twice the upper salary in guatemala. and it's the money the officers desperately need for equipment. you. need not a 125 for the want you to see where to go and 90 from a nice. place. that you. at the end of the month the police station becomes a market place for weapons and other accessories. a former arms dealer sells the officers everything that isn't provided by the authorities on the job they're jealous of the careful. who are not cocoa don't make the money on. a used condom through may by over again for me bulletproof fasts belts holsters for their guns. includes ammunition to all of us busy all more users with their own money yes even for their uniforms when you put it was something

years old. the policeman lacked vital safety equipment when preparing for a mission only one of the males fully kitted out. of. this is a bulletproof vest. but if he gives me protection but what is that important sure it's very important place in the sea but not everyone gets one limb and. you're the only one who has one yeah. normally the 54 officers have one bullet proof vest in one machine gun to go around . this off road vehicle has been waiting to be repaired for 2 years. and. the unit has only one from. thank you if

you. read a lot of this is expect a columnist i'm on my way to the bus terminal there was it there like in a film that dangled the phone. inspector carlos is in charge today. but i want the most i mean let's meet by lima ok at the location ok florian. what's happening. there we've been informed that a 14 year old has a firearm. ever caused but apparently he's already fired this morning that. could kill someone so we're looking for him and. like many criminals in the city the shooter a still a minor inspector carlos receives a tip off about the boy's address all of a menial it's in an area that locals call. in the heart of the popular.

it's an extremely rundown area controlled by the party or 18 gang. of 8 in. the 3rd house. this one here. get over here you know here. coming up. the house is a half collapsed corrugated iron hut with clear signs that people live here. there's no trace of the armed boy. the police call off the operation.

it seems the boy go to way we think he was in the house with a ditch running alongside it. that's where he must have fled. but whatever happens we'll keep searching for him and we'll get him eventually. and then like ok. despite the unit being undermanned and under equipped inspector carlos remains optimistic. better be in a cemetery in guatemala city the scene of a never ending series of funerals. i. was a little police works here for him the somber perceptions are just

a part of the day to day routine. what is. there are 20 or 25 funerals every day. one burial directly follows the next most of the deceased were minors as evidenced by the young faces adorning the gravestones. the angel their young 14161819 year old wachovia is in the yeah yeah. he says he rarely bury old people here. these are young people just kids get letters. never here several 100 murders are committed by young gang members in guatemala. the victims are mostly rivals from other groups. but ordinary citizens are also killed if they refuse to pay protection money. one group

particularly at risk are bus drivers. i. i. i. just got to work sing one of all a city. for 12 years he's been driving the bus route from the last 49 neighborhoods to the center of the city. the buses on time. every time he gets behind the wheel he's afraid. that when we leave the house in the morning we pray it's a very dangerous job. that's believe us that. it's ok he turned off. to save me that part of this veil we look in the wing mirror whenever a motorbike gets close they ride up to the front of the bus and then bang. that

they'll shoot from the front or through the window or the door there's a lag a hole they come in a pen a guy and a girl sit in the back they take out a gun and shoot you in the head was a latin mass a financial product that's a young baby being like i was. a. 2019. dead 73 boston taxi drivers in one of my. himself narrowly escaped that fate. in 2015 he was targeted on his way to the bus depot. was knowing what i mean by goes out and was walking around the house. when i got to the corner i still thought. i was right here. i saw this guy pull out a gun. he looked at me and then boom. shot me 6 times in

a he shot me another fine times in the back. i was able to shield my head. then i collapsed i go. 11 shots in total. miraculously he survived but not everyone is so lucky. you know you're going to have to do. it without your best play show to me on a saturday the the following monday they shot another driver out there whether he didn't make it he died on his way to work and in the movie. time and time again bus companies find themselves in the modest sights. if the firm's refused to pay protection money it's not long before the gangs take action the. last guy was attacked because his boss refused to be blackmailed. back up how's it going.

i'm not done yet. you have to take care here ok they let you do whatever it takes to have it back on the street today you'll get it go on the buses have to be up and running and i'm going over there you're going to be in the meantime there were girls here that l.b.s. runs this bus company which has a fleet of 14 vehicles she took over the business after her husband was murder. he too was killed because he didn't pay the gangs on time. for. them and elementary 5 years ago my husband lost his life in an attack. the message the situation in guatemala is really very serious sic i'm going to allow you live the violence is getting extreme it's sort of the. beast now does pay the protection money to keep our driver safe every month it's the same for the look of them wouldn't you.

