“Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina was recently named The Latin Trade’s Leader of the Year for 2013 in recognition “for reshaping Guatemala’s foreign trade and investment outlook, effectively implementing changes to position the country as an attractive destination for investment… Read More ›
Human Rights
Judging a Dictator: The Trial of Guatemala’s Rios Montt
The Open Society Justice Initiative has just published a summary of the six week trial of Efrain Rios Montt based on the daily monitoring reports from this website. The 56-page book, Judging a Dictator: The Trial of Guatemala’s Rios Montt,… Read More ›
La Puya – Employees of EXMINGUA-KCA plead guilty to threats against journalists
Guatemala Human Rights Commission (GHRC) reports that Juan José Reyes Carrera y retired Guatemalan Army Lt., Pablo Silas Orozco Cifuentes, were sentenced to two years in prison for “threats and coercion” against independent journalists reporting on local resistance to a… Read More ›
A personal story of the “Disappeared” in Guatemala
The annual commemoration of the International Day of the Disappeared takes place on August 30th and aims to draw attention to those people who have been imprisoned without their friends or relatives knowing where or why; also to highlight the work of… Read More ›
Guatemalan State Can No Longer Afford to Neglect Food Security
This is an important article about the problems of hunger and malnutrition that affect people in Guatemala, especially its children and the state’s wilful inactivity in this regard. Joseph Ringoen is a Research Associate at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs…. Read More ›
Increased attacks against human rights defenders in Guatemala
Alert issued by Peace Brigades International (PBI) Guatemala, May 2013 The purpose of this “Alert” is to draw attention to, and share our concerns regarding the intensification and severity of attacks against human rights defenders in Guatemala, the defamation and… Read More ›
In Guatemala, state violence is on trial but repression continues
“In Guatemala, the trial against former General Efraín Ríos Montt, who terrorized the country during his brief dictatorship in the early 1980s, continues. The general has been accused of killing hundreds of indigenous Guatemalans, and he is being tried on… Read More ›
Rights Groups urge completion of genocide trial
On Friday, April 19, the genocide trial of Rios Montt former dictator and Mauricio Rodgriquez Sanchez former head of military intelligence was suspended following the unexpected ruling of Judge Carol Patricia Flores on Thursday, annulling the proceedings. Judge Flores, who… Read More ›
String of Killings Leaves Five Guatemalan Activists Dead
“While Guatemala attempts to bring former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt to justice in a landmark genocide trial, deadly violence elsewhere in the country continues unpunished. In less than one month, five activists and human right defenders struggling against mining companies… Read More ›
We want Pencils, not Weapons: San Juan Sacatepéquez rejects new Military Brigade
“During the annual June 30th observance of Guatemalan Armed Forces Day, thousands of people marched in San Juan Sacatepéquez from their rural communities to the central square in rejection to the newly assigned military brigade in the municipality. Locals were… Read More ›