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[GUATEMALA CITY, 18 July 2007] - An angry mob took 11 police officers hostage in Guatemala when a northern jungle town exploded in violence amid rumors of baby trafficking rings, police and army officials said. The police were trying to calm a conflict that began a week ago in Guatemala's Peten region when a mob armed with sticks and machetes allegedly beat a man to death and detained a woman accused of running a child trafficking ring. "Right now, the hostages, who are being held in the town square, are not hurt," police spokesman Carlos Calju said. Officials are trying to convince the mob to release the police officers in exchange for four men who were arrested for the alleged murder. "If not, we will take them out by force," Calju said. About 100 police and 125 soldiers were dispatched to the area to control the crowd of some 3,000 people, he said. Angry neighbours ransacked the town of Sayaxche last week after four people were arrested for the death of 45-year-old Leopoldo Cahuil. The mob blocked roads and burned the mayor's house, Calju said. Thousands of Guatemalan babies are adopted by foreign couples each year, with some couples - mostly from the United States - paying up to $40,000 to adopt newborns. Some mothers are paid for their babies in a lax, for-profit adoption system, but the United States and Guatemala plan to ratify an international treaty this year that would tighten adoption regulations. Newspaper articles about suspected traffickers have fueled rumors of baby-snatching. Several communities have attacked suspected culprits, sometimes beating and burning them alive. Further information
pdf: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N18178912.htm