GUATEMALA: COUNTRY PLAGUED BY INCREASING CRIME RATE

Описание: (28 Aug 1996) Spanish/Nat

Guatemala is in the midst of its worst crime wave in recent history.

Violence is rampant in the major cities and crime rates continue to rise.

For many, crime and security have replaced the civil war as the most daunting problem facing the country.

Guatemalan police can't keep up with criminals anymore.

This Central American country is plagued by a crime wave that has not been seen in over fifty years.

Despite almost daily police raids, crime is on the rise in this country, already battered by the longest-running civil war in the region.

On average, 10 people are murdered, 20 cars are stolen and three people are kidnapped in Guatemala every day.

International standards recommend that a peaceful society requires one policeman for every 400 people.

In Guatemala, there is one policeman for every 1-thousand-700.

Moreover, the government acknowledges that its police force is poorly trained, badly outgunned by criminals and severely underpaid.

International observers insist these conditions foster a culture of police corruption almost impossible to eradicate.

The crime wave is so severe, Guatemalans no longer consider the current peace process the most important issue in the country.

SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
Perhaps the most spectacular impact the skyrocketing crime rates in Guatemala have had is that crime has relegated the peace process as the most important issue in the minds of Guatemalans. Guatemalans are not aware of the progress of the peace talks, they are too busy trying to save their lives. The reason why the peace process has been delayed for so long is because it no longer is a concern for Guatemalans.
SUPER CAPTION: Pablo Duarte, Conservative Congressman

Fed up with the authorities' inability to curb violence, citizens have often taken justice into their own hands with bloody consequences.

Public lynchings are becoming increasingly common, like this one in the town of Santa Elena, in the Peten Province.

This crime suspect was stoned and beaten by a mob.

Later, he was dowsed in flammable liquid and set on fire.

He survived but suffered terrible wounds.

The United Nations has concluded that a judicial system cursed with backlogs is part of the problem.

It also sites a police force outgunned and outnumbered by criminals and nationwide proliferation of weapons.

But the government lacks the necessary resources to tackle the problem.

And until those resources become available scenes like this are likely to be repeated.

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