VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGT #0278 0831257
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 241257Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY GUATEMALA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 7173

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 000278 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR DS/IP/WHA, DS/ITA/WHA, WHA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC GT KCRM
SUBJECT: GUATEMALA: RECENT SIGNIFICANT CRIME EVENTS 
 
REF: A. GUATEMALA SPOT REPORT 03/19/2009 
     ¶B. 09 GUATEMALA 202 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: As violent crime continues to increase 
throughout Guatemala, the following are some of the more 
recent significant events, including crimes against Embassy 
employees and American citizen visitors.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On March 19, 2009, at approximately 0740 hours, an 
American citizen Embassy employee, traveling from her 
residence to work and within five blocks of the Embassy, was 
threatened at gunpoint by a man on a motorcycle who demanded 
her cell phone (REF. A).  The employee was able to drive away 
from the assailant and escaped unharmed. 
 
¶3.  (U) On March 19, 2009, at approximately 0520 hours, the 
Acting Mayor of Escuintla, Lilly Mabel Garcia Najera, was 
assassinated by four armed men as she was leaving her home 
for a municipal conference.  A National Civilian Police (PNC) 
investigation is underway and no specific motive has been 
determined at this time. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) On March 17, 2009, an American citizen visiting her 
boyfriend's family in a suburb of Guatemala City received a 
note stating that if $5000 USD was not paid within 24 hours, 
the American, her boyfriend, and their two children would be 
killed.  The RSO concluded that it was a legitimate threat by 
local gang members and subsequently coordinated a police 
escort for the family to the airport where they safely 
departed Guatemala for the United States. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) On March 13, 2009, at approximately 1030 hours, 
eleven visiting Michigan State University students, traveling 
in a contracted tourist van outside of Patulul on Route 11, 
were forced to stop their vehicle by several armed men in two 
pickup trucks.  The assailants boarded their van and drove it 
to a nearby secluded location where they robbed all the 
passengers of money and electronics and then left the area. 
The press reported that the females in the group had been 
sexually assaulted, however this has not been confirmed; RSO 
is investigating. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) On the morning of March 13, 2009, it was reported 
that approximately fifteen armed men in four vehicles 
attempted to enter Colonial Oakland, a gated community with 
Embassy employee residences as well as the Israeli Embassy. 
When the two contract security guards did not immediately 
comply, the assailants beat the guards with rifle butts and 
then fled the scene.  It was reported that some of the 
attackers had rifles, grenades, body armor, and spoke with a 
foreign accent (possibly Mexican), and that at least one of 
the assailant vehicles was armored.  The motive is still 
unclear, but the RSO does not believe that Americans were the 
target. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) On March 12, 2009, an American citizen was 
kidnapped from his place of work in Guatemala City. The 
kidnappers initially demanded 150,000 quetzals (approximately 
$18,750 USD), but after negotiating with the family, accepted 
52,000 quetzals (approximately $6450 USD) and released the 
victim unharmed on March 14, 2009. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) On March 4, 2009, at approximately 0915 hours, an 
official Embassy vehicle was hit by one round of gunfire 
while traveling within six blocks of the Embassy (REF. B). 
RSO believes that the bullet that hit the Embassy vehicle was 
an errant round from the PNC during a felony pursuit and not 
intentionally directed at Embassy personnel. 
 
¶9.  (U) Although these are notable incidents, they are just a 
small sampling from a country that has been averaging 
seventeen homicides every day for the last six months. 
McFarland