By: Este Chep, Interim BTS Guatemala Coordinator Just over one hundred days have passed since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Guatemala and the beginning of various containment responses by the Guatemalan Government. The sudden reaction to the crisis led to a wide social, political and economic disarray affecting [...]
On September 30, Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales announced a State of Siege in two more municipalities, now in Santa Catarina Ixahuacán and Nahualá related to a historic dispute regarding the border between the two municipalities. The Indigenous Municipality of Sololá rejects the State of Siege because it is not a [...]
By Este Chep, BTS Lead Cooperant Guatemalans headed to the polls for the second round of national elections on August 11, 2019 where Alejandro Giammattei of the newly founded VAMOS (“Lets Go”) conservative party received the majority of the votes to become the next president-elect set to take office on [...]
The upcoming elections have been marred in controversy and there is still a lack of clarity on the top three presidential candidates in Guatemala: Thelma Aldana, the former attorney general, Sandra Torres, last election’s runner-up and ex-wife of former Guatemalan president Alvaro Colom, and Zury Rios, extreme right wing candidate [...]
On April 22- 23, the intermediary phase of the hearing against six men accused of sexual violence against 36 Achi women from Rabinal, Guatemala will continue. The court is set to decide if there is enough evidence to send the hearing to trial. The survivors have denounced continued threats and [...]
Member of Congress and former national coordinator of the Comite Campesino del Altiplano (CCDA) held a congressional hearing on March 21 to question the Guatemalan Ministry of Energy and Mines, Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources, the Ministry of Culture and Sport, the Ministry of Finance and the Human [...]
The community of Quesada, Jutiapa celebrated a historic victory on March 24, after a three year struggle against Alternative Renewable Energy, a Guatemalan-based company which cut down over 25,000 trees to plant eucalyptus to be used as an energy source. Photo: Resistance in Quesada, Jutiapa For two years, [...]
This op-ed was published in The Guardian on January 29th, 2019. UPDATE: On January 23rd, the Constitutional Court unanimously voted to suspend, on a provisional basis, the proceedings which could have led to the impeachment of 3 Constitutional Court judges. Meanwhile, right-wing interest groups in the country continue to advocate for [...]
January 21, 2019 - Thirty Canadian civil society organizations, including BTS, have sent a letter of concern to the Government of Canada regarding the escalating constitutional crisis, as well as the technical coup currently unfolding in the country. Ms. Rita Rudaitis-Renaud Ambassador of Canada to Guatemala 3 Calle 8-44, Zone [...]
Four men from Finca Washington case (Photo Credit: Lisa Rankin) The trial against seven campesinos from the Finca Washington in Purulha, Baja Verapaz came to a close on Wednesday, September 26th. Esteban Ichich, Hermelindo Ichich and Ricardo Chun were found guilty of violent usurpation and coercion and sentenced to 3.5 [...]
