaldua, her father, commented to the same chain.
In a new statement, the headquarters said Thursday that there is no evidence of “foul play” in Ana’s death, but that investigations continue. “Information related to any possible harassment will be fully addressed and investigated,” the document added.
The events occurred in the same barracks where, in 2020, the 20-year-old soldier of Mexican parents Vanessa Guillen was murdered after denouncing being a victim of sexual harassment.
After his disappearance in April 2020, his dismembered body was found more than two months later near the base. A dozen officers were fired after the events. There were demonstrations asking for justice, amid complaints of impunity for sexual crimes in the barracks.
Following these events, in January 2022, President Joe Biden signed an executive order to reform military justice and make sexual violence in the Army a crime and not an administrative sanction.
