Guatemala attorney general quits amid rising crime
30 Jul 2008 01:33:31 GMT Source: Reuters
By Sarah Grainger GUATEMALA CITY, July 29 (Reuters) - Guatemala's attorney general stepped down on Tuesday after complaints he did little to stamp out violence in a country with one of the highest crime rates in Latin America. Top prosecutor Juan Luis Florido left halfway through his term, a spokesman from his office told Reuters. "He presented his resignation, which is routine in institutions like this," the spokesman said, but was unable to give a specific reason for Florido's departure. Most of the thousands of murders committed this year in the small Central American country have not been solved. Human rights groups say investigators are poorly trained and underfunded. High-profile murders of politicians in recent years have revealed death squads operating within police forces and corruption in the judicial system. "[Florido] has not only been inefficient but he has also contributed to the deepening impunity in Guatemala," said Claudia Samayoa, a human rights expert who has written studies on violence in the country. She said critics have long pushed for him to be removed, but President Alvaro Colom did not give a reason for Florido's decision to step down. Routing out corruption in the country that is still recovering from decades of civil war and has become a hub for international drug trafficking will be a major challenge for Florido's replacement. Just hours before the announcement, the brother of a well-known human rights advocate was shot and seriously wounded by gunmen in a upscale neighborhood in the capital city. It was the second attack against the family of Helen Mack, a human rights leader whose sister was murdered by the military during Guatemala's 1960-1996 war.
Soldiers carry the body of one of four victims killed in a helicopter crash, which included Guatemala's Interior Minister Vinicio Gomez and Deputy Interior Minister Edgar Umana, as they hike through ...
