Sumpango, Guatemala Photo: Axel (Zaxl4)
The following are mentions of Guatemala this week (19th-25th Feb) from around the world (nothing interesting has appeared in the UK!)...
A Spanish court has given the green light to hearing the Guatemala genocide case brought by Rigoberta Menchu. See more...
Guatemalan filmmaker, Mario Rosales, has started screening his latest 30-minute short film, Amorfo Te Busqué in the U.S. The film's blog describes it as an "audiovisual poem about the emotional disenchantment of a Guatemalan couple following end of the guerrilla uprising and the subsequent genocide carried out by the national army". See more...
Object of conquest itself just a year past, Glamis Gold of Vancouver recently announced its take-over bid for Western Silver for a paltry 1.04 billion (US) dollars. So, how did the struggling mining company turn its fortunes around? It starts with the World Bank, and the sacrifice of Mayan villagers on the alter of corporate greed and government malfeasance. (Source: PEJ News - C. L. Cook). See more...
Jeremy Corbyn MP wrote in February's Noticias about his trip to Guatemala and Mexico in January. The trip gave the Islington North MP food for thought as he reflected on the plight of Guatemalans travelling north across the Mexican frontier. Corbyn expressed his support for the campaign denouncing the building of a wall by the U.S. across the U.S-Mexico frontier.
Human Rights Watch has written a letter to Guatemalan President Oscar Berger, calling the Guatemalan government to take immediate steps to stop a pattern of deadly attacks and possible police violence against transgender women and gay men, and end impunity for these crimes. See more...
On Friday, February 24 several organizations gathered in front of the White House to protest the US-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) as the President of El Salvador Antonio Saca met with President George W. Bush to discuss the pending March 1st implementation of the accord. See more...
February 24 (Prensa Latina) Guatemalan humanitarian organizations Friday said that a legal process was presented to the Supreme Court in support of the missing children and adults during the internal armed conflict. See more...
Washington Post wrote an article from Santiago Atitlan: "People here call it limpieza social, Spanish for "social cleansing." But the recent surge in armed abductions and murders by self-appointed anti-crime squads throughout Guatemala is leaving a messy trail of blood and tears". See more...
25th Feb is the National Day for the Dignity of the Victims of the Armed Internal Conflict. There was an exhibition in Chiquimula to mark the day, of exhumations that have been carried out around the country. See more...
