Posted on 10/18/2005 5:53:32 AM PDT by LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget
MYSTERY DEATHS
THE PROBLEM: Guatemala is experiencing a wave of mysterious killings targeting gang members. WHAT'S BEHIND IT: Human rights groups claim vigilantes, possibly including rogue cops, are engaged in ''social cleansing.'' The country's attorney general blames gang warfare. THE BIG PICTURE: The Central American nation has endured 36 years of civil war and poverty is rampant. Gangs have been swelled by Guatemalans who immigrated to the U.S. and were deported back for gang activity.
GUATEMALA CITY -- Some are shoved into cars with dark windows and never seen again. Sometimes bodies turn up with messages left on paper or carved into their bodies: ''Car thief.'' ''I behaved badly.'' ''I'm going to hell.'' ''This is how snitches die.''
A string of mysterious killings targeting Guatemalan gang members and criminals has prompted rumors of a ''social cleansing'' in a country where crime is rising.
In recent weeks, at least two unknown groups have left fliers in parks claiming to be civilian vigilantes at war with gang members.
Guatemala's human rights ombudsman, Sergio Morales, suspects rogue police, but Attorney General Juan Luis Florido blames mob warfare -- perhaps ''drug dealers, bank robbers or gang members.''
Cops among suspects
So far there is little evidence supporting any of the theories, though the ombudsman's office calls it ''social cleansing'' and is trying to determine how many of the 1,615 violent deaths in the first half of 2005 fall into that category.
Morales claims information that some security forces were involved, but refuses to give details.
The killings appear to have begun late last year. The term ''social cleansing'' was coined by Mutual Support Group, a human rights organization, and was widely accepted in a country known for vigilante justice and a deep mistrust of public officials, stemming in large part from the nation's 36-year civil war.
Interior Minister Carlos Vielmann agrees with the gang warfare theory, saying ''gang members fight for territory, for drug distribution, to blackmail bus company owners, to blackmail businesses and even private citizens.''
But in the city's poorest neighborhoods, many blame police.
One 19-year-old gang member, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals, said he was having a drink with a friend, Mario Toscano, on Aug. 27. He said two men shot Toscano, then drove him away in a green car with tinted windows. Witnesses said they saw a police cruiser follow the car.
Toscano hasn't been seen or heard from again.
''We don't know how badly he was wounded ... but he left behind a lot of blood,'' said Toscano's father, Heriberto Toscano. ''We have been looking in the jails, the morgues, the hospitals, but nothing.''
AP
Social cleansing...I call it fighting back...take back the streets...take back the night...good over evil...so what is so wrong with this????
When government can not do its job (due to corruption or other factors) - eventually - the people will...
I guess they have found eliminating the gangs works.
Just remember that vigilanteism is generally the result of the fact that the authorities are not doing their jobs. The liberals who handcuff the authorities and give criminals a slap on the wrist are essentially inviting this result.
If people choose to lead a criminal life, it is likely to be short and end violently.
If it is vigilantes or rogue cops, good for them. Gang members need to be wiped out. This might appear harsh but the justice system has coddled these losers for too long.
I'm trying to figure out what the point of this sentence is. Is it saying that America turned these people into gangsters?--that the fact that they were deported somehow made them bad? (apparently they were gang members while here).
Exactly what caused Guatemalans who were deported from the US to return home to "swell the ranks of Guatemalan gangs?
I guess as long as they were gang members in the US, Guatemala had fewer of them--LOL! Somehow, people find a reason to blame the US for just about everything.
Boss Tweed was quoted as saying, "You can pay half of the poor people to kill the other half." It's a problem solver.
In recent weeks, at least two unknown groups have left fliers in parks claiming to be civilian vigilantes at war with gang members.
You have to ask what's wrong with murdering people?
Of course, if the "proper" public response is murder, I'd say that public safety is probably more in jeopardy now than it was before.
Gangs have been swelled by Guatemalans who immigrated to the U.S. and were deported back for gang activity.
Los Pepes 2005, eh?
I consider that to be a non-problem.
Some are shoved into cars with dark windows and never seen again. Sometimes bodies turn up with messages left on paper or carved into their bodies: "Car thief." "I behaved badly." "I'm going to hell." "This is how snitches die."
This is a zero tolerance policy I can get behind.
Gang members are not people..they are not Humans..they are ANIMALS....
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