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 News from Around the Americas | August 2006 
Guatemala Suspends Rights Over Drugs
 Associated Press
| A scenic view of Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.
(David McLain) |
The Guatemalan government announced Tuesday that it had suspended some constitutional rights in five cities along Mexico's border as it cracks down on drug growers and traffickers in the remote region.
A two-week order, called a state of prevention, allows the government to suspended the rights to carry firearms and hold demonstrations and meetings, while expanding authorities' rights to conduct searches.
The order also warned the news media "to not incite rebellion because on previous occasions radio stations have urged people to resist the destruction of drug crops."
"We are trying to fight drug trafficking and organized crime," Interior Minister Carlos Vielman told reporters.
The operation will involve searches for weapons, poppy crops, and heroin and other drugs in the border cities of Ixchiguan, Concepcion Tutuapa, San Miguel Ixtahuacan, Tajumulco and Tejutla. Authorities had already detained two people carrying firearms, Police Director Erwin Sperissen said.
Police officers, 21 prosecutors, two judges and 1,000 military troops will participate in the operation to combat the production of poppies, government spokeswoman Rosa Maria de Frade said.
She said Guatemalan officials also were collaborating with their Mexican counterparts to stop poppy trafficking to Mexico.
The poppies usually are cultivated in Guatemala and then transformed into heroin in laboratories on the Mexican side of the border. |
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