Candidates have been disqualified on spurious grounds as experts warn of country backsliding into autocracy Nina Lakhani and Jody García write in The Guardian about the manipulation and corruption being carried out prior to this weekend’s presidential elections in Guatemala…. Read More ›
Justice
In This Election, Some Candidates Lost Before a Single Vote Was Cast
Guatemala’s first round of elections on Sunday is as much about who’s not on the ballot as who is, after courts barred leading candidates from running. Simon Romero, Natalie Kitroeff and Jody García write in The New York Times about… Read More ›
The Lasting Legacy of the Rios Montt Guilty Verdict
Pamela Yates, the film-maker with Skylight Pictures, recently presented a piece marking the ten year anniversary of the guilty verdict against General Efraín Ríos Montt for genocide and crimes against humanity. Today (May 10, 2023) marks the day when General… Read More ›
List of Presidential Candidates Unclear 24 Days before Guatemalan Elections
“The Supreme Electoral Tribunal has been co-opted by those imposing their own benefit.” Roman Gressier writes in El Faro English about the upcoming presidential elections in Guatemala. It does look as if the the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) has decided… Read More ›
Human Rights Award To Parliament of the Xinka People
The 2023 Human Rights Award from Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights is awarded to Guatemalan Indigenous rights group, Parlamento del Pueblo Xinka (Parliament of the Xinka People). The Parlamento del Pueblo Xinka (Parliament of the Xinka People) is the Assembly… Read More ›
Statement Supporting UDEFEGUA Director Jorge Santos
The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns (OGC) is one of twenty one organisations offering their support to Jorge Santos, director of the Unit for the Protection of Rights Defenders in Guatemala (UDEFEGUA). They state that Guatemala currently faces rampant corruption… Read More ›
The Massacre of Rancho Bejuco
David Toro Escobar writes in La Prensa Latina about the trial of nine former members of the Guatemalan army regarding the 1982 massacre of Rancho Bejuco. Of the 25 indigenous Achi Maya peoples killed, 17 were children. Rancho Bejuco, is… Read More ›
elPeriódico Forced to Close as Ninth Defense Attorney Takes on Zamora Case
Julie López and Roman Gressier write in El Faro about the ongoing attack against anti-corruption actors through the lens of the attack on the news outlet elPeriódico and its founder José Rubén Zamora. It is a cautionary tale but one… Read More ›
Peaceful Resistance of La Puya expects ICSID ruling in June as consultation process on El Tambor mine set to start this summer
On March 2, 2012, area residents, who had not been consulted about this mine, set up a 24-hour a day blockade at the entrance to the mine site. Within weeks, on May 8, 2012, the women of the Peaceful Resistance… Read More ›
Four-Year Sentence of Anti-Corruption Leader Deals a Blow to Guatemalan Democracy
Carolina Jiménez Sandoval and Isabel Carlota Roby write in El Faro English about the detention and conviction of Guatemalan public prosecutor Virginia Laparra after she alleged corruption within the judiciary. They describe the misogynistic treatment they received as female visitors… Read More ›
Guatemala Solidarity Network 