Guatemala, Homicides Increasing
Amid the wave of violence rocking Guatemala, more than 40 children and teenagers die each month as consequence of the organized crime and the actions of the police forces, Casa Alianza Director Arturo Echeverria denounced.

In the first semester of this year, 299 children homicides were reported, a figure surpassing the 191 happened in similar period of 2005, stated the Children and Adolescence Department of the Human Rights Office.

Nidia Aguilar, defender of that institution, considered that the message sent by the present horror climate is that it is normal to live under such conditions.

The minors are raised in homes where they are object of abuses and mistreatments, asserted Luis Linares, member of the Association of Economic and Social Investigations.

In the second national survey applied to children and youth released in December 2005 and carried out by the Vox Latina enterprise, seven of ten minors showed no surprise for the crimes and said they are used to those types of actions.

According to the survey, four of ten surveyed confirmed they learned violence in the street, three of them through the TV and two at their family environment.

This year, 2,285 people, included women, children and men, have been homicide victims in Guatemala, the Public Ministry