Our Man in Antigua

the latest news seems to be that the violence of Thursday night started about 8:30 pm around La Merced, with a gay couple attacked and who went to a different hospital…a moto involved and a dark maroon truck with a white stripe..four hours later more attacks here and there..the publicity doesn’t seem to have been widespread…gringos in Antigua, aside from the FB crowd, haven’t heard of it…my Guate friends lo mismo..Prensa Libre hasn’t mentioned it. So…was this random or calculated? spontaneous or planned? what did the attackers look like? Zetas,  Mara’s, military/police types? from the apparent savagery there was some relish in stabbing, slashing and not just ‘stand and deliver’..was there a ‘message?’…last year there were the multiple beheadings in the City…and that was a message..four gringos, a gay couple and a Guatemalteco who lost an ear and a lot of blood…it’s too weird.

 Adolfo our Alcalde is signed up with Otto: it’ll be interesting to see/hear from Da Mayor…will he call for more police, troops and public safety measures? six outrageous events in one night, in his town…go figure? is this over? or is this just the beginning of a reign of terror in the night? if the events had occured on 5ta norte, say from the park north to Studio 35, would there have been a different response? maybe the presence of armed guards at the gate/ropes made a difference in choice of targets..just wondering out loud and I keep finding other trails of blood here and there (around the corner on 5th calle from dos Reilly’s). From the apparent suppression of news, it would appear that this is being swept under the hospital bed..maybe the safest place in town is Cashbar…up on the Terrace…outside of Bagdad or Kabul, I’m not used to this stuff…Saigon, in its day, wasn’t this bloody.

As regards the presence of a moto plus the two in the truck, there’s a few other questions.  One doesn’t ordinarily ride around at night intoxicated(except for a few gringos we all know)#2…the implication of planning, targeting and attacking not just once, but six times all within ‘downtown’ and the targets themselves. There’s more questions than answers and they’re all very disturbing.

semi-logical deductions aka Sherlock (once you’ve eliminated….)

the targets of Thursday night were gays, gringos, a woman and a guatemalteco….all easy to spot and find. Antigua, as opposed to the City, provided a ‘target-rich environment.’  also, no street cameras and a lesser police presence. The profile of the attacks was unusually violent(everyone went to the hospital). Robbery is usually over and done with once they have your wallet, cell phone or watch. The serious nature of the damages done isn’t a typical robbery ‘signature.’…i.e, faces slashed, tendons cut, legs cut, an ear removed and copious amounts of blood letting. The amount of time expended(from 8:30 pm til after midnight) and staying in the vicinity is also highly unusual. Where were the police during this ”reign of terror?”…why no ‘enhanced police presence’ either Friday night or Saturday night? Anywhere else, including Gautemala City, this would be classified as a ‘crime wave’…and responses made…here? nope, nada, zip and zilch…the individuals or perps..let’s call ’em perps…were looking to do damage but for what reason? 

 this is my personal sense about the multiple events, is that is smacks of a gang ritual…a blood ritual aka Mexican stuff..two guys in a recognizable truck and a third on a moto? imagine the clothing of the perps…remember OJ? I’d suspect that the truck was stolen, as was the moto…think about blood evidence in/on the vehicle..imagine the uproar if this happened in the City: the Patriot Party would be in the streets the next morning…where are they? this wasn’t ‘political stuff’ like offing mayoral candidates up/down the country..we’re up to 30 or so now? this was, I hope, a one-time event…but..probably not, since they got away with it, earned their wings and some bragging rights…Antigua, the new theme park for slashers…i hope tonights rain washed off the sidewalks, here and there..the town has a stain…dark red and its everywhere.