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