Guatemala Denies Harassing Group From California

A military commander on Thursday denied reports that authorities harassed seven Americans on a Christmas charity mission to distribute baseball equipment and toys to poor children in Guatemala.

The four adults and three children, who are from Santa Barbara and call themselves “Baseball Amigos,” reported Wednesday that their gifts were confiscated and they were having trouble leaving the country, said attorney Brent Schlottman in Santa Barbara.

However, Capt. Jorge Mazariegos, commander of this country’s Atlantic naval base, said Thursday in a telephone interview from Puerto Barrios that the Americans had not been detained and were on their way back to the capital from that Caribbean port town, 160 miles northeast of here.

“The North Americans are returning to Guatemala City along with the truck carrying the toys and baseball equipment, which in the end were not distributed,” Mazariegos said.

Mazariegos denied that “the residents of Santa Barbara were arrested by Guatemalan soldiers, as was said in the United States. The only contact we had with them was to allow them to use the telephone.”

He said the group arrived in Guatemala on Dec. 23.