Between May 2014 and April 2015, the criminal network known as “La Línea,” took in over 5.1 million quetzales ($666,000) in bribes, and the scheme cost the government at least 14.3 million quetzales ($1.85 million) in taxes. Alex Papadovassilakis writes… Read More ›
Poverty
The Case of “Lote Ocho”: Indigenous women hold corporations accountable for violence
Indigenous women in Guatemala are using the concept of extraterritorial obligations to hold corporations accountable for violence—and to set important precedents in human rights law. Andrea Bolaños Vargas and Andrea Suárez Trueba write an interesting and increasingly relevant article in… Read More ›
Guatemala’s Murderous Leap Backward Is Enabled by Trump
Benoit Pierre Amedee María, known as ‘Benito,’ pictured during a graduation ceremony at the Ixil University. Photo: Giovanni Batz/provided for The Globe Post On August 10, a French development worker was shot to death execution-style in rural Guatemala, one of… Read More ›
Laguna Larga: Evicted families struggle to survive
The Human Rights Ombudsperson’s Office and the law firm (BDH – Bufete de Derechos Humanos) demanded that the Guatemala state fulfilled its obligations under the ruling of the Inter-American Commisison for Human Rights (CIDH) with regard to the 111 families… Read More ›
Three Urgent Policies For Achieving Sustainable Development in Guatemala
Decades ago, debates taking place among international organizations and countries around the globe were delayed in Latin America due to the dizzying implementation of neoliberalism. In Guatemala, these discussions were simply ignored: the country’s leaders faithfully believed in the directives… Read More ›
Guatemala case reveals how corruption perpetuates itself in Central America
Eric L. Olson writes on the Univision News website about the ongoing attempts, by members of the Guatemala Congress, as well as the country’s business elite, to corrupt the judiciary. Central America’s Northern Triangle Countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras have become… Read More ›
COVID-19: “Because of the President, people think it is a joke”
The government announced a steady re-opening of the country and this scared the medical personnel at the temporary hospital in Parque de la Industria (‘Industry Park’) whp have fought each day against the COVID-19 illness and in the face of… Read More ›
Officials Conceal Conditions at Guatemala Mental Health Hospital During Pandemic
After a nurse tested positive for Covid-19, advocates warn that patients at a notorious Guatemalan psychiatric facility will be “left to die.” Naomi Larsson writes a rather harrowing story on the NACLA website about the plight of residents in the… Read More ›
#GuateRacista: Little stories that reveal the depth of racism in Guatemala.
This was a recent, and timely, post from Jody García on the Nómada website. Any errors in translation are mine. The murder of the Mayan spiritual guide, Domingo Chuc, stirred a twitter dialogue on racism directed at indigenous peoples in… Read More ›
Domingo Choc Che – Savage Christianity in Petén
Domingo Choc Che was a Mayan spiritual guide, a medicine specialist and a traditional healer. He was murdered in his hometown of Chimay, in the Municipality of San Juan in Petén, some 230km north of the capital, Guatemala City. He… Read More ›