Photographing the Patrulleros – the violent vigilantes of Guatemala
Published on 23 June 2015
Photographing the Patrulleros – the violent vigilantes of Guatemala
Written by Donatella Montrone
All images © Daniele Volpe
In many slums in Guatemala – one of the most violent countries in the world – ordinary citizens form vigilante groups to try to ensure community safety against the proliferation of cartel-related violence. Hiding their identities for fear of reprisal, they patrol the streets, armed, taking the law into their own hands.
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Guatemala is one of three countries in the Northern Triangle buckling from the strain of the gang-related activity that permeates every aspect of society. It has long been besieged by criminality, much of it attributed to two prominent gangs – Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, and Barrio 18 – that, like locusts, have decimated many aspects of Guatemalan society.
Law enforcement – overwhelmed by the scale of violence and too often complicit in criminal activity – has struggled to cope, giving rise to clusters of ‘Guardianes del Vecindario’, or guardians of the neighbourhood, community-based volunteers that patrol the streets, themselves armed with crude, makeshift weapons and guns.
“There’s no denying it’s difficult to live here – Guatemala has one of the highest rates of violence in the world. But there are two Guatemalas: the urban one, fraught with chaos and criminality – the one everyone reads about; and the hidden one – where the Maya live – a community that suffers exclusion and racism. They are a beautiful people, and it’s simply impossible not to fall in love with them.”
More:
http://www.bjp-online.com/2015/06/photographing-the-patrulleros-the-violent-vigilantes-of-guatemala/
