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 ›
Guatemala
Guatemala: violence against women
On International Women’s Day gender equity is still a long way off. Nathalie Mercier, of Christian Aid, writes in LAB – Latin America Bureau. The 8th March is celebrated as International Women’s Day. However, in Guatemala for the past three… Read More ›
‘Helen’ – a story of persistence and justice
‘Helen’, by Agencia Ocote, is the audiovisual profile of one of the most important women in the fight for human rights in Guatemala and Central America: Helen Mack. This documentary, by Julio Serrano Echeverría and Alejandra Gutiérrez Valdizán, builds a… Read More ›
Anniversary of the fire in the Hogar Seguro
It is now just three years since the fire in the Virgin of the Assumption ‘Safe/Secure’ Home (Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asunción) in San José Pinula, some 25 km from Guatemala City. While their lives can never be returned,… 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 ›
Giammattei Begins Term Alongside Allies of Jimmy Morales
‘How does a former director of prison facilities connected to a massacre end up as president of Guatemala? In the country’s recent history, discontent with the political class has created fertile soil for people claiming to be saviors to take… Read More ›
Drought and hunger: why thousands of Guatemalans are fleeing north
The threat of famine and the battle for dwindling natural resources are increasingly being recognised as major factors in the exodus José García Escobar and Melisa Rabanales write in The Guardian as part of the Global Development series. Martina García… 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 ›
What the CICIG Taught Guatemala
Irma A. Velasquez Nimatuj writes on the Americas Program website about the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG by its acronym in Spanish). It is a timely piece, as President Morales is about to step down from his role… 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 Solidarity Network 