2 bus drivers killed

On 25 March 2009 two bus drivers were killed and one assistant was wounded in two separate attacks on the public transportation system in Guatemala City. The first attack, which killed one driver and injured his assistant, occurred in the southern municipality of Villa Nueva. The other attack, which killed a second bus driver, occurred in the northern municipality of Canalitos. In 2009 alone 33 bus drivers have been murdered. Authorities suspect the drivers to be victims of extortion rings run by criminal organizations, which charge the drivers a fee for safe passage. When drivers refuse to pay, the organisations evidently order juvenile gangs to assassinate them. In reaction to the latest incidents, President Alvaro Colom postponed his scheduled trip to Nicaragua and called on the population to remain calm in the face of increasing violence. Colom assured residents of the capital that security checkpoints have been established in various locations. Since the evening of 24 March, army and National Police personnel have been monitoring the streets in several peripheral zones of Guatemala City, armed with automatic weapons and accompanied by tanks.