Guatemala City, November 6 (Prensa Latina) Homicides in Guatemala fell by four percent in the first ten months of 2023 compared to the same period last year, according to data released today by the Ministry of the Interior (Mingob).
The ministry recorded a total of 2,564 murders through the first day, 97 fewer than the same period in 2022, which Interior Minister Byron René Bor attributed to the good performance of the National Civil Police (PNC).
The authority, which took office on October 17 in the wake of the political crisis triggered by the protests in the country, emphasized its commitment to preventing and solving crimes.
Mingob data showed that 84.64 percent of homicide cases were committed with a firearm; 7.7 for strangulation; 2.92 were blunt objects and 0.28 percent were lynchings.
The counties with the highest rate of reported incidents are Guatemala City with 1,087; Escuintla, 264; Izabal, 142; and Petén, 101, accounting for 64.61 percent of the total.
Despite the PNC’s efforts and the latest figures, local social organizations warned that lives were at stake, regretted every single death and described the unsafe situation on the streets as critical.
They therefore call for a strengthening of prevention and justice in the face of acute inequality, uncontrolled weapons, drugs, criminal groups, worsening poverty, migration flows and a state that is not fulfilling its function.
npg/znc