The Gang problem

A week ago I hung out with Monica, one of my best Guatemalan friends. She unfortunately told me some bad news which brought me feelings of anger and indignation. Apparently her family has been threatened by local gang members in Guatemala City. As some of you may know, gang activity is a grandiose problem in Guatemala and other Central American countries and these threats are very common. The gangs single out families that may have a small business, like Monica’s sister who owns a small general store. Most of these families are too poor to meet the gangsters’ demands. For example these thugs asked Monica’s family for 10,000 quetzales and it would take them months to come up with that kind of money. If the family doesn’t come up with the money then their lives are in danger. They will kill everyone in the family starting with the women and children. It’s so sad to see how cold hearted and merciless these gangs are. These poor families are put in a very unfortunate predicament because they can’t pay the money nor can they contact the authorities because the police are usually corrupt. Not only that, but if the police aren’t corrupt and actually do something to help the family, there is always the backlash of revenge. These gangs are huge and there is always another angry gang member who will seek revenge for not seeing the money. The solution is to move to a new town or to get a loan to pay the gangsters off. Even though these aren’t perfect solutions, considering the circumstances, they are the only ones to choose from aside from death.