Guatemala Shaken by Peten Massacre

Guatemala, May 16. -Guatemala was shaken on Monday by the massacre of at least 29 farmworkers in the northern department of Peten, apparently by the Mexican drug cartel Los Zetas.

The beheaded and bullet-riddled bodies of the victims, laborers at the Los Cocos farm in La Libertad municipality, were found on Sunday and authorities were investigating the exact time of the crime.

The National Civil Police linked the action to Los Zetas actions in several points of Guatemala, mainly near the Mexican border, where since 2007, the gang has grown and recruited Guatemalans to control its drug business.

Police also believed a link existed with the murder on Saturday of the farmâ�Ös owner, Haroldo Waldemar Leon, brother of the alleged drug capo Juan Jose Leon, also known as Juancho, killed in a 2008 ambush staged by Los Zetas.

This has been the largest massacre perpetrated in the last few years by the organized crime in this Central American nation. (Prensa Latina)