Estrada, who covers the 30km route between Amatitlan and Guatemala City, said that together, he and the bus owner pay about US$90 a week to three different gangs.
But he keeps driving.
“I come from a poor town. I dare you to go and find any job there. There are none. That’s why those like me who only know how to drive keep working,” Estrada said. “Some weeks I pay more in extortion than what I earn.”
Luis Gomez, head of the largest bus owners organization, says every killing makes it harder to find drivers.
“We have routes where drivers are working double shifts of about 13 hours because we just can’t find drivers,” he said.
The murder rate has become so high, drivers’ widows formed a group and recently won pensions from the government — about US$65 a month for every dependent child a slain driver leaves behind.
So far 78 widows have sought pensions.
Meanwhile, Mynor Gonzalez has taken another job and only drives on Sundays on one of the few safe routes not controlled by gangs.
“I was lucky,” he said. “Other drivers are old or have no education. Nowadays employers ask for a high school diploma for any job.”
RSS