LatinNews Daily Report - 03 May 2012

Guatemala | State of siege decreed. On 2 May President Otto Pérez Molina of Guatemala ratified a 30 day state of siege in the municipality of Santa Cruz Barillas, in the north-western department of Huehuetenango. The move is in response to violence that left one person dead and two others injured, reportedly by security guards hired by a company which is constructing a nearby a hydroelectric power plant. The violence triggered disturbances involving more than 300 people who broke into a military outpost. Pérez Molina’s invocation of the measure – which was used on several occasions by the previous government of President Alvaro Colom (2008-2012) - shows he is not afraid to suspend constitutional guarantees when it comes to upholding public order.

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