GUATEMALA CITY -- (AP) -- Crowds beat one man to death and attacked
 another for allegedly stealing chickens in what appeared to be the latest acts of
 mob justice in rural Guatemala.

 The incidents occurred in separate areas on Friday. In the first, villagers beat a
 man to death in the village of Xipac, about 150 miles north of Guatemala City.
 Police didn't know whether the villagers had accused the man of a crime.

 In the other attack, resident of the village of Sacatepequez, just west of the
 capital, tied the accused chicken thief to a post and beat him severely before
 police rescued him, said Faustino Sanchez, spokesman for the National Civilian
 Police.

 So far this year, 33 people have been beaten, stoned or burned to death by angry
 crowds in rural Guatemala.