This was the week that columnists in the UK press found themselves refering to Guatemala for various reasons. Mary Ann Sieghart in the Times (08-02-06) thought we ought to know about her exciting holiday. Perhaps Mary Ann got off on the wrong foot with Guatemala by starting with the Foreign Office's not very welcoming advice (where they point out the level of crime in Guatemala and not much else). Whatever the reason, it seemed the most salient lesson she took from her time in Guatemala- and that she wanted to share with Times readers- was that with Guatemala's dodgy signal, it was just great to escape her ringing mobile phone. No entendemos Mary Ann... isn't that something you can learn just about anywhere you choose to switch the thing off?

Picking up on an article that had appeared in the Guardian earlier in the week, Zoe Williams told us in her column (11-02-06) about how Guatemala was offering a "radical new departure in the lounge of reality television". Suffice to say, the jury will probably still be out about the 'social benefit' to Guatemala of this latest US Aid-funded televisual experiment, long after the ratings data is in the hands of the broadcasting companies.

Last up was Niall Ferguson in the Sunday Telegraph (12-02-06) who penned a critique of Bush for, essentially, 'losing' Latin America. Is it more important for the U.S. to have good relations with Latin America than the Middle East? I'm sure most people would actually say it's important to have good relations with both- since when was that impossible? But, Ferguson does attempt to shine the light on what's happening in Latin America- which actually starts to sound more like a critique of the UK media than of simply el Presidente Jorge Arbusto.

Guatemalan Justice

Apart from these opinion pieces, there were articles on the suspected gang violence in Reuters and the BBC. Reuters AlertNet also covered the news that the first payments have been made to victims of the civil war in Plan de Sanchez following the historic ruling last year by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Costa Rica, which awarded 317 family members close to $25,000 each to be paid by the Guatemalan government. For a more in depth look at Plan de Sanchez's plight, take a look at Grahame Russell's recent blog entry in Upside Down World.

The Photos That Changed Lives In More Ways Than One

Finally, Reuters also had an interview with Nancy McGirr talking about her work as a photographer with children and families living around the municiple rubbish dump in Guatemala City. Originally known as the 'Out of the Dump' project, Fotokids has provided hundreds of opportunities for children and young people to access art and express their lives in a unique, diginified and inspirational way. Founded in 1991, Fotokids celebrates its 15th anniversary this year with a series of exhibitions around the world- including London- more on that in this blog at a later date.