Guatemala's new government makes extortion its top security priority
ABC News
Guatemala President Bernardo Arévalo’s new administration says it will make addressing widespread extortion its top security priority
GUATEMALA CITY -- Guatemala President Bernardo Arévalo’s new administration says it will make addressing widespread extortion its top security priority.
Interior Minister Francisco Jiménez, a security expert who has previously held the position, explained that Guatemala’s extortion problem is different from that in some neighboring countries.
Only about 20% of the extortion cases are attributable to gangs, while the rest are gang “imitators,” Jiménez said, meaning that opportunistic criminals trade on the violent reputation of the gangs to extract money from people.
Authorities also trace most of the extortion back to Guatemala’s prisons, where inmates use contraband phones to threaten and terrorize small business owners.
“As President Arévalo said, the issue of extortion is what we are going to make a particular priority this year,” Jiménez told The Associated Press in a telephone interview this week.
