Gangs & Prison deaths, 2

Here's some follow-up news to the prison violence in Guatemala that left 35 gang members dead earlier this week. Not unexpectedly, these attacks came as the Mara 18 sought revenge against the perpetrators of Monday's violence, the Mara Salvatrucha.

("Mara", by the way, is a word used mostly in Central America to refer to gangs. Another common word is "pandillas".)

In the Guatemalan newspaper Siglo XXI one of the gang members responsible for the attack warned that "the payback has begun and will be taken to the streets because my 'homies' have to be avenged".

I'll be taking a deeper look at this issue tonight (if the caffeine kicks in) or perhaps tomorrow.

3 Hurt in Another Guatemalan Prison Riot

Thu Aug 18. Associated Press.

Guatemala City - Three jailed street gang members were injured Thursday, two of them by gunfire, during a prison riot that came three days after a series of gang-related uprisings in Guatemala prisons left 35 prisoners dead.

A police spokesman said at least one inmate had a gun and opened fire during the disturbance at the Canada prison work farm in Escuintla province, 45 miles south of the capital, Guatemala City.

The work farm was one of seven facilities that saw rioting on Monday that killed 35 inmates, some of whom were shot or died because of grenade explosions.

The riots drew international attention, with the Inter-American Human Rights Commission and the Organization of American States both issuing statements holding the government responsible for the riots and demanding that they pay immediate attention to problems inside the prisons.

Monday's riots began shortly after the explosion of grenades at El Hoyon prison in the town of Escuintla, some 30 miles south of Guatemala City.

Violence broke out in six other facilities throughout the day, as Mara Salvatruchas members attacked inmates loyal to Mara 18 with guns, grenades and knives. In addition to those killed, more than 60 prisoners were injured.

Tags: Guatemala, gangs, violence

Gangs & Prison deaths

It feels a bit disjointed to be writing about gangs while still in the complete calm and quiet of the New York suburbs. Yet in nine days I'll be back in Guatemala, where gang violence and the dysfunctional jail system are among the country's most pressing problems.

The report on Tuesday about 35 gang members who were killed by a rival gang in simultaneous prison attacks was so shocking that it crossed the "international news border" and appeared on CNN and other networks.

Today's follow-up involves a new twist on the story: that the prison guards themselves provided the weapons in exchange for bribes.

Guatemala Gangs: Guards Supplied Weapons

By Will Weissert, Associated Press

Escuintla, Guatemala - Members of a violent Central American gang on Tuesday claimed they routinely pay prison guards to provide them with weapons, and they blamed a rival group for starting coordinated riots at seven prisons that left 35 inmates dead.

Interviewed as they recovered from gunshot and stab wounds, members of the Mara 18 blamed Monday's near-simultaneous uprisings at Guatemalan prisons on the rival Mara Salvatrucha gang. Gangs are known as "maras" in Central America.

Herman Ivan Aguirra, 19, a two-year member of the Mara 18 gang from Guatemala City, said he and other prisoners were exercising when Mara Salvatrucha members seemingly came out of nowhere wielding knives, guns and grenades.

"They hit me hard," Aguirra said. "There was blood everywhere, people dying, people screaming."

Later in the article, family members of the prisoners stated in simple words the enormity of the gang problem in Guatemala:

"There is no security anywhere. Not even prisoners are safe," said Ingrid Hernandez, who said police told her that her son, 19-year-old Eswin Rolando Hernandez, had been fatally stabbed and shot.

"This is a war and the gang members are winning," said Rolando Gamez, 41, who was trying to determine whether his 17-year-old son, Gerardo Gamez, was among the victims.

Read the entire article

This terrible event reflects not only the growing gang problem in the country, but also the precarious state of the judicial system.

Not surprisingly, one of the quick and easy "solutions" proposed by the Interior Minister, Carlos Vielmann, is to build bigger and better jails.

Guatemala seeks new jails after fatal gang clashes

Aug 16, 5:31 PM (ET)

Guatemala City (Reuters) - Guatemala wants to build new maximum-security prisons to prevent the kinds of clashes between grenade-tossing gang members that killed at least 33 inmates this week.

Interior Minister Carlos Vielmann said he would ask Congress on Tuesday for permission to build the prisons as part of a tough new security law.

"We have said for a long time that the penitentiary system has not received the necessary attention and that it is about to collapse," Vielmann told reporters on Monday.

But, as the same article points out, the roots of the crisis run deep and a band-aid solution is not the answer.

Easily available weapons, rampant poverty, and a culture of violence left over from a 36-year civil war that ended in 1996 all help make Guatemala, with a population of around 12 million, one of the world's most violent countries. Some 10 people are murdered in the Central American country every day.

Critics said that even with a new law, it would be hard for cash-strapped Guatemala to find the resources needed to build and run hi-tech prisons.

Read the entire article

So what's the answer? Check back tomorrow!

Tags: Guatemala, gangs, prisons

Back to reality

I decided over weekend that, despite my extended stay in the States, it was time to return to posting news and views and random thoughts in my journal.

Sadly, the news story for today is yet another tragic reminder of the ever-increasing gang problem in Guatemala. Not exactly an uplifting return to current events, eh?

At least 30 dead in Guatemala prison gang battles

15 Aug 2005 22:35:26 GMT
Source: Reuters

ESCUINTLA, Guatemala, Aug 15 (Reuters) - At least 30 inmates were killed on Monday when rival Guatemalan gang members attacked each other with knives, firearms and grenades at prisons throughout the country, government officials said.

Around 80 prisoners were also injured in the fighting between the Mara Salvatrucha and Mara 18 street gangs.

Witnesses saw emergency services carry the bodies of 18 inmates out of one of the prisons, dubbed by prisoners "The Hole," in the Escuintla province of southern Guatemala. Some of the corpses were mutilated.

Many of the dead were killed by hand grenade blasts and suffered knife and gunshot injuries, the government said.

Eight people were killed in the Pavon correctional facility near Guatemala City and four more killed in two other prisons, Francisco de la Pena, head of Guatemala's prison service, told a news conference.

It took hundreds of police and soldiers armed with automatic weapons and firing tear gas several hours to regain control of the prisons.

Street gangs, known as "maras," are widespread in Central America and are known for their use of extreme violence and for a deadly feud between the two principal gangs.

Prison workers said Monday's riots may have started following the breakdown of a peace pact between the two gangs in the prisons.

Tags: Guatemala, gangs, prison

Home again

Being back in Guatemala sure is... um... well, you could say that it is... I guess I might describe it as...

Bugger it all. Truth is I have no idea what it's like to be back in Guatemala because I'm not back in Guatemala. I'm in New York.

Yes, still.

No, I didn't oversleep and miss my flight.

No, I wasn't fired from Incidencia Democratica.

No, I haven't decided that Guatemala is just too wacky a place to call home.

No, I haven't decided pack up and move to New Orleans.

(OK, I have to admit that last one was a bit tempting, but no.)

Long story short: after some 15 years of living in voluntary poverty I've accumulated a bit of a *ahem* credit card debt. So I've decided to extend my time stateside by another month in order to get out from under this soul-crushing burden.

Here are the steps I hope to take on the road to financial recovery:

Plan A: Win the N.Y. State lottery

Plan B: Marry an independently-wealthy and obviously-desperate woman.

Plan C: Sell all non-essential organs on eBay (and maybe even some vital ones if the price is right).

Plan D: Follow the legal, take-it-to-the-lawyer route.

And finally, if all else fails...

Plan E: Seek permanent exile in Guatemala, always trying to stay one step ahead of the hired-killers contracted by the credit card company to hunt me down and "make me pay".

I'll let you know how it goes.