say i could look as they are this is how it works a person we've never seen before comes and hands over a piece of paper with a price and that's it we're not them as in the boy is one month we pay $10.00 euros then 20 and then 30 it changes all the time and buy up a symbol of the no i do not. know about how if we don't pay it gets complicated very complicated they ask where their money is or. what is complicated mean. death. c.n.n. was yes an ambush and in some cases death was one of the. legal gun sales in guatemala have increased by about 20 percent in one year. there's often a line outside the local arms control office people of all ages stand in wait to apply for a permit. the requirements are lax. security

or visit one out of maybe way by law to be able to buy a new gun but you need a receipt for the gun and i deal with that clear on the criminal record and an electricity bill as proof of address but i get it that exact that meant the world that they see this little thing. people take advantage of the flexible regulations with one in a quantum all it's now carrying a gun. some take things a step further forming vigilante groups to enforce law and order. this is the boss in the neighborhood to be in the way of not far from the capital. in the local soccer stadium allen's whistle has the final say on his turf. he's a referee responsible for the regional championship.

i was. over on the touchline as this trusted companion a 9 millimeter pistol. the 34 year old doesn't leave home without it. he has the gun to protect his family. spell it. for 16 years allen has been fighting the threat from the city's gangs. the father of ford leads a vigilante group in his neighborhood. so before that he said as we got together when the mass started extorting children are creative but every child starting at school was threatened as well and i wondered what was it overnight as

agreed that if we saw any modern us would kill them it was the idea whether or. today not just 40 or 50 people in this neighborhood there are 500 of us so. the moderates have been terrorizing the streets of bus in our streets for years but since the vigilantes mobilized the gangs have barely ventured into the neighborhood . highlands wife john is relieved. it was done now in other areas they even large poor people but not here thank god there are lots of stores everything safe the sun the usa are where like the kids often play outside. and they go to school and come home without us having to worry you can make it into a house that is. to keep his children safe alan goes out of control every evening.

put on your masks. 'd twice a week he takes his sons with him alan junior is 13 and yorick 15. ready. they're armed and masked in order to prevent reprisals. they then set out on their 4 hour patrol. shut the door. it's 9 o'clock in the evening they meet fellow vigilantes from the neighborhood. who are. not. the group is made up of shopkeepers office workers and even school children. you try out the walkie talkie i 'd tell you where you go you sure you tell you tell

you. i don't think from what i we're going to patrol on the other side. some of the men carry guns. letter after 5 minutes they reach a central square. one. of them because i was already doing over there in london along with a lot of hands up turn around there's another term for them for we're looking for bizarrely them. this is. going to the local bank i don't think someone got to go search the pockets of ordinary check the shoes or look at them. from the problems are not on your own or rather go to the front of. the boys had drugs on the. it's part of the one. where did you get those. who gave it to you. to put them on top don't smoke that crap around here.

would do a little. sorry towards the same idiocy. we won't do it again. get out of here in the heart of. cannabis is a banned substance in guatemala. allen confiscate the drugs and sends the 3 boys home. half an hour later they spot 2 more suspects. we don't want to see with his crap again get out of here i'm going to look at the 2 teenagers were smoking joints . they quickly disappear. at the edge of the neighborhood felons group meets another patrol.

at this checkpoint anyone who wants to enter but so night night has to identify themselves. with everything ok. the local residents have installed 5 checkpoints like this one they control who enters the neighborhood the strategy seems to be working as the area has become safer. but sometimes the gangs do find a way and. in july 2803 men attacked a delivery van leaving 3 people injured because of the attack was filmed by a surveillance camera. one of the attackers sent a message to allen vigilante group. having a safe neighborhood comes at

a cost. in just 3 years 5 members of the vigilante groups have been murdered by the modernists. on the day of one funeral the other members fire their weapons in honor of the dead. hi mom. thanks to the nighttime patrols peace has returned to the neighborhood. while the streets of the capital empty in the evening no one in. the store stay open after dark and residents walk the streets without fear. of. such a welcome development for business owners to prove that. they keep the criminals

away words or. end because it is everyone here happy about it and it was. yes everyone's happy when we'll stick together there aren't any problems. but the security guarantee isn't free. business owners have to pay around $4.00 heroes per week to have their stores protected. with some accuse the vigilantes themselves of running a protection racket. but the amount is only a fraction of what the modest demand plus there is now peace. because the state is incapable of protecting its citizens they've taken the law into their own hands. and it's likely to stay that way for a long time to come. the modest continue to recruit members not difficult in a country where more than half of the population lives in poverty. young people

