Kevin Sieff writes in The Washington Post on the challenges facing an independent judiciary in Guatemala through the situation of Judge Erika Aifán and the ongoing State attempts at criminalisation. Her bravery is unquestioned and neither is the cowardice of… Read More ›
Violence
“Malnutrition in Guatemala is a political strategy”.
Noor Mahtani writes in El País, as part of their Planeta Futuro series, about the scourge of hunger among Indigenous children and the Government’s unwillingness to do anything that might change the future prospects of poor Guatemalans. Any errors in… Read More ›
Imperfect Justice Is Still Justice for Wartime Rape Survivors in Guatemala
Jo-Marie Burt and Paulo Estrada write, in El Faro, on the recent verdicts in the Achí Women Case and what justice means for the surviving victims – perhaps justice but not closure. The piece describes disturbing examples of gendered violence… Read More ›
10th anniversary of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: challenges for their implementation in Guatemala
“The person who defends Mother Earth is unjustly accused and condemned, without evidence“ PBI-Guatemala recently published a feature on the challenges of implementing, in Guatemala, the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which were endorsed by the United Nations… Read More ›
The Origins of Racism in Guatemala — An Interview with Marta Elena Casaús Arzú on Anti-Indigenous Racism
Plaza Pública published an interview with Marta Elena Casaús Arzú in 2017 by Carlos Arrazola and the subsequent English translation was published in El Faro. It is a fascinating interview on race and racism in Guatemala. Marta Elena Casaús Arzú… Read More ›
Indigenous community takes Guatemalan land rights fight to international court
Sandra Cuffe write in Mongabay about a community in north east Guatemala, Agua Caliente Lote 9, which is taking a case, against the Guatemala State, to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The case relates to land rights and, if… Read More ›
Decades After Guatemala’s Silent Holocaust, These Indigenous Women Are Fighting to Bring Their Rapists to Justice
Eloise Barry writes in TIME on the fight for justice carried out by the Maya Achi women culminating in five ex-PAC members each being convicted and sentenced to 30 years. The pain endured over the years by the surviving women… Read More ›
25 Years After the Peace Accords, Democracy Weak in Guatemala
In Guatemala, safeguards against corruption, impunity, and state violence are being dismantled by the politicians, elites, and military and some fear the return of an authoritarian state. Giovanni Batz writes in NACLA on the 25th anniversary of the signing of… Read More ›
The Tragedy Of The Hogar Seguro: Revealing The Situation Of Guatemalan Children
“Guatemalan childhood is not the future but the present of Guatemala. It should matter to all of us.” ACOGUATE have posted a piece on the upcoming hearings relating to the fire at the Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asunción, in… Read More ›
Hope amidst the darkness: Victims continue to press for justice for wartime atrocities in Guatemala
At the end of last year, Jo-Marie Burt and Paulo Estrada presented a commentary, in WOLA, on the challenges facing those seeking justice for crimes carried out during the internal armed conflict. Many successes have occurred but the state, including… Read More ›