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MAY 12, 2000 Fears and rumours lead to a deadly attack on a Japanese tourist and a Guatemalan tour bus driver on April 29. A tour bus had stopped in Todos Santos Cuchumatan, a Mam Mayan village in northwestern Guatemala. While the tourists were taking pictures of local children, a group of 500 residents attacked them, suspecting the group of attempting to kidnap the children.

Along with other Mayans, the Mam have a widespread belief that their children are kidnapped and sold internationally. In 1994, June Weinstock, a US journalist, was attacked for the same reason in another village.

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Japanese Tourist Killed in Guatemala (AP 5/12)
Todos Santos Cuchumatan.
Photo © Casa Xelajú, 1999