Guatemala bans motorcycle passengers

Guatemala, Apr 12 (Prensa Latina) Preliminary reports of the Holy Week as part of the holidays in Guatemala and Panama talk of 50 dead and over 99 wounded. In Guatemala, whose authorities consider the week quiet, the toll rounds 40 deaths and 70.

At least 70 people were killed, mainly in traffic accidents and by gunfire in Guatemala during the Easter holiday, according to reports reaching here on Friday.

On March 25 Gladys Monterroso was kidnapped while eating breakfast in a restaurant in Guatemala City and held for 13 hours. Just one day earlier her husband, the Human Rights Ombudsman, released a groundbreaking report.

More than 1,000 slain in Guatemala in 1st quarter, group says people were murdered in Guatemala during the first three months of this year, the Mutual Support Group, or GAM, said Friday. The GAM, a human rights organization, said that the overwhelming majority of victims were adult males.

Guatemala has banned motorcyclists from carrying passengers in an attempt to crack down on drive-by murders by gunmen perched on the back of moving bikes. Gang members weave through traffic in the Central American country, holding up drivers at gunpoint.