Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Danilo Valladares GUATEMALA CITY, Oct 11, 2010 (IPS) – A high-level commission has been set up to look into appalling medical experiments carried out by U.S. researchers on hundreds of Guatemalans in the 1940s, and the government of this Central American country is debating alternative ways for [...]
GUATEMALA: Reviving Lake Atitlán
July 22, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Danilo Valladares* GUATEMALA CITY, Jul 21, 2010 (Tierramérica) – "There are hardly any tourists now, and nearly all the hotels are empty," says Rosa Rosales, who works at the Hotel Pa Muelle, on the shores of Guatemala’s Lake Atitlán, a natural treasure that has been overcome by [...]
GUATEMALA: Major Setback in Fight Against Corruption
June 9, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS Danilo Valladares GUATEMALA CITY, Jun 8 (IPS) – The resignation of the head of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), Spanish judge Carlos Castresana, due to a lack of government support will make the already Herculean task of fighting corruption and impunity in this Central American [...]
GUATEMALA: Foreign Adoptions Are Back – Along with the Doubts
May 10, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS Danilo Valladares GUATEMALA CITY, May 10 (IPS) – The reopening of international adoptions in Guatemala in June might not only mean the chance of a better life for many children, but may also spell a return to corruption, fraud and the theft of babies, human rights groups warn. A [...]
RIGHTS: Guatemala, El Salvador Ordered to Heed Rulings
March 12, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS Edgardo Ayala SAN SALVADOR, Mar 12 (IPS) – Guatemala and El Salvador have a terrible record in terms of compliance with the recommendations and sentences handed down by the inter-American human rights bodies on cases involving appalling abuses like forced disappearance, torture and massacres committed during the armed conflicts [...]
ENVIRONMENT-GUATEMALA: SOS from Lake Atitlán
November 25, 2009 By
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS Danilo Valladares GUATEMALA CITY, Nov 24 (IPS) – A thick, chocolate-coloured scum floats on the normally clear blue waters of Lake Atitlán, in the southwestern Guatemalan province of Sololá, caused by agricultural fertilisers and untreated sewage from surrounding villages and farms. Scientists identified the microorganism responsible as Lyngbya, a [...]
GUATEMALA: A Tax Code by and for the Oligarchs?
November 24, 2009 By
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS Eli Clifton WASHINGTON, Nov 23 (IPS) – Taxation and government spending are the targets of a new report on Guatemala that argues the government is failing in its fiscal commitments to food, health and education. The report, issued earlier this month by the Guatemala-based Instituto Centroamericano de Estudios Fiscales [...]
GUATEMALA: (Barely) Surviving on Beans and Tortillas
November 4, 2009 By
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS Danilo Valladares GUATEMALA CITY, Nov 4 (IPS) – Juan Manuel Ardón’s bones jut out and his hair is dull and thin: signs of severe malnutrition. He is so weak that he can hardly walk or talk, and the doctors say his weight and stature are those of a six-year-old, [...]
GUATEMALA: Controversy Dogs New Highway
November 3, 2009 By
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS Danilo Valladares GUATEMALA CITY, Nov 3 (IPS) – Construction is expected to begin soon on a new highway across north-central Guatemala, the largest infrastructure project tackled so far by the government of Álvaro Colom. But the bidding process for the contract has drawn criticism, and there are questions as [...]
