burning tires outside Guatemalan congress REUTERS/Jorge Silva (tags)
Guatemalan students wear masks as they walk past burning tires outside Guatemalan congress during a protest against tax increase, Guatemala City July 26, 2001. Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo put security forces on "permanent alert" this week as Congress prepared to debate a controversial Value-Added-Tax increase from 10 to 12 percent today. Guatemala's fiscal revenue accounted for 9.4 percent of Gross Domestic Product in 2000, the second lowest tax-take in Latin America, just after impoverished Haiti. REUTERS/Jorge Silva
Guatamalan child in front of riot police in Guatemala City REUTERS/Jorge Silva (tags)
A Guatamalan indian child stands in front of riot police during a demonstration at a national one-day work stoppage in Guatemala City, August 1, 2001. Guatemalan riot police clashed with demonstrators across Guatemala on Wednesday, as widespread protests at an unpopular tax hike turned to violence. A nationwide coalition of business and labor groups called for the protests as part of a one-day "national stoppage" to oppose a two-point value added tax rise to 12 percent, that came into effect Wednesday morning. REUTERS/Jorge Silva