Guatemalan mob frees 29 police officers
A crowd that took 29 policemen hostage released them Friday in exchange for talks with the government on legalizing their claims to land and possibly dropping charges against a jailed farm leader, a human rights official said.
Hundreds of people surrounded the police station in the Caribbean coastal town of Livingston on Thursday, disarmed the police and took them in boats to their remote village.
They threatened to kill the officers unless authorities agreed to release farm leader Ramiro Choc, who is accused of leading land seizures.
Choc, who was arrested Feb. 14, urged his supporters to release the officers in a telephone call from jail Thursday.
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