Election Day Riots

The whole month before the September 9th elections in Guatemala, houses, rocks, and streets had been painted in a variety of colors and signs representing one of the 20 or so probably corrupt political parties trying to get power on all levels of government.
Few people in Lanquin even cared about who was going to be president but were hopping to elect a new mayor, one who did not launder money, bribe other voters, or try to have the owner of El Retiro lynched. But this new guy lost, the incumbant mayor won, and at 3am, apparently about 6,000 people gathered int he town square and torched the municipal building, post office, and broke the windows of the bank.


Everyone's government papers, birth certificates and mail was burned and/or flew away with the breeze.
The streets were still and the people kept silent. an eerie and sad sight to see.