UPDATE: Some information I wrote in my previous blog was incorrect and I want to apologize for communicating that information. The content was told to me by some locals, but it was innacurate and I should of checked my story before posting it. I have now received new information and want to retract a couple of the things I wrote.
This is what I wrote:
You are probably wondering why these men were being attacked in the first place. These two men were wanted for kidnapping children. The men’s faces are on posted on wanted posters all over town. There were three men in total, but the other man was supposedly already burned alive.
Here is the correction:
Someone in Panajachel sent Josh this comment –
“You are however giving incorrect information about the kidnappings and what these guys did along with the burning of the man in the square July. The burning of the man happened in Solola NOT Panajachel and it was not about a kidnapping. The kidnappings that were happening in Panajachel are not only of kids. These men were not kidnappers they were collecting a debt, which the guy said he did not owe. Later when the guys were taken to the courtroom they found out they were innocent and had gone to the Ministerio Publico before showing up in Pana about the debt for 800,000 quetzals. You can also read the story about it in the Saturdays Diario.”
“You are however giving incorrect information about the kidnappings and what these guys did along with the burning of the man in the square July. The burning of the man happened in Solola NOT Panajachel and it was not about a kidnapping. The kidnappings that were happening in Panajachel are not only of kids. These men were not kidnappers they were collecting a debt, which the guy said he did not owe. Later when the guys were taken to the courtroom they found out they were innocent and had gone to the Ministerio Publico before showing up in Pana about the debt for 800,000 quetzals. You can also read the story about it in the Saturdays Diario.”
To clarify a couple of things. Solola is about a 10 minute drive from Panajachel and that is where a man was burned alive in July and was not one of the kidnappers. The men who were beaten last week were INNOCENT. They were not the kidnappers either.
WHAT? These men were innocent! I saw two innocent men being tortured for crimes they did not commit. That changes things so much. Now not only do I look back on this incident as horrifying, but also ironically devastating. This mob of angry men jumped the gun and believed so strongly in something to the point of beating these two men in rage just to find out what they believed in was false and now they are the ones who committed a crime of hatred and violence against the innocent. Be careful what you believe and put your trust in. It could be that what you think is the truth is completely a lie and you might someday find out that you’ve been fighting for a lie that is detrimental. Ask questions. Seek the truth. Making assumptions and acting on them without checking the facts can be extremely harmful. On a very small scale compared to this event I have learned my lesson to make sure I don’t take information I hear on the street and write it in my blog until I have made sure that the information is accurate.
