GUATEMALA: SIX IN TEN MURDERS COMMITTED BY HIRED ASSASSINS.
By Louisa Reynolds
The investigation into the murder of Rodrigo Rosenberg, which revealed that the 47-year-old lawyer orchestrated his own killing by hiring a gang of assassins who believed they had been paid to kill an extortionist (see NotiSur, 2010-01-21), has highlighted the widespread use of hired assassins in Guatemala.
The Rosenberg case made it clear that in this crime-ridden Central American country, life has a price, one that can be negotiated directly with assassins willing to strike anywhere and in broad daylight.
Using his cousins Jose Estuardo and Francisco Jose Valdes Paiz and their driver Wilfredo Santos, Rosenberg hired a gang of killers who were paid US$40,000 to commit the crime.
But the fee can vary widely. Donald Gonzalez, spokesman for the Policia Nacional Civil (PNC), says that people hire gang members to commit a murder for as little as 100 quetzales (US$12.20) or even 50 quetzales (US$6.06).
In October 2008, the PNC arrested two leaders of the notorious Mara 18 gang who said that they had been hired by extortionists to kill urban bus drivers for 300 quetzales ($36.60). On some occasions gang members are paid to commit a crime; on others its part of an "initiation test" that aspiring members need to pass to be accepted by the gang.
A study published last year by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation found that Guatemala has the third-highest crime rate in Latin America. Official statistics show that more than 6,000 people are murdered each year in Guatemala and only 3% of the perpetrators are brought to justice.
Last year, the Ministerio de Gobernacion (MINGOB) arrested 100 hired assassins and disbanded around 30 death squads, a meager result given the scale of the problem.
In April, Rember Larios, former assistant director of the PNC, said that six in 10 murders in Guatemala are committed by hired assassins travelling in pairs on a motorbike, who swiftly flee the murder scene after killing their target.
A month later, Congress passed a law forbidding two people to travel together on a motorbike and making it compulsory for drivers to wear a fluorescent jacket with their license-plate number clearly stamped on the back. However, after a few weeks, the police made little effort to ensure compliance and these crimes remain a regular occurrence.
Bus drivers who refuse to pay extortion money--the "impuesto"--to gang members are the most frequent targets. In 2009, 120 bus drivers were murdered in Guatemala, and 85 were murdered...
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