Massive numbers of cases have stretched the San Juan de Dios Hospital, Guatemala City's largest, to the breaking point. The medical facility, along with the city's Roosevelt Hospital, treated 1,224 gunshot and knife-wound patients from January to November this year...You can check out photos from Guatemala's emergency rooms here.
Health Minister Ludwig Ovalle says treating victims of violence costs about $44 million, or about 10 percent of the department's total annual budget.
While you wouldn't know it, the total number of murders committed in 2010 declined relative to 2009 (Inside Costa Rica). As of Christmas, 6,502 murders had been reported, down 6% from the 6,948 murders reported last year.
In terms of where the murders occurred, approximately 58% occurred in the department of Guatemala (a department with 21% of the country's population). Escuintla finished second with about 12% of the murders (and 4% of the population). While the total number of murders were down, authorities said that there had been a greater cruelty in perpetrating such crimes (beheadings and signs of torture).
In terms of the victims, 178 urban or suburban bus drivers were killed. According to the Mutual Support Group (GAM), store owners and employees were also targets of crime with 101 killed, often the result of extortion gone bad. Forty-eight police officers were also killed.
In terms of the perpetrators, most of the killings were linked to organized crime and gang-on-gang conflict (Xinhua).
The Guatemalan Interior Ministry estimated 60 percent of the country's murders were committed by gangsters against ordinary citizens. Another 25 percent were caused by turf wars between the gangs, and the remaining 15 percent were due to crimes of passion or robberies.While I don't think that anyone should be out celebrating the 6% drop in murders, sorry to say, but it's better than a 6% increase. I'm hoping for a safe and happy new year, but I am worried.
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