Sandra Cuffe writes in Ojalá about the demonstrations taking place in Guatemala City in support of democracy and against the pacto de corruptos. These demonstrations are part of the national wave of strikes and blockades that have affected the country… Read More ›
Indigenous peoples
How Guatemala Defied the Odds
Rachel A. Schwartz and Anita Isaacs write in the Journal of Democracy about the Presidential election in Guatemala and how, despite the anti-democracrtic wrangling of the corrupt state and its allies (pacto de corruptos), the result returned a huge surprise… Read More ›
“The Guatemalan Attorney General should resign in Christian conscience”
“I can not turn a deaf ear to the cries of a people who for centuries have demanded that their voice be heard.” In El Faro English, Roman Gressier talks with Cardinal Álvaro Ramazzini, the Bishop of Huehuetenango, in the… Read More ›
A Besieged University Movement Joins the National Strike in Guatemala
Roman Gressier writes in El Faro English on the student movement and how they are trying to navigate the the national strike with what seems the open hostility of the university authorities. Just past nine on Friday night, some fifty… Read More ›
GHRC: Guatemala Democracy and Human Rights Update
Earlier this month the Guatemala Human Rights Commission (GHRC) gave an update on the situation in Guatemala, ranging from the convening of a national strike, the Public Ministry’s raids on the offices of the Supreme Election Tribunal (TSE), and corruption… Read More ›
“Dialogue with Indigenous peoples must be part of the democratic springtime in Guatemala”
In El Faro English, Roman Gressier talks with the Huxi Hurak (president) of the Xinka Parliament, Aleisar Arana, in the midst of the national strike/blockade being carried out by, primarily, indigenous authorities across the country in opposition to the attempts… Read More ›
Guatemala president-elect’s supporters block roads to protest party suspension
Demonstrations surge after court upheld suspension of Bernardo Arévalo’s party over alleged voter registration fraud Jeff Abbott writes in The Guardian about the unfolding scenes leading the national strike that has affected Guatemala in the last few weeks. Thousands of… Read More ›
When the Mountains Tremble: 40th Anniversary
The film-maker, Pamela Yates, of Skylight writes on the 40th anniversary of her hugely important film, When the Mountains Tremble, and its relevance for today. Although it’s been four decades since Mountains launched at the first Sundance Film Festival and… Read More ›
‘Fighting a huge monster’: mine battle in Guatemala became a playbook for polluters
Indigenous defenders opposing the Marlin mine were criminalised by a corporation and its state allies Nina Lakhani writes in The Guardian about the community struggle against the Canadian gold-mining firm Goldcorp’s Marlin mine in San Miguel Ixtahuacán, in the west… Read More ›
A Turning Point in Guatemalan History: Bernardo Arévalo Wins in Landslide Rejection of Ruling Elite
As news spread of the victory of Bernardo Aŕevalo in the presidential election runoff at the weekend by, what many consider, a landslide, Democracy Now had a piece featuring activist and award-winning investigative journalist, Allan Nairn, and Frank LaRue, Guatemalan… Read More ›