Turmoil in Guatemala! Part 1

Our first few days in Guatemala were filled with some disturbing events. On one day 4 bus drivers and their helpers were killed. Three of them were killed on the main road close to where we live in San Cristobal (a suburb of Guatemala City. Lia passed by the crime scene shortly after it happened with just the police on the scene. Like most crime scenes in Guatemala, people flock to the scene to be able to see. As the day wore on more people started gathering and protesting in the street and eventually the protests turned quite violent. Protesters blocked the road by burning tires causing huge traffic delays for motorists.

They demanded that the police and the government provide security and deal with the gangs who are killing bus drivers because the owners have not paid the extortion fees. The mob also attempted to “lynch” one of the suspects (some witnesses claimed that they were not the right ones), but the police were able to take them away. Lynching is quite common here especially in more rural areas,

A burned out police car in the after math of a lynching in San Miguel.

because people are fed up with the lack of justice. In many cases, criminals are able to bribe the authorities and get released from custody. For this reason, people decide to take justice into their own hands. If  the suspect is caught he/she is first beaten, then doused in gasoline, and set on fire. This of course is a cruel and horrible way to punish someone and it makes those involved with the lynching no better than the criminal. Also at times innocent people are killed. Recently in a town (San Miguel) close to Cubulco two suspects were burned alive for killing a bus driver.