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 ›
Human Rights
PBI-Guatemala concern over the situation at the Police Archive
Brent Patterson writes: On January 12, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted, “The Supreme Court of Justice had scheduled a public hearing on the AHPN situation but rescheduled it for February 24. Meanwhile the Archive is left without staff.” The… Read More ›
'Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are everything but safe.'
Belén Fernández writes in Al Jazeera. This year, US President and xenophobe-in-chief, Donald Trump finagled “safe third country agreements” with Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, allowing the United States to deport aspiring asylum seekers to the very region many of… 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 ›
NISGUA – December Solidarity Update
NISGUA recently shared their Solidarity Update for December. Maya Achi survivors present a formal complaint against Judge Claudette Domínguez On December 5, 36 Maya Achi survivors of sexual violence presented a formal complaint against Judge Claudette Domínguez for acts of… 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 ›
Safe Third Country?
In November, a 23-year-old Honduran man became the first asylum seeker to be sent from the US to Guatemala under the “Safe Third Country” deal. Since then, it appears that up to two dozen asylum seekers have been flown to Guatemala. Two… Read More ›
2019 – a year of violence
UDEFEGUA has just reported on the number of personal attacks against human rights defenders in Guatemala this year, up to the middle of December. From the infographic, above, it reports that this year was the fourth most violent year out… 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 ›
PBI – Indigenous land defenders criminalized for opposing open-pit mine, dam
Brent Patterson, of PBI Canada writes, On December 20, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted, “Today we have accompanied the Law Office of Human Rights to Puerto Barrios at the initial debate hearing of Eduardo Bin Poou, Q’eqchi’ defender and… Read More ›