New documentary on bus driver extortions and murders in Guatemala City

Guatemala: Riding with the Devil is part of Channel4's Unreported World series. Reporter Seyi Rhodes lifts the lid on a large-scale problem that the national and international media rarely cover. 

Nearly 200 bus drivers have been killed in Guatemala City so far this year - and the money left in the bodies' pockets rules out robbery. The film focuses on the theory that the drivers are extorted for protection money by the city's two rival gangs. But the relatives of the murdered drivers say that the victims were up-to-date with their payments. Guate is run by a culture of fear; it could be that the murders take place to maintain fear and respect for the gangs, and keep people paying money to them. Another popular opinion is that hit men are being paid by anti-Government forces to destabilise the country and stoke dissatisfaction for Colom's government. 

Reading Between the Lines

The struggle of the Sandanistas against the US has become a story of left-wing legend. The news that the US was trying to crush a genuinely socialist government attempting to haul the Central American country out of poverty struck a chord around the world as crowds of 'internationalistas' came to join the revolutionary effort.

Far less is known about similar situations in the rest of the region.

International Pen Appeal: Guatemalan Publisher Imprisoned

The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN (WiPC) protests the one-year prison sentence and fine handed down to publisher Raúl Figueroa-Sarti on 6 August 2009 for alleged copyright infringement. Figueroa is currently under house arrest and there are concerns for his safety. There are significant concerns that the case against Figueroa has been brought in retaliation for his publication of books on human rights abuses in Guatemala. The WiPC is therefore calling for the case against the publisher to be dropped and for him to be allowed to return to the USA, where he is resident.

On 6 August 2009, a court in Guatemala City sentenced the publisher Raúl Figueroa-Sarti (F&G Editores) to one year in prison and a 50,000 quetzales (approx. US$6,080) fine for allegedly publishing a photograph on a cover of a novel without the permission of the photographer, Mardo Arturo Escobar. Figueroa denies the charges and the prosecution appears groundless given that, since filing the case, Escobar has reportedly twice admitted that he did in fact give permission for the photo in question to be used. The prison sentence is commutable to a daily fine plus litigation costs, but Figueroa is currently under house arrest and unable to return to the USA, where he and his family live.

Established by Figueroa in 2003, F &G Editores is an internationally acclaimed independent publisher based in Guatemala. It publishes fiction, poetry, social science and legal textbooks and is known for its titles on the human rights and socio-political situation in Guatemala, including the final report of the United Nations-backed Guatemalan Truth Commission (Comisión para el Esclarcimiento Histórico, CEH) and publications for the Myrna Mack Foundation.

According to Figueroa, Escobar - who works for a court of law - approached him in 2006 with some of his photographs and asked F&G Editores to publish them. Figueroa explained that he did not publish photos but agreed to use one of Escobar's images on the front cover of a forthcoming title (Rafael Menjívar Ochoa's novel Cualquier forma de morir), and in return to provide Escobar with a credit on the back cover and some copies of the book. This arrangement reportedly went ahead as planned.

In August 2007, nine months after the novel was published, Escobar filed a complaint against Figueroa for copyright infringement with the Public Prosecutor's office, claiming that he had only found out about the use of the photo when he saw the book in a shop window. At an initial hearing in early 2008, Escobar reportedly acknowledged that he had given verbal permission for the photo to be used but as there was no written contract, he was asking for "compensation" of 72,000 quetzales (approx. US$8,752) in lieu of unpaid copyright fees. Despite this, in November 2008 the court ruled that Figueroa could be criminally prosecuted and banned him from leaving the country without the court's permission. At another hearing in July 2009, Escobar again admitted that he had authorised the use of a photo but said he had not specified which one. The case went ahead regardless.

Figueroa, who is resident in the USA, remains under house arrest in Guatemala City. Under Guatemalan law, he should reportedly be permitted to return to leave the country while awaiting the outcome of his appeal. However, given the nature of the case, there are fears that he may be prevented from returning to the USA and therefore from seeing his family. His wife and four-year-old daughter live in New York and are unable to travel to Guatemala due to threats issued against his wife there in 2007.

Two Qeqchi Leaders Killed Over Nickel Mine Dispute

Sunday, September 27 on land claimed by the community of Las Nubes, which Compañia Guatemalteca de Niquel (CGN), a subsidiary of Manitoba's HudBay Minerals, also claims to own.