As some may have guessed from my article about 11 Guatemalan Christmas Traditions, I’m Guatemalan. For those who didn’t know, hi, I’m Guatemalan.

My summer 2018 started off with me flying out to Guatemala for a month to visit family, five days after I got home from finals. The flight was fine, thanks for asking. Didn’t get much sleep but that’s okay. Totally worth it because I’m getting to see my grandmothers, my aunts, my uncle, and my cousins.

Okay, but that’s beside the point. I’m about to tell y’all some shit that went down in the first week that I’ve been here.

So my family lives in a small town thirty minutes out of the capital, Guatemala City, or as we called it, Guate. It’s one of those towns where everyone knows everyone. Or at least it was like that up until some years ago when a water park and a university was built in the town.

Now, my aunt will say that she doesn’t know someone or that she doesn’t know why these new places were built since they’re bringing in all these different people, specifically being gang members, or as we call them, mareros.

Last Friday, my grandmother, my aunt and I were just sitting down to eat some supper when we started to hear all this commotion coming from outside. Being the chismosas that we are (i.e. the gossipers that we are), all three of us ran over to my grandmother’s room, which faces the street, to look outside. (Important side note, my grandmother’s house is across the street from the police station.)

Back to the story. So when we looked outside, all these tuc-tucs (these three-wheeled taxis), and people were gathered in front of the police station. The tuc-tucs blocked off the main road, not allowing any cars to pass through.

Wanting to know what was going on, we asked these ladies who were sitting on the benches in front of the house. They said that a taxi from the city came through and the people in it, supposedly mareros, wanted to rob yet another tuc-tuc.

All the tuc-tuc drivers came together to stop the attempted robbery. They forced the passengers and the taxi driver out of the car and surrounded them. According to the ladies they wanted to burn the said criminals like they did with the last people who tried to cause trouble.

However, as we watched, one of the passengers started to get riled up and threw a punch, and so a fight started to break out. It wasn’t until this point that the police decided to do anything. Relaxed, they came out slowly to see what was happening.

The people of the town moved out of the way a little and started yelling saying that the people who came in the taxi needed to deal with the consequences of their actions. The police tried to calm down everyone and brought the four people into the station. No one left the scene. Everyone wanted to know what was going to happen.

In addition, it turned out that there was a fifth guy and that there were also two girls involved. But these three people somehow mysteriously got away. When urged to go and look for them, the police said they couldn’t because it wasn't protocol and that they already had four of the suspects anyways.

Some 30 police officers had to stay and watch over four suspects and not one could be spared to go out and look for the others. Bullshit.

In the end, the police, being the low-lives and corrupted people that they are, came to the decision that these four people, including the driver, were just intoxicated and that they meant no harm. They said the everyone but the driver would be released and that they would go and find the true culprits. The people were not happy. They argued and said that they should have burned the four people in custody when they had the chance.

Funny thing was that the next day when my family decided to take a day trip to Antigua, as we were leaving the town, two police cars were stationed right outside the town, stopping anyone that looked suspicious. I mean, I get that they were attempting to do something, but that should’ve been done the night beforehand when the people requested it. Not the next day when the mareros have gotten away. But I guess that’s what happens when the police are corrupt and in bed with los mareros.

The next story is quite similar. It happened last night when I was on the phone with my parents. Apparently, this marero couple threw a cell phone under the door of a business, meaning that they wanted the owner to comply with any demands they made. Again, those from the tuc-tucs gathered again in front of the house. People started to gather but not as many as last week.

I watched from the window as they decided what they wanted to do. This event didn’t last as long as the other one, as it turned out that they didn’t know who threw the cell phone or if a cell phone was even thrown. My aunt said that everyone’s paranoia is just slightly elevated as a result of what happened the week beforehand. But like the previous week, the police didn’t do anything. They didn’t even come outside to investigate.

When I told my mom, one of the first things she said was, “Maybe you should come home earlier instead of staying the entire month.” I reassured her that I was fine and that I’d be safe with my family.

Anyways, I’ll keep you guys updated on any other happenings like this one.