GUATEMALA: WAVE OF MOB LYNCHINGS LEAVES 41 DEAD.
By Louisa Reynolds
On Sunday, Dec. 7, a scuffle broke out in Panajachel's municipal market in the department of Solola (about 147 km west of Guatemala City), after four thieves, a man and three women, were caught stealing hand-woven indigenous blouses or huipiles.=20
After a number of stolen items were found in the women's home, including 7,000 quetzales (US$840) and the deeds of a property, the thieves were beaten, paraded across the town, and taken to the main square where they were doused with gasoline.
William Garcia, 42, screamed in agony as he was set alight and burned to death before the wrathful eyes of the mob. Then, suddenly, the square was filled with smoke and a stampede ensued.
The three women--Nora Silda Vicente Castillo, Yanet Gonzalez Garcia, and Silvia Gonzalez Garcia, who was seven months pregnant and miscarried as a result of her injuries--were rescued by the police, who used tear gas and riot gear to disperse the crowd.
As the police convoy was leaving Panajachel, it was pelted with stones thrown from nearby hills by furious locals. As a result of the confrontation, four police vehicles and the local police station were torched, and terrified tourists fled the town.
This was the second incident of this sort last year in Solola. Two weeks before Garcia was set alight opposite Panajachel's town hall, three purported gang members, accused of extortion, were lynched by a furious mob in the departmental capital of Solola.
Located next to Lake Atitlan and surrounded by volcanoes, Panajachel is one of the country's most beautiful tourist hotspots. Since these widely reported incidents, many tour operators have cancelled visits to the area, and it is feared that the local economy will suffer as a result. =20=20=20=20=20 Crimes with no punishment
In 2009, 109 people were lynched in Guatemala, leaving 41 dead and 211 injured, according to figures published by the Corte Suprema de Justicia (CSJ). Most cases have occurred in the departments of Guatemala, Peten, Quiche, and Huehuetenango (see NotiCen, 2009-03-05).
"After someone is lynched, people copy these actions, as if by imitation. This occurs because the state has not taken action to fight this type of crime," says Carmen Rosa de Leon Escribano, director of the Instituto de Ensenanza para el Desarrollo Sostenible (IEPADES).
Political analyst Carmen Aida Ibarra of the Movimiento Pro Justicia (MPJ) says lynching is "a collective mobilization outside the boundaries established by...
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