Guatemalan drivers blockade approaches to capital

A nationwide bus drivers strike shut down transit throughout the country and blocked highways into Guatemala City on Monday last week. Security forces removed buses that were blocking the roads, but more than 37,000 intercity drivers vowed to continue the strike until the government meets their demands for more security and a share in subsidies granted to drivers in Guatemala City. 

Driving a bus is notoriously dangerous in Guatemala, where criminal gangs extort protection money from drivers and enforce their demands violently. In 2009, 146 drivers and 60 assistants were murdered by gangs, and 20 have been killed this year.

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