Why is it unsafe to visit rural Guatemala?

Question

I would like to travel to the back country of Guatemala, see the ecotourism that so many of our travel books advertise, possibly join a vlounteer group for a few years. How unsafe is it for Americans, especially for a white american female who is definitley going to stick out like a soar thumb? I'm 5-10 and blonde....I wpuld really like to hear from fellow americans who have traveled there.

Answer 1

The last I heard there are guerillas in the jungles of Guatemala and it isn't safe for gringos to be there.  They will capture you and torture you.  They warned my friends who were missionaries down there and they haven't been back since.  It isn't smart to do it.

Answer 2

Sweetie loves to point out that there are many white people in guatemala.

For some reason, many Guatemalans feel that their country is more "civilized" by mentioning that she has encountered caucasions before. I feel she is missing the point: rural guatemala is dangerous, especially if you are white.  It's not being racist, you just stick out like a sore thumb as there are not too many white people living in guatemala (compared to the native population)

Answer 3

Rural Guatemala has many areas with security problems however there are places that are relatively safe.  Travel to the tourist sites you mentioned is probably fine as long as you do not travel at night. Guatemala has a number of excellent Spanish schools.  I would go to one of them for a while and get the "lay of the land".  The better schools have offices that help people with travel and volunteer opportunities.   Reputable schools will give names and contacts for former students so that you can ask them.  Go to the state.gov for the latest security briefings in the consular information sheets.

Answer 4

In Guatemala there are a lot of mayan people who are blonde too.  You will not be a "strange" person between mayan people just because you are blonde.

It not unsafe at all........ unless you do not hurt people, because some foreigners came to the country just to kidnap kids and take them out of the country to give them in adoption or to hurt them by extracting their organs.

People are getting scared from foreigners because of this, some get scared when a foreigner take a picture of their kids because of the reasons I mentioned above.

Guatemala is not jungle, it is a small country with problems, but tell me which country do not have problems?  Drugs? yes  Delincuency? yes

We are a common country, with a lot of beautiful things to see.  Don´t get scared!

Answer 5

Ever seen the old horrow movies where the girl comes to a fork in the road where one is a well lit street and the other goes down a dark alley?  She of course chooses the dark alley and gets killed.  What does this have to do with Guatemala?  Nothing, other than the fact that if you make dumb decisions, you will suffer the repercussions.  I've visited rural Guatemala two times and never had a problem.  I stick out, 6'0 gringo amongst 5'6" dark skinned Guatemalans.  If you are alone you may have problems if you go by yourself, but if you have a couple of people with you, everything will be fine.  As others have stated, the extreme rural areas are run by the drug lords, but they won’t kidnap and torture you as the FARC in Columbia will.  The biggest danger is traveling at night (even sometimes in the day) in rural areas.  Bandits set up roadblocks and rob people, but ideally you would have two cars traveling together and this minimizes the threat.  Do not ride the Chickenbuses.  It’s cheap, but dangerous.  Most people ride with no problem, but your chances of getting robbed skyrocket if you ride them.  Use common sense as you would in your home town/city and you will be fine.  No one goes to Guatemala to see the city, they go to experience the natural beauty that is in the rural parts of the country. Go, have fun and you will be fine.

I would suggest going between November and February.  This is the non-rainy season and the risk of mudslides that block rural roads is less.

Answer 6

First off, let me shed a little bit of lesser known information with you about your intended place of destination.  First of all, rural Guatemala is a some what drug-runner infested area.  Secondly, unless you are a photographer with the National Geographic Society, being a "white female American" in South America sans escort of a couple of large and muscularly endowed men(martial arts training wouldn't be bad either),isn't exactly the smartest thing you could do.  Why?  Well, simple really.  You're a white, single(meaning no guy or guys are with you), BLONDE 5'-10" woman.  Now, what kind of low-life scum bag drunk and wanting what he shouldn't be wanting wouldn't take advantage of the situation?  Did I mention the drug cartel guys yet?  Oh yeah, I know as crazy as this may sound(yet the American Department of Interior{those are the folks whom to call and verify this with as they do this for a living} would be able to tell you exactly which sea routes and which countries are bad about this stuff because it DOES still exist!) white slave traders in or around that area would love to sell you to Arabia or some other country(even the Ukraine!).  Go to Japan.  They have the best sushi and sashimi shops in the world there!