Jeff Abbott writes in the El Paso Times of the trauma of the military deportation flights as Guatemalan nationals are forcibly removed from the United States. It was a somber — and for some degrading — return to their politically… Read More ›
Jeff Abbott
Central America Faces Intense Wildfire Season
Jeff Abbott writes in The Progressive Magazine about the current challenges facing Guatemala with regard to preventing and managing the many forest fires that have been registered during this period of El Niño and being exacerbated by climate change in… Read More ›
What’s behind efforts to strip Guatemala’s president-elect of his immunity?
Critics fear President-elect Bernardo Arevalo could be blocked from taking office amid a probe into university protests. Jeff Abbott writes in Al Jazeera about the current attempts by the Guatemala state to block the anti-corruption president-elect, Bernardo Arévalo, from taking… 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 ›
Bernardo Arévalo Victory Is a Turning Point for Guatemala
The president-elect has promised to crack down on corruption and break up monopolies, a welcome sign in a country gripped by a wealthy elite. Jeff Abbott writes in The Progressive Magazine on the results of the election and the challenges… Read More ›
Guatemala: former president sentenced to 16 years for corruption
Otto Pérez Molina and his vice-president found guilty seven years after they were forced from office but culture of impunity persists Jeff Abbott writes in The Guardian about the sentencing of the former president and his vice-president following their being… Read More ›
Guatemala is Constructing a Religious Narco-State
Jeff Abbott has written a piece in The Progressive, for the “Other Americans” series, reflecting on the rise of right-wing evangelical forces in the once-Catholic majority nation which is reshaping its culture—and politics. As Christian nationalism rises within the Republican… Read More ›
Amid Impunity Concerns, Guatemalan Courts Advance with War Crimes Cases
Jeff Abbott has written a piece for The Progressive, reflecting on the progress of the Diario Militar (“Death Squad Dossier”) case and its progress through the Guatemalan courts, and which is to reach a conclusion very soon. Mayarí de León… Read More ›
Guatemala: As COVID misinformation spreads, vaccine doses expire
Jeff Abbott writes in Al Jazeera about the low take up of the COVID vaccine in Guatemala, the reasons for this, including conspiracy theorists, and the consequences regarding the expiration of the doses that were available. This is something to… Read More ›
‘Abandons its people’: Guatemala’s malnutrition crisis deepens
“Malnutrition is not just being hungry. Malnutrition is not having access to the basics of your human rights” Jeff Abbott writes in Al Jazeera about the scourge of malnutrition in Guatemala, especially among Indigenous peoples, and the complete indifference of… Read More ›