The following recommendations will help residents and visitors alike to increase their safety:

• Avoid gatherings of agitated people. Frustration over crime and a lack of appropriate judicial remedies has led to violent incidents of vigilantism, including lynching, especially in more isolated, rural areas. Attempting to intervene may put you at risk of attacks from mobs.
• Avoid close contact with children, including taking photographs, especially in rural areas. Such contact can be viewed with deep alarm and may provoke panic and violence. Rumors of foreigners stealing children surface periodically and can provoke a violent response towards strangers. Foreign tourists have been attacked by mobs and some years ago one was killed while photographing children.
• Keep informed of possible demonstrations by following the local news and consulting hotel personnel and tour guides. Avoid areas where demonstrations are occurring.
• Strong currents, riptides, and undertow along Guatemala's Pacific Coast beaches pose a serious threat to even the strongest swimmers. Signs warning of treacherous surf are rare and confined mostly to private beaches owned by hotels. Lifeguards are rarely present on beaches.
• Tourists planning to climb Pacaya and Agua volcanoes during Guatemala's rainy season (May through October) should plan their climb for the morning hours, when it is less likely that thunderstorms will occur. Climbers should monitor the weather situation and return to the base of the volcano as quickly as safely possible if thunderstorms gather. In 2003, a Canadian tourist was killed by lightning while climbing Pacaya. INGUAT, the Guatamalan Tourist Institute, has organized an active community-based tourism program in San Vicente Pacaya to minimize the risk of armed robbery on Pacaya. Climbing in groups is still highly advisable for any volcano climb to reduce the risk of assault.

Security escorts for tourist groups and security information are available from the Tourist Assistance Office of INGUAT (the Guatemalan Tourist Institute) at 7a Avenida 1-17, Zona 4 Centro Cívico, Ciudad de Guatemala. INGUAT’s 24 hour/seven days per week direct telephone numbers for tourist assistance and emergencies are (502) 2421-2810 and (502) 5578-9836 and the fax is (502) 2421-2891. INGUAT may be reached by its toll free number within the United States at 1-888- 464-8281. You may also simply dial 1500 in Guatemala to reach INGUAT Tourist Assistance. The e-mail address is asistur@inguat.gob.gt. Travelers may also wish to visit INGUAT’s website, http://visitguatemala.com. Tourist groups are advised to request security escorts from INGUAT


The foregoing text (in post #'s 1 and 2) is from http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1129.html

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