Vigilantes target gangs as Guatemala tires of crime
Slum dwellers armed with shotguns have taken to
Guatemala’s streets to hand vigilante justice to youth gangs.
Slum dwellers armed with shotguns have taken to Guatemala’s streets to hand vigilante justice to youth gangs as voters sick of crime increasingly back a hardline ex-general’s run for president.
Roving bands of masked men communicating over walkie-talkies and armed with sticks, machetes and shotguns patrol the poor Villa Nueva slum on the edge of Guatemala City at night looking for members of infamous “Mara” gangs.
Gangs like the infamous “Mara Salvatrucha” terrorize poor neighborhoods by beheading rivals, raping women and fighting rivals in daylight shootouts.
More than 30 bus drivers and their helpers have been killed in Guatemala since January for failing to pay extortion money.
Whoever wins the election will need to not only take on the gangs but clean up Guatemala’s corrupt police force. Police often take a cut of extortion money, former gang members and human rights investigators say.
“That is one reason the extortions are growing, it’s a business for the authorities,” said human rights expert Claudia Samayoa.
I wonder how our readers would respond if crime and corruption in our hometowns reached the level endemic to a significant portion of the world?
Posted: Fri - September 21, 2007 at 09:51 PM