WITNESS: In Guatemala, violence is always near

By Mica Rosenberg

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - The last time I saw Arnulfo Andrade, I was crouched behind his driver's seat on a smoky city bus, interviewing him about the dangers he faced on his route in one of Guatemala's most violent neighborhoods.

"You go to work scared all the time," he told me over the engine's roar, "but you gotta keep working."

He looked younger than his 30 years with his baseball cap on backwards and a wispy mustache, an easygoing man joking with his young assistant collecting the $0.13 fare.

Arnulfo was just doing his job, and for that he was murdered, shot in the head and stomach and left to die behind the wheel. His 17-year-old helper took a bullet in the arm.

He was the 43rd bus driver to be killed in Guatemala last year; most were executed for failing to pay "war taxes" to violent street gangs controlling certain districts in the sprawling Central American capital.

The gangs pull in millions of dollars extorting daily or weekly fees from terrified shop owners, factory workers, teachers, deliverymen and families under threat of kidnapping, rape or death.

Much of the money goes to pay off corrupt cops who do little to protect innocent victims like Arnulfo.

Guatemala is one of the most violent countries in the Americas, with almost 6,000 people murdered here last year. That is 46 victims per 100,000 people, a rate eight times higher than in the United States.