Domingo Choc Che was a Mayan spiritual guide, a medicine specialist and a traditional healer. He was murdered in his hometown of Chimay, in the Municipality of San Juan in Petén, some 230km north of the capital, Guatemala City. He… Read More ›
Culture
Three years after the fire that killed 41 girls in Guatemala
By Frauke Decoodt – this English translation courtesy of Confidencial. “I don’t want anyone to wish me a Happy Women’s Day on March 8th,” recently said Brendy Cuy Urizar. Elsa Siquín Montafúr doesn’t celebrate this day either. Brendy is the… Read More ›
Pamela Guinea: Cinema made in Guatemala
It is very difficult to explain what is happening in Guatemalan cinema. How can a small country, without a cinema law and with so many conflicts, make such good cinema? Pamela Guinea is a Guatemalan film producer, and has worked… Read More ›
NISGUA – February Solidarity Update
Highlights from NISGUA’s February 2020 Solidarity Update include: 21st Celebration of the Day of Dignification for Victims February 25th marked the 21st anniversary of the presentation of the UN-sponsored Historical Clarification Commission Report for Truth and Reconciliation. The report, Guatemala:… Read More ›
Revolving Door Raises Concern about Corporate influence over Escobal Mine Consultation
“Just weeks into his administration, President Giammattei has already declared martial law in two municipalities opposed to resource extraction. He also promised to fast-track a highly controversial law to regulate the consultation process. While sure to be contested, many fear… Read More ›
Drugs, mining, monoculture threaten Guatemala’s mangrove ecosystems
On Guatemala’s Caribbean coast, criminal activity is destroying mangroves and the livelihoods of families who depend on them. Yet Guatemala’s mangrove ecosystems are connected to those of Honduras, Belize and Mexico. What happens to one affects the others. Francelia Solano… Read More ›
A Translation Crisis at the Border
Rachel Nolan writes in the New Yorker magazine about the grassroots group of interpreters who are often the only hope for migrants who speak Mayan languages. “The U.S. government claims to provide proper translation at all points in the immigration… Read More ›
Guatemala – CICIG’s Legacy
The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) have done a series of short reports looking at Trends of the Decade. Guatemala features in various themes, but I thought to concentrate on the Fight Against Corruption and CICIG’s legacy. Since 2007, Guatemala’s… Read More ›
The cold cases of Guatemala’s civil war were impossible to identify—until now
Decades after 45,000 people vanished in Guatemala, an anonymous skeleton finally gets a name. Nina Strochlic writes in the National Geographic For 14 years, a human skeleton known as 317-38-10 sat in a cardboard box stored in a metal shipping… Read More ›
In Guatemala, Giant Kites Honor the Dead During Día de Los Muertos
By Michaela Trimble in Vogue “It’s late afternoon on October 31st, and a crowd is gathered at Sumpango Cemetery in the Sacatepequez state of Guatemala to arrange flowers and clean the tombs of their dead loved ones. The air is… Read More ›
Guatemala Solidarity Network 