Amnesty International has just recently declared the Q’eqchi’ Maya Indigenous leader and Guatemalan human rights defender, Bernardo Caal Xol, a prisoner of conscience, for having been wrongly imprisoned for more than two years. He had been defending the rights of… Read More ›
Guatemala
Behind the Fight to Hijack Guatemala’s Justice System
Ensuring impartial, professional, and honest officials in Guatemala’s highest courts is crucial to the rule of law, independence of the judiciary, and advancing the fight against corruption. Adriana Beltrán, of Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), outlines the various levels… Read More ›
A pandemic is not the time for reforming judicial nominations in Guatemala
As is the case in many countries across the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic has further undermined the rule of law in Guatemala due to the use of emergency measures to limit fundamental freedoms and blur the separation of powers. Simultaneously,… Read More ›
Judge who protected the son of Jimmy Morales will decide the future of Erika Aifán
The Supreme Court of Justice agreed to process a preliminary judgment against Judge Erika Aifán. The complaint was filed by Wilber Castellanos, known to have been in contact with Gustavo Alejos, currently in jail. What does the resolution say? What… Read More ›
A Crucial Moment for Guatemala’s Fight Against Impunity
Adriana Beltrán, of WOLA (Washington Office of Latin America) hosted a discussion with Helen Mack, Harald Waxenecker and Claudia Escobar. Last year at the U.S.-Mexico border, authorities apprehended more undocumented migrants from Guatemala than from any other country. That’s mostly… Read More ›
Working in fear
Gildaneliz Barrientos writes on the D+C Development and Cooperation website about the challenges facing journalists in Guatemala including murder, threats and acts of intimidation. This is compounded by the lack of protection from the police. In what is unfortunately a… Read More ›
The corruption epidemic in the Guatemalan justice system
Claudia Escobar Mejía writes, in the Global Americans website, about the ongoing, and increasing, infiltration and manipulation of the Guatemalan justice system by corrupt, and criminal, law-makers in the Guatemala Congress. The piece also explains the somewhat arcane process for… Read More ›
Domingo Choc Che – Savage Christianity in Petén
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 ›
Guatemala’s White Flags: COVID Community Response
They say that viruses don’t discriminate, but as COVID-19 sweeps across the world it has become ever more clear that this is not the case. Populations who have faced historical discrimination and marginalisation are far more vulnerable to both the… Read More ›
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 ›
Guatemala Solidarity Network 