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Need security in Guatemala? Hire a private guard
A year ago, Domingo Castillo Yoc lived with three siblings and his parents in a rural village. A machete used on the family farm was the most dangerous weapon he had ever held.
Today, with a .38 special and bullets strapped to his hip, he stands guard in front of a small shipping business in a dodgy neighborhood in this dangerous city.
"The pay is a lot better here. There weren't many jobs in my village," said Yoc, 20, speaking in slow, clear Spanish, a language he learned in elementary school while speaking a Mayan dialect at home. "You can always find job as a security guard."
Security guards employed by private companies here outnumber police seven-to-one. Throughout Latin America private security guard forces dwarf police rolls. Even the United States has more guards than police–1.09 million to 883,600, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's about one guard for every 280 people.