Author Archives
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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.
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¿Indígena, garífuna, ladino, español, gringo, chino o árabe?
I came across this wonderful little video on the guate360 website. How we identify ourselves is an important part of understanding who we are. For people in Guatemala, there are at least three possibilities – ladino, indigenous, or Guatemalan. Why… Read More ›
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Mining in San Miguel Ixtahuacán: Conflict and Criminalization
“Experts often consider open-pit mining to be the most destructive industrial activity in terms of environmental depletion, social and cultural impact… In San Miguel Ixtahuacán and Sipakapa, San Marcos, intensive mineral exploitation has already left its mark. Local residents from… Read More ›
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Water Tribunal condemns Guatemala ……… again.
The Latin American Water Tribunal (TLA, by its acronym in Spanish) carried out its 5th public hearing under the motto: ‘Hydraulic justice for indigenous lands and territories’. The trial took place in the city of Antigua Guatemala from September 8th… Read More ›