News In Brief

Report on Guatemala says rights abuses on the rise

A human rights group concerned with Latin America called Guatemala a ''nation of prisoners'' Tuesday. The report, based on seven months of research in Guatemala and including testimony from sources that feared reprisals if they were named, urged the United States and other countries to deny Guatemala any military or economic assistance.

The report said that since Gen. Oscar Humberto Mejia Victores seized power five months ago, death squads have been reactivated and four to six bodies show up each day in Guatemala City. The report detailed dozens of incidents of torture and killing by the military and of ''disappearances.''