Tailor Made Holidays in Guatemala: In the News

Mayan city under threat from drug runners: 02-06-2008

A 1,200 year-old Mayan city in Guatemala is under threat from fires deliberately set by drug smugglers to clear land in the jungle.

The smugglers are using fires to clear the way for secret airstrips and routes through the jungle into Mexico, from where drugs can be transported to the US.

American and Guatemalan archaeologists have been battling to save the Mayan city of La Corona for weeks, putting out fires, only for the drug runners to light more.

Mariela Lopez, a director of the forest protection service for the northern Peten region is concerned not only for the forest and the city, but the animals.

The region is full of wildlife including scarlet macaws and jaguars but their natural habitat is being desecrated by the cartels.

"We were able to bring some of the fires under control but the invaders just lit them up again. The rains have helped but there is still a threat," she said.

The cartels see the archaeologists and their guards as a threat as their permanent presence increases the danger of their illegal activities being unveiled.

Archaeologists took over 40 years searching for La Corona after artefacts looted from the site turned up in European and US museums in the 1960s.