September 20, 2023

The Street Appeal

Thousands of Indigenous Guatemalans protested in the country’s capital this week in support of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo, as prosecutors attempt to ban his Seed Movement party, the Associated Press reported. The protesters demanded the resignation of government officials involved in prosecuting Arévalo and banning his party,...

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September 01, 2023

Holding On Tight

Guatemala’s Congress refused to recognize seven lawmakers from the Seed Movement party of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo, a move that risks deepening the political crisis in the Central American nation following a tumultuous presidential election, the Associated Press reported. On Wednesday, the legislative body declared the Seed...

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August 29, 2023

Mopping Up

Anti-corruption crusader Bernardo Arévalo won Guatemala’s presidential election on Aug. 20, garnering a clear mandate with nearly 60 percent of the vote. He defeated Sandra Torres, a former first lady, who was a leader in the Central American country’s conservative elite. It was a political earthquake,...

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July 26, 2023

Delaying Tactics

Hundreds of Guatemalans took to the streets of the capital this week to protest against the government’s alleged interference in next month’s presidential runoff, another development tarnishing the country’s electoral process, the Associated Press reported. The demonstrations in Guatemala City come amid a weeks-long political crisis...

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July 14, 2023

Contradictory Moves

Guatemala’s presidential elections were thrown into turmoil this week, even after the country’s electoral court confirmed Wednesday the results of last month’s highly-contested first round of voting, the Wall Street Journal reported. The elections took an unexpected turn last week after the Constitutional Court suspended the...

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July 06, 2023

Major Doubts

Guatemala’s presidential election took an unexpected turn this week when the Constitutional Court suspended the certification of the results, a move that raised concerns about the stability of the Central American country’s fragile democracy, Al Jazeera reported Wednesday. Results of Saturday’s elections showed that the progressive...

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June 27, 2023

Election Fever

Clashes broke out in parts of Guatemala as the country held general elections, a high-stakes vote that comes amid years of corruption, poverty and violence, Euronews reported Monday. Locals stopped election authorities from opening polling stations in San Jose del Golfo, in central Guatemala. They complained...

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June 23, 2023

The Fix Is In

A Guatemalan court recently convicted newspaper publisher José Rubén Zamora of money laundering and sentenced him to six years in prison. His newspaper, El Periódico, regularly investigated Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei and Attorney General María Consuelo Porras, the New York Times reported, adding that human...

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June 16, 2023

Unwanted Questions

A Guatemalan court this week sentenced a prominent journalist to six years in prison on money laundering charges, a trial that prompted criticism from press and human rights groups, NPR reported. Judges found José Rubén Zamora, founder of Guatemala's El Periódico newspaper, guilty of money laundering...

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May 29, 2023

Cutting the Odds

Guatemala’s Constitutional Court ruled Friday to end the election campaign of top presidential contender Carlos Pineda, a verdict that came just a month before voting begins, Al Jazeera reported. The top court upheld a ruling from a lower court that found Pineda failed to gather signatures...

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January 20, 2023

Wolves and Henhouses

Guatemalan authorities issued a series of arrest warrants against anticorruption officials this week, a development that has raised fears about democratic backsliding in the Central American country, the Wall Street Journal reported. The warrants target dozens of judges and prosecutors who were involved in fighting corruption...

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December 01, 2022

Inviting Locusts

Guatemalan authorities recently detained two Americans for attempting to steal scores of Mayan artifacts – “stone spheres, mortars, sphinxes, yokes, anthropomorphic figures – loaded on a truck,” according to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. The arrests were an unfortunately rare example of Guatemalan...

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