That's in addition to 60,000 members of the Guatemalan army. The military estimates the total number of guerrillas in the country at fewer than 1,000. The daily El Grafico warned the government that the patrols have become a liability in its counter-insurgency strategy. In the cities of Santa Cruz, Quetzaltenango, and Guatemala City this week, thousands participated in marches calling for an end to the PACs. US Ambassador Marilyn McAffee has joined in the chorus of civil patrol critics.
Some patrollers however argue they are misrepresented.
We are trying to change the organization into an association for peace and development. However, new cases of PAC violence this week lend credence to those who say the patrols are beyond even the army's control. Another patrol chief was detained after murdering a 15 year old boy at a soccer match. Meanwhile, Interior Minister Arnoldo Ortiz has established a new organization to combat rising crime in urban areas. The newly formed National Council of Public Security will, with the assistance of the military, arm, advise, train and deputize citizen self-defense patrols.