Author Archives

• Out of land and nowhere to go: Occupying land in Cahabon, Guatemala

  By kevodell on September 24, 2012 • ( 0 )

  “Cahabon, like much of Guatemala, suffers from a high percentage of land disputes. At the moment it is estimated that 50% of the rural population who work small plots of land are waiting to be recognized as legitimate owners. The… Read More ›

• Alice Zachmann Human Rights Defender Award

  By kevodell on September 23, 2012 • ( 0 )

  GSN is pleased to pass on the news that the communities of San Pedro Ayampuc and San José del Golfo have been announced as the winners of the Alice Zachmann Human Rights Defender Award. The Guatemala Human Rights Commission (GHRC)… Read More ›

• Reading between the lines: journalism in Guatemala

  By kevodell on September 23, 2012 • ( 0 )

  “Guatemala’s precarious positioning on the main corridor for US-bound drugs makes it one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman and one of the most dangerous places in the Americas to be a journalist. Efforts… Read More ›

• Capitalising on Natural Disasters in Guatemala

  By kevodell on September 20, 2012 • ( 0 )

  “In a country as vulnerable to natural disasters as Guatemala, a “state of public calamity” is frequently declared – to the joy of contractors, which find a good opportunity to line their pockets. Tourists visiting this mountainous Central American country… Read More ›

• Legal news from NISGUA

  By kevodell on August 25, 2012 • ( 0 )

  The genocide cases have moved forward against former General and de facto President Efraín Ríos Montt and two officials under his command: retired General and former Army Chief of Staff Hector Mario López Fuentes and former Director of Military Intelligence… Read More ›

• Accumulation by Dispossession

  By kevodell on August 11, 2012 • ( 0 )

  James Rodríguez of MiMundo chronicles another mining story, this time in the Dominican Republic. While at a distance from Guatemala, the company is the same – Goldcorp. Many of the images and stories are familiar to those already familiar with… Read More ›

• El Quetzal

  By kevodell on August 5, 2012 • ( 0 )

  The newest edition of Guatemala Human Rights Commission’s (GHRC) newsletter, El Quetzal, is now available online. In this issue, they feature articles about attacks against land rights activists around the country, including a close-up account of the impacts of the… Read More ›

• Guatemala’s Highest Court to Hear Landmark Indigenous Challenge against Mining Law

  By kevodell on July 26, 2012 • ( 0 )

  “Today [July 20th 2012], Guatemala’s Constitutional Court will hear a case challenging the constitutionality of the 1997 mining law for failure to consult with the country’s indigenous peoples who make up more than half the population. The lawsuit, filed by… Read More ›

• The spoils of an undeclared war

  By kevodell on July 23, 2012 • ( 0 )

  

  How Guatemala’s ‘War on Drugs’ is being used as a front to clear land for oil companies We mentioned previously about the Guatemala Government’s subservience to global corporate interests, namely that of French oil company Perenco. An article by Dawn… Read More ›

• Divide and rule in the land of gold

  By kevodell on July 23, 2012 • ( 0 )

  We have featured the pain and hardship that has affected the people of San Miguel Ixtahaucán in the Western Highlands as they struggle against the everyday power of global capital. Goldcorp’s Marlin Mine has been the cause of much sorrow… Read More ›