Author Archives
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Caja Lúdica
Guatemala’s murder rate is ten times the world average. The harsh streets of Guatemala City are packed with drugs, gangs and guns. Caja Lúdica is a youth arts collective, using arts and carnival activities to promote a culture of peace… Read More ›
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Guatemala begins to identify civil war victims
Something made me check out the Al Jazeera website and I saw this little video. “During Guatemala’s 36-year civil war in which at least 200,000 people died, victims of the government’s death squads were buried in unmarked graves. Now they are… Read More ›
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An indictment from the grave.
A murder foretold has convulsed Guatemala’s government. Its investigation will provide a test of whether or not Central America includes a failed state. So begins this article in The Economist. It’s interesting that the article states ‘the murder rate (of nearly 50… Read More ›
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Attacks on Human Rights Workers
We have just received news from ACOGUATE of death threats and attacks suffered by staff of two human rights organizations in Guatemala, SEDEM and UDEFEGUA, in the last number of days. The messages were personal and referred to the work… Read More ›
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Days of Papering
This is from a new photomontage from James Rodríguez and MiMundo. Next month, it will be 10 years since HIJOS Guatemala began their struggle in search of memory, truth and justice with reference to crimes against humanity committed by… Read More ›
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Congress approves Arms Law
Although the right to bear firearms is enshrined in the Guatemalan constitution, it is also a right that the Peace Accords agreed to limit. But over the past 12 years it has been impossible to approve a law to limit,… Read More ›
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On motorcycles and other things
In my previous note, I wrote of the killings committed by motorcycle pillion passengers on bus drivers in the capital. In a response worthy of Miguel Angel Asturias, the government have banned pillion passengers and the new law requires that motorcyclists… Read More ›
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A short reflection from Guatemala
I´ve been here on holidays for a few weeks now and what is unavoidable is the level of violence that is portrayed on the media, especially in the newpapers. It even seems difficult to make a count of the numbers…. Read More ›
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Groundbreaking Arrest Made in Guatemalan Disappearance Case
In a break in one of Guatemala’s most notorious human rights crimes, a Guatemalan police officer has been arrested in connection with the abduction and disappearance 25 years ago of labor activist Édgar Fernando García. The arrest, on 5th March,… Read More ›
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Who is Emeterio Perez? And why Goldcorp shareholders and investors ought to know.
This is an account of a meeting that Grahame Russell, of Rights Action, had with a resident in San Jose Ixcanique in western Guatemala. A village near the Goldcorp ‘Marlin’ mine. This article is taken from Upsidedown World.