Guatemala and other central American countries becoming more violent than Mexico

By MICHAEL WEBSTER: Syndicated Investigative Reporter.

In Baracoa, Honduras, four young men were carried off from a house by force. Field hands later heard shots and found the four, all executed with a bullet to the head gangland style.

Guatemala and Honduras kidnappings and executions are on the increase Guatemala City, newspaper Prensa Libre reports “Violent acts - such as assassinations of drivers, ambushes between drug traffickers, homicides, massacres, hold ups, kidnappings and extortions - have occurred during the third month of the year, oppressing Guatemalans at a time when there’s no foreseeable plan to halt them.

Citizens’ groups assert that 15 crimes are reported each day in the capital city and province. Six bus drivers, two helpers and two passengers have died.

A psychosis has gripped Guatemalans due to the lack of security and it is aggravated by confrontations between narco groups, homicides and even the massacre of families, extortions against businessmen and individuals, armed robberies of pedestrians and of automobile drivers when they are stopped at a traffic light or by a traffic bottleneck.”

Guatemala has become the most violent country in Latin America, averaging more than 20 homicides daily. 49 minors were murdered during January of this year and 58 during February.

Drug trafficking, executions and Kidnappings are all on the raise in all of Latin America. Tons of cocaine which is coming from Columbia via Venezuela according to the government is being seen more now than ever before.

U.S. Coast guard, DEA, FBI and others are all attempting to help those countries combat the huge increases in human and drug smuggling.

The U.S. Government is monitoring all of the Caribbean and are detecting and tracking suspected illegal smugglers both in the air and on the sea. Where possible the smugglers using high speed boats and other means are being chased down and capture and arrested where ever possible on the high seas in the Caribbean. With suspected aircraft they detect, track and shoot down when necessary, with special emphasis on Columbia and Venezuela traffic.

Recently two armed U.S. DEA helicopters intercepted and fired on a smugglers operating from a light aircraft in far eastern Honduras, causing the aircraft to crash killing the lone pilot. The DEA directed local officials to the crash site where they seized 1,000 kilos of high grade Columbian cocaine. The plane was from Venezuela and had apparently just recently left from Venezuela and was heading to the Islas de Bahia, off Honduras’ Caribbean coast.

U.S. Coast Guard and Honduran naval personnel seized “more than” 3,000 kilos of cocaine from a fishing boat in a lagoon that has access to the sea also in the far eastern Honduras area.

Violence has gotten so bad in Latin America some countries, including the U.S., are now alerting their citizens about insecurity in Honduras. Kidnappings there “have increased from five in 2005, to 16 in 2006, to 42 in 2007 and 121 in 2008.”

Source: The National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO)

Guatemala City, newspaper Prensa Libre.