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3,000 Slain in Guatemala So Far This Year
GUATEMALA - Guatemala suffered 2,953
murders during the first nine months of this
year, a prominent human rights organization
said Friday.
“The ungovernable condition the country
currently experiences due to the lack of
safety and justice is evident,” the Mutual
Support Group, or GAM, says in its latest
report, which also mentions the 1,179 people
injured in violent incidents through the end
of last month.
The two deadliest months were January and
September, each with more than 350
homicides.
While the vast majority of the victims,
2,516, were men, 400 women and 37 minors
were also slain, GAM said.
“The present situation Guatemalan women face
because of the constant violence is
terrible,” the group said, noting that no
one has been arrested in the cases involving
female victims.
GAM also highlighted the risks confronting
bus drivers, 109 of whom were killed by
gangs for refusing to pay protection money.
The more than 5,400 homicides reported last
year in Guatemala – a nation of
approximately 13 million – was nearly equal
to the number of murders in neighboring
Mexico, which has more than 100 million
inhabitants and is the scene of open warfare
among rival drug cartels. EFE
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