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Tragedy in Guatemala Corrupt National Police raid Halloween event
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Bodhi 13:20
Bodhisattva 13:20
Started Topics :
38
Posts :
725
Posted : Nov 2, 2006 07:34
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I´ve never been to Central America, and after going there I don´t know if I´ll go back.
I was booked last minute as the special guest for this event, due to problems with travel arrangements for Wizack Twizack from Sweden. He is lucky to say the least that he had those problems.
It was only a few hours after I got off the plane that the vibe of the Mayan Spirit (the name of the event) was ruined by about 100 Policia Nacional de Guatemala.
The event started off great; I was sipping on tequila and a bit of local smoke and dancing while contemplating how I was going to start my set off. I was scheduled to play between 2 am and 630am. The artwork and deco were Mayan influenced. Large 3D paper mache mushrooms were strategically placed throughout the location, which was an old coffee processing farm. About 1am hit and there were about 500 people, many smiling faces all very happy to be there.
Thats when the sound cut off, and I noticed a man with a large gun and a flashlight up at the DJ booth screaming angrily. I looked around...eerily and slowly the National Police started invading the territory, heavily armed with AKs, rifles, and explosives.
They backed all the males against the wall and the females had to go to the other side in the field. They then proceedded to search each and every individual at least a couple times, during which time people were getting hit by fists and nightsticks in a ferocious, violent manner. Some were taken out of the line to get thrown down on the concrete floor and kicked, sometimes by more than one cop. During which time, a camera crew, who apparently worked for the news, documented everything. They even followed the cops as they went down the line searching people. During the mass wall search, other cops were searching bags around the location by dumping them on the floor and equipent, after which they destroyed many items including the paper mache mushrooms and blacklights, paintings and string art installations, and whatever else they could find. I don´t know if they destroyed any of the sound equipment.
Several people were beaten, and apparently one had to be hospitalized.
After the search was completed a couple times, the cops directed us to the middle of the concrete plane where we were forced to lie face down while they completed the search on the others. This took about an hour and a half before I was able to lie down. At first I was glad to be laying down, but as the time passed and tensions grew, I was wishing I was still up against that wall. I was lying on the ground face down on the concrete for about 3 hours. During that time, they had checked my passport a couple times. I could not see everything but heard several people getting beaten and harrased. One guy who was apparently another US citizen lost his temper over time and started yelling in spanish at the police about how he had rights as a US citizen and how they shouldn´t be torturing these poor innocent partygoers, in so many words. The cops did not take too lightly to this of course, and they came over and proceeded to beat him, right next to me. The whole time from being against the wall to laying down I was sure that they were going to hit me, as the odds were in favor for that since most conspicuous people were being hit. (I being a gringo would definitely fall into this category of conspicuousness). After a couple hours of laying on the floor I peeked my head up and noticed that there were hundreds of people lying around me in straight uniform rows and columns. Bathroom breaks were allowed to individuals who were vocal enough to apparently reach a sympathy level with whatever asshole cop that happened to be near.
My ribs and arms were increasingly in pain, and slightly wiggling around was the only way I could help myself without attracting too much attention. A total of 3 hours I was lying face down on that goddamn concrete floor. It got very cold as the sunrise came, making me wish I would have changed out of my airplane clothes into something warmer before the cops showed.
Finally they let us get up one by one and searched us for a third time. They then directed everyone to the other side of a cement divider, where old train tracks used for coffee processing lay. My body was very relieved to be walking around again. Hundreds sat and waited for the cops to make desicions. Who knows what they were going to do next, I thought. I then noticed that the promoters were arrested and handcuffed.
After sunrise, slowly the cops started dissapearing. At this time, I found out that the cops had broken into all of the cars in the parking lot by smashing the windows, and they stole several items. They also apparently stole items from the party itself, one of these items was the cashbox. There were about 7 lady cops out of the hundred or so, all complaining about the male cops claiming they were just there to steal and destroy things and bully innocent people. I would definitely classify these cops as corrupted and violent terrorists, led by a facist authority who obviousy planned this raid out several days before executing it. Apparently the cops of the area have been raiding all kinds of nocturnal activities, down to several of the local bars.
They want to be heroes but they are simply crooks. What do they want, drugs? I saw the news report on Guatemala TV (which I was featured in), nothing but a bunch of exaggerated lies. The amount of drugs found was very small in comparison to the amount of people there. There were only about 2 litres of pot, a few extacy pills, and a few small bags of cocaine most likely coming from only a few individuals. Even so, how could they spend all that money on raiding an event for that small of an amount? Alot of this doesn´t make sense. They were extremely adamint about searching everyone a few times, perhaps because of the frustration of not finding what they expected?
