Guatemala Probed Gang Activity in '80s: Sat Dec 24, 2005

Guatemala Probed Gang Activity in '80s: Sat Dec 24, 2005
By JUAN CARLOS LLORCA

GUATEMALA CITY - Guatemala's police were investigating gang activity as far back as 1981, according to police files that are being researched to shed light on atrocities carried out during the country's 36-year civil war.

Officials stumbled on the police archive in June while searching for explosives at a forgotten police building. They launched an investigation of the millions of files, hoping that the information may help families find out what happened to the estimated 40,000 who disappeared during the war.

But today, gangs, not insurgencies, are one of Central America's most pressing problems, especially in Guatemala, Honduras and     El Salvador. Gang members often run entire neighborhoods and are responsible for much of the region's violence and crime.

Officials believe gangs began first in the United States, among the children of immigrants who fled Central America's civil wars. They then moved into El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala as gang members returned to the region or were deported by U.S. officials.

Chief investigator Gustavo Meono told The Associated Press on Saturday that researchers have found dozens of files reflecting the burgeoning gang problem, many dating back to the early 1980s.

The country's human rights ombudsman, Sergio Morales, said the files contain lists of gang members, including names and addresses. Most of the activity seemed to be focused in slums on Guatemala City's outskirts, where gangs are now the strongest.

Police began investigating the gangs after business owners complained that they were being forced to pay members protection fees, extortion methods that are common today.

However, he said there was little evidence that the police were doing anything to combat the gang problem. Instead, he said, they were focusing on the country's insurgency.

The conflict, which ended with peace accords in 1996, killed some 200,000 people.

Meanwhile in Honduras, hundreds of people attended a Mass on Saturday to mark a year since gang members opened fire on a public bus outside the northern city of San Pedro Sula, killing 28 people.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051224/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/guatemala_police_archives