with no prospects find a new family in the form of the gangs. and they're happy to embrace the notorious love you don't comment the crazy life of violence robbery and murder. who are these young people. we meet with mario our intermediary. he describes himself as a former gang member. he still maintains close contact with some members of particular 18. yeah it's me i'm by the corner down the hurry up it's getting late. and yes i'll wait for you to. listen. to. 15 minutes after the call 4 young men pull up in a car. was

a loyalist at 1st they're suspicious and i don't know but after a half hour or intermediary is able to convince them to talk to us for the interview we follow them to a nearby squat. 2 women and 4 men live here in a simple dwelling in a back yard. they're all around 20 years old. just. because of the what it is years boy's death when your kids are as. good. as this. for these for becoming a gang member is a childhood dream come true for us so that you go oh i was going to be good i'm going to give you as you got it let me tell you when you join the gang things are

good they give you clothes food and lots of money. anything is possible when body only 18 supports you but on the night it was a little as you say on a mortal for sure we love the gang that's why we do everything the ball scientists and. if by the end of the final way it was. just a few years they've risen through the ranks of their gang from mere helpers to contract killers. to. the dozen but. we always carry a gun for protection thinking about it but we can shoot anyone the minute we get the order. we don't ask why. it was one of you know my friend i have a lot of guns i have one of them here. or just one type of gun as it. is on the 9 millimeter. and

that's the deal here. that. the young men seem happy with their gangster lifestyle. and i just feel that. there is more than a little fatalism in their voices. what is it how do you see your future. your know to be honest i don't believe in having a future i'm going to be where i know that i risk my life every day i live in the here and now that's what matters. to. know. it's almost like i'm still the philosophical more because life of risk and adventure. you know look. for most young men like the one of 2 fates awaits the prison or premature death. hardly anyone manages to escape the clutches of the gangs. one person who did lives in la he will

not. it's one of the most violent fight realizing guatemala city. here we meet next gang member christiane. the 28 year old is a paraplegic and lives with his parents. one day in 2010 christiane's love yoko came to an abrupt end. he was robbing a bus when he was shot in the spine. being in a gang has taken everything from him except his life. maybe i was seeking refuge with. males that i like the way they dressed. i wanted to be like them. i never imagined a joining a gang would bring me so many problems in my. life and.

bring one for your wife to. christiane has left barrio 18 he now works as a tattoo artist a skilled profession that had earned and respect in the past. looking at these colors i couldn't quite get the same result for you it would be darker here and completely black than. some of his customers are also former members who now want to get rid of their gang affiliation tattoos. i used to have diamonds and stars the diamonds formed a figure 8 i covered them up with roses. i had to cover up the tattoo so that people would no longer identify me with the gang. you know represent that is some

people change their tattoos. some even burn the young girls might be in this game. so christiane's tattoos are a way to overwrite one part of a brutal past. and that's not the only thing he does to challenge the gangs so. every sunday he joins his father and the rest of the family in the kitchen. to make lunch for children in the neighborhood. on the menu today. fried chicken with potatoes and salad. christiane and his father want to offer the children an alternative a few hours respite from the violence on the streets.

they're still waiting for 2 of the children to arrive because. it's a moment of humanity the teachers the children something important they don't have to be a gay member to have friends. give them a 2nd. one of the children here is hard he told people i know his father from the old days. where you are he died when hockey there was very young. one day hot utah came up to me and said. i want to be a killer like my dad. is a look at that's exactly what we want to avoid that abel near where they put children follow the bad example of their fathers i love you look at the you know males we want to foster the good in them. this embody out of all. efforts by citizens in the state to secure peace. seem to be bearing fruit. the

murder rate in guatemala has been steadily falling over the last few years. $2900.00 it dropped by almost 10 percent. at the very least it's a glimmer of hope. fresh . lively. music can be much more than what mean things. are just 21 meets stars whose projects transcend musical boundaries. classical music like you've never experienced before you are just 20. 3 minutes.

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is news from some. people are detained at protests. tens of thousands turned out in the capital moscow with the largest protest in years continuing long into the night the wife of jailed kremlin critic alex is among those detained. large parts of hong kong face tough lockdown for strictures to curb the spread of coronavirus with thousands of police deployed to enforce the measures.