Guatemalan homicides fall for second straight year despite threat of Mexican cartels

Homicides in Guatemala fell in 2011 for a second consecutive year as police ramped up their battle against encroaching Mexican drug cartels and other organized criminals, according to government statistics.

The coffee and sugar producing country has been battling an epidemic of violent crime for about a decade, with homicides peaking at 6,498 in 2009.

Guatemala, which recently elected as its president a retired army general who has pledged a crackdown on crime, registered 5,618 homicides last year, a drop of 5.7 percent from the 5,960 logged in 2010.

Original source: Reuters