guatemala

Latin Americans living in the Shadow of Volcanoes

By Rachel Bierly
November 26, 2018

In June of this year, Guatemala’s Volcán de Fuego erupted with catastrophic consequences. Over two months after the eruption, the death toll from the volcano was 165, and 260 people were still missing as villages were flooded with ash and lava. In total, more than 1.7 million people were affected by the deadly eruption (World Vision, 2018). In 1985, Colombia’s Nevado del Ruíz volcano in the Andes mountains erupted resulting in one of the deadliest volcanic eruptions in modern history.

Magic water scandal shows the deep roots of corruption in Guatemalan politics

By Rachel Rozak
October 24, 2018

Last week it was reported that the former vice president of Guatemala, Roxana Baldetti, had been formally sentenced to 15 years in prison following her involvement in what is being called the “Magic Water” scandal.  Baldetti was found guilty of participating in and directing a criminal network in the multimillion-dollar scheme, which redirected state funds intended to clean the contaminated Lake Amatitlan (Al Jazeera 2018).

Naming Controversy Surrounding Parran Hall

By Mallory Perillo
May 28, 2018

In light of the developing national debate on whether or not we should celebrate historical figures with problematic pasts, Parran Hall, the main building for the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health, has recently come under scrutiny due to the legacy of the man it is named after. Thomas Parran Jr, the former U.S. Surgeon General and Founding Dean of the school, played an active role in drafting the Social Security Act and founding the World Health Organization and advocated for universal healthcare. However, he was also the U.S.

What should we be asking about the new discovery of advanced ancient Maya civilization?

By Rachel Rozak
March 14, 2018

In February, a team of researchers in the jungles of northern Guatemala uncovered a secret which has been buried for thousands of years under its dense forested cloak.  According to the exclusive released by Tom Clynes from National Geographic, their mission revealed ruins of over “60,000 houses, palaces, elevated highways, and other human-made features” previously unbeknownst to scientists and scholars who study Maya history.  

Waves of trash several kilometers wide inundate Caribbean coastlines

By Rachel Rozak
January 18, 2018

In Honduras, coastlines are suffocating under the overwhelming amount of trash which has been arriving relentlessly with the tides.  Unlike the various bottles and wrappers that occasionally wash up on the busy beaches frequented in the U.S., the phenomenon, which has particularly rocked the ecosystem of the Honduran island of Roatan, is better described as a wall of trash; it spans several kilometers and extends seven meters below the surface of the water (Sanchez 2017).

Israel's close relationship with Guatemala has roots in country's civil war

By Rosa De Ferrari
January 8, 2018

Last month President Donald Trump announced plans to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and marking a break with years of U.S. policy that Jerusalem’s status must be decided in peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel. On December 21st, the UN General Assembly voted 128 to 9, with 35 abstaining, on a resolution demanding the U.S. rescind the decision. Of the nine votes siding with the U.S., Guatemala and Honduras were the only Latin American countries.

Israel's close relationship with Guatemala has roots in country's civil war

By Rosa De Ferrari
January 8, 2018

Last month President Donald Trump announced plans to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and marking a break with years of U.S. policy that Jerusalem’s status must be decided in peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel. On December 21st, the UN General Assembly voted 128 to 9, with 35 abstaining, on a resolution demanding the U.S. rescind the decision. Of the nine votes siding with the U.S., Guatemala and Honduras were the only Latin American countries.

GUATEMALA: Congress Rejects Movement to Lift President’s Immunity Amid Potential Corruption Scandal

By Kristen Gugerli
September 26, 2017

Members of the Guatemalan Congress ruled in a sweeping vote on Monday, September 11, against the request from the CICIG to lift President Jimmy Morales’s immunity amid allegations of corruption and illegal campaign financing in the 2015 election.

Ethnoracial Inequality in Latin America: Measuring the Effectiveness of Fiscal Redistribution in Bolivia, Brazil, and Guatemala

By Nora Lustig
June 23, 2017

A key indicator of ethnoracial income inequality is the difference in the probability of being poor between whites and non-whites. This probability is expressed as the percentage of individuals living below the poverty line. In Brazil, 5.2 percent of whites live below the extreme poverty line, while, for non-whites, that figure is 14.6 percent. In Bolivia, where 14.7 percent of whites live below the poverty line, the rate for non-whites is 31.5. In Guatemala, the rate for whites is 20.6, and the rate for non-whites is 46.6. To what extent does fiscal policy reduce this gap?

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