Luckily my belongings, even though they were scattered about in broken glass in the car I rode in from the airport, was still in tact. The only things I lost were time and the confidence in going back to Central America for an event. The promoters and their friends were more than nice and showed great hospitality, and I had some really good conversations with them. But still at this time I am not certain that I´ll ever go back. This was by far the scariest Halloween I have ever experienced.
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bianca djús
Started Topics :
2
Posts :
149
Posted : Nov 2, 2006 08:22
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sounds horrible
but i hope osko is fine
well everybody...
big condolences
& good luck next time .. and forever
[because i know u've had some bad experiences (ensenada)lately bodhi...  ]
anyways
just forget about it
u never know what kind of things can happen
all around the world
 Bianca
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Nomolos(Zenon Rec.)
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
48
Posts :
2027
Posted : Nov 2, 2006 11:18
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Elad
Tsabeat/Sattel Battle
Started Topics :
158
Posts :
5306
Posted : Nov 2, 2006 11:39
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pinkE
IsraTrance Senior Member
Started Topics :
441
Posts :
406
Posted : Nov 2, 2006 14:35
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GODAMN!!! this police brutality reminds me of what happend in Checq Tek 2005 with fire hoses and tear gas where one person even died... it is very sad news to hear that such things happend but this scene is exposed to many herrasments by the law and curruption by the law itself since this activity is so called illigal and forbidden/condemed by society... such things also happen here in Israel when many people are being physically searched without permission, (including invasions to houses) being beaten by police (like in a punk rave that was not long ago) and so on... or theives that come to nature party knowing that the party organisers wont complain or call the police for help... anyways with the continuation of the world and especially europe in making laws against raves and seeing them as dangerous to the society we remain in an infirior status where our activities can be terrorized by various groups who allow themselvs to bother us without being punished for it... 
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gabs
Started Topics :
4
Posts :
163
Posted : Nov 2, 2006 22:25
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oh my god,
what a horrible experience!
i'm so sorry you had to go through that!
it actually sounds very traumatic, if i was there i would have cried for sure!
i'd like to think these sort of things don't exist in our world, but i guess i'm wrong.. |
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Wilo-Audiopathik
Audiopathik
Started Topics :
0
Posts :
163
Posted : Nov 2, 2006 22:37
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What a horrible experience bro !!
Wish that never happened to you or anyone i been there and i know how it feels, f***cking crooked cops but it is like this some times!!
Well bro time to cheer up and enjoy the good things of music !!
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daksinamurti
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
94
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1489
Posted : Nov 2, 2006 23:03
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Oran
IsraTrance Team
Started Topics :
17
Posts :
1362
Posted : Nov 2, 2006 23:40
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Realy sad to hear about this experience you had to go through..
i witnessed this crap in india couple of times but not as brutal as you describe...
"That which does not kill us make us stronger" Always agressive never progressive. |
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AuraQuake
AuraQuake
Started Topics :
42
Posts :
128
Posted : Nov 3, 2006 05:40
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wtf????
i hope everything is fine with you now..... |
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A-Holes
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
16
Posts :
205
Posted : Nov 3, 2006 18:34
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Damn bro i was so sure Rambo movies are over but i guess not...
its damn to bad those fuckers did it
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dirtyphreak
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
14
Posts :
297
Posted : Nov 3, 2006 22:55
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AumShantiAum
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
27
Posts :
911
Posted : Nov 3, 2006 23:31
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fuck those dirty police bastards, i dont know the political situation in guatemala is, but if these people are the majority in power something should be done to get them out of power, fucking sick bastards! |
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mark f.
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
12
Posts :
326
Posted : Nov 4, 2006 19:37
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fuck......just unbelevble!!! i dont realised myself that this kind of things still happening! the people just want to have fun and listen to music!
be strong my frends! fuck the police!
just know dont make events in this place go a litle bit far but be safe!
BEAT CULTURE
http://www.myspace.com/markfmusic |
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Midnight_Bloom
Started Topics :
0
Posts :
11
Posted : Nov 4, 2006 22:36
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Holly shit..
sounds like a fucking horror movie.
this is so hard to absorb.
Hope you're fine now. as much as you can |
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