Bus service resumes between town and highway

Bus service has resumed between Sololá and Los Encuentros (the closest major stop along the Pan American Highway), after bus companies shut down the service last week for several days under threat of violence.

Local Kaqchikel residents became upset last week, when the bus companies began charging three quetzales instead of two quetzales and fifty cents (in U.S. dollars, that’s a price jump of 7 cents: up from 33 cents to 40 cents).

A crowd detained three buses along the road above Sololá, threatening to burn them. Fearful bus company owners shut down service in response.

I don’t know how everyone got things worked out, but I’m glad they did. The price is now three quetzales — a response to gas prices over $5.15 a gallon. It’s a wonder how any of these Guatemalans can afford to drive with these gas prices; average monthly salaries, for those who have salaries, are about $200.) The old U.S. school buses are a lot better transportation than riding in the back of pickups, in which passengers are exposed to rain and wind, or the insufferably cramped minibuses.

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In other crime news, Guatemala’s criminal networks continue to demonstrate strength, killing a top prosecutor who was investigating the killing of three Salvadorean politicians last year and four allegedly dirty police officers killed in jail, allegedly by gangs before they could testify. A group of 13 accused gang members was recent acquitted, leaving the prosecutor feeling his work was in vain.