Guatemala

two people embracing

Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo, took office in the early hours of January 15, following delays caused by last-minute political maneuvers in the Guatemalan Congress, as opponents tried to attack the ruling party and undermine the president, reports Peoples Dispatch.

Bernardo Arévalo de León

Centre-left candidate Bernardo Arévalo de León from the Movimiento Semilla (Seed Movement) won a decisive victory in Guatemala's presidential run-off election on August 20 against the “pact of the corrupt”, reports Laura Salome Canteros.

Guatemalans have been mobilising across the country since July 29 against government corruption scandals and the mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic, reports People's Dispatch.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the long-drawn-out conflict at the Escobal silver mine in Guatemala — the second-largest in the world — is intensifying, writes Yanis Iqbal

Some of the most interesting movies in this year’s Spanish Film Festival come from Latin America and among them is this Guatemalan feature.

A new map developed at the University of Cincinnati illustrates one motivating force behind migrant caravans leaving Guatemala and Honduras to reach the United States.

UC geography professor Tomasz Stepinski has turned high-resolution satellite images from the European Space Agency into one of the most detailed looks so far at how people are reshaping the planet.

Stepinski said: “Right now there are caravans of people walking to the United States. Many of them are coming from Guatemala.”

The United States-backed former dictator of Guatemala Efrain Rios Montt died on April 1, aged 91. Zoe PC takes a look at the legacy of a man never brought to account for his many crimes.

Since September 15, Guatemalans have taken to the streets of the capital, Guatemala City, to demand President Jimmy Morales' resignation.

Morales is being heavily scrutinised for seemingly interfering with a United Nations investigation after he expelled one of the agency's commissioners.

When Donald Trump is sworn in as president on January 20, he will take over the running of the US intelligence agencies — the CIA, FBI, NSA etc — that have brought charges to discredit the outcome of his election.

The Electoral College has rubberstamped Trump’s election and Congress has ratified it. The storm over allegations of Russian interference in last year’s elections will pass as The Leader takes charge and cleans house in these agencies.

But there are some things that should be noted about this brouhaha.

Ernesto “Che” Guevara was executed by a Bolivian soldier in the village of La Higuera, Bolivia, on October 9, 1967. The soldier was acting on orders that came directly from Bolivia’s then-president Rene Barrientos. Guevara was summarily executed for fear that a trial would become a public spectacle and garner sympathy for Guevara and his revolutionary socialist cause. History has proven that what Barrientos, and Latin America’s elites, wanted was impossible. Guevara’s ideas live on and he continues to serve as an inspiration for leftists and revolutionaries throughout the world.
Local communities organising against mine

Canadian mining giant Tahoe Resources came under fire on August 11 for bulldozing human rights in Guatemala. Two groups have filed a complaint in the United States calling for a probe into whether Tahoe executives lied to investors.

In a Democratic presidential primary debate in Miami on March 10, against his rival Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders opposed US invasions, coups and interventions against Latin American nations. The socialist Senator also strongly opposed the ongoing US embargo against Cuba while praising the island for its social gains in health and education.