waltky
Wise ol' monkey
Zetas tryin' to take over Guatemala...
![Confused :confused: :confused:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Guatemala massacre points to influence of Mexican drug gang
May 18, 2011 - Guatemala has declared a state of emergency after the murder of 27 people in the northern part of the country. The Zetas of Mexico are accused of the worst massacre since the end of the country's civil war.
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Guatemalan President: Nation Must Confront Drug Violence
May 17, 2011 - Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom has told the nation that Guatemala must stand up to drug-related violence.
Guatemala massacre points to influence of Mexican drug gang
May 18, 2011 - Guatemala has declared a state of emergency after the murder of 27 people in the northern part of the country. The Zetas of Mexico are accused of the worst massacre since the end of the country's civil war.
A massacre in northern Guatemala, which has left at least 27 people dead, is another reminder of the growing influence exerted by powerful Mexican drug gang, the Zetas, in Central America. The Zetas may have first entered Guatemala at the invitation of two drug bosses, Otoniel Turcios and Hearst Walter Overdick. But instead of partnering with local Guatemalan smugglers, the Mexicans became intent on displacing them.
The Zetas cemented their presence in Guatemala in 2008, when they ambushed and killed local crimelord Juan Jose Leon. Dislodging the Leon clan gave the Zetas power over key trafficking routes in the northern departments of Zacapa, Alta Verapaz, and Peten. It was in the latter that the recent massacre took place. In Peten, the government has now declared a "state of siege" similar to the security surge that failed to drive Zetas from Alta Verapaz at the end of last year.
As proved by the Peten killings, the Zetas' presence in Guatemala has drawn attention because of their willingness to use brutality. In contrast to the other Mexican cartel with sizeable presence in Central America, that of Sinaloa, the Zetas have frequently used extreme violence to establish control over a territory. While the Sinaloans have attempted to maintain their operations in Guatemala's western Huehuetenango department by buying the silence of authorities and negotiating deals with local traffickers, the Zetas have proven themselves more disposed to fight and kill their rivals.
In other Northern Triangle countries, the Zetas have been more accomodating to local gangs, although no less ambitious in expanding their operations. As recently noted by El Salvador President Mauricio Funes, the Zetas have made contact with gangs like the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and the Barrio 18 [18], which echoes statements made by the president and the defense minister in 2010.
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See also:
Guatemalan President: Nation Must Confront Drug Violence
May 17, 2011 - Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom has told the nation that Guatemala must stand up to drug-related violence.
He made the remark in a televised address late Monday after visiting the site of a mass murder in Guatemala's Peten province. Officials have blamed the killing of nearly 30 field workers, including two women and at least two children, on the Zetas drug cartel. Colom said drug-related violence affects not just Guatemala, but the whole region. He announced a state of emergency that gives security forces increased authority.
The bodies of the victims were found Sunday on a ranch near the Mexican border. Police said most of the victims were decapitated. Authorities have described the incident as one of the country's worst mass killings in a generation. Officials have said, that of the various Mexican drug gangs operating in Guatemala, the Zetas seem to have made the most inroads. In Mexico, the Zetas have been hit hard by the military and federal police since President Felipe Calderon took office in late 2006 and began a crackdown on organized crime groups.
Last year, a U.S. State Department report said entire regions of Guatemala are now essentially under the control of the Zetas. The Zetas began as a Mexican military unit that defected and began working with the Gulf cartel, based in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, just across the border from the U.S. city of El Paso, Texas. The Zetas split from the Gulf cartel last year. The two groups are now fierce rivals.
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