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Recently in Guatemala, many Catholics and Christians were involved in a Peace Walk protesting the excessive amount of violence, murders, abductions, rapes, drug addiction, and violence stemming from drugs. The walk was aimed to represent the extreme necessity of security that needs to be brought into Guatemala. During the protest, people used religion to preach for peace by holding signs that read "through Jesus and Mary we can have peace." Gangs such as maras are causing an overall insecurity throughout Guatemala (a recent study stated that 78 percent of Guatemalans are afraid to go out in the street and 90 percent are afraid of kidnapping). Everyday the people of Guatemala are threatened not knowing if either themselves or a loved one will be harmed in some way. Until changes are made and there is more security, the people of Guatemala call upon God and protest.

over 10,000 Catholic and Christian Guatemalans protested their frustration over violence and drug abuse. Crime has increased drastically over the past year in Guatemala, with 6292 murders. Cardinal Quezada Toruno spoke to the protesters in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral in Guatemala and turned to god and social activism to help decrease violence and crime in Guatemala.

In Guatemala the rate of violent deaths of women is outrageously hight and is still growing rapidly. The murdering of women usually involves torture, rape, or mutilation. Norma Cruz,co-founder of the NGO Survivors Foundation, has helped to provide many victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse and the families of murdered women with emotional and social support. According to Cruz, the "increasing number of killings of women in Guatemala is tied to the poverty that is the aftermath of Guatemala's civil war..." Even though her position in the foundation has many risks and harms, it has given voice to many victims and inspired other foundations in Guatemala to help this on-going issue of violence.

This article dicusses the murder of Rodrigo Rosenberg, a famous lawyer in Guatemala in May 2009. A few days before he was shot, Mr. Rosenberg made in a video in which he predicted his death and blamed President Álvaro Colom. Rosenberg also blamed the President for the death of his wife, the president's secretary, and other bankers and businessmen. The article goes into a description of the crime and poverty that have hit Guatemala since the civil war.

Although this article does not directly discuss the civil war that Guatemala has experienced and has yet to fully recover from, here you can see some the direct results of the civil war. What occurred in Guatemala definitely prepared it for the condition that it is in now. Not only is the country facing political issues, dealing with issues regarding the past civil war, the land which was once inhabited by indigenous peoples has not turned into a complete battlefield, even after the war.

In this New York Times article, dated May 22, 2009, the conspiracy surrounding the death of Rodrigo Rosenberg, a prominent lawyer in Guatemala, was discussed. Even though there was a peace accord signed in 1996 to end the civil war, violence and corruption still exists in the society. In a video shot days before Rosenberg's death, he not only predicted that he would be next to be killed, but also pointed out the president and his wife, who is also his secretary, as the main figures involved in this corruption. Rosenberg said that the scandal involved the Rural Development Bank and had already resulted in the death of one of his clients and his client's daughter. The president and his wife have publicly stated they had nothing to do with the murders, but Rosenberg predicting his death is a chilling aspect to the accusations.

The military's efforts to exercise power through terrorizing during the civil war in Guatemala (1960-1966), resurfaces today through the acts of gender-based violence, committed by gangs in Guatemala. This exemplifies how war and violence shapes society and how it has influenced gender equality. There is as much terror and torturing of women as there was during the war. However, now this reality is being reinforced by members of society-since such crimes go unnoticed/unpunished-, normalizing terror and fear in Guatemala.

This article talks about violence against women in Guatemala and how it is not only happening more these days, but the crimes are also seeming to get worse. It also talks about the difference between the murders of both men and women and possible reasons for why they were caused. Recently however, there have been marches in the streets and increased awareness domestically and internationally of the problems facing the country regarding violence.

This article deals with steps to help contain corruption in Guatemala. They are trying to pass a law for free access to public information and transparency in public institutions. This law needs to be passed to show improvement when it comes to corruption in Guatemala and if the republican congress really cares then they will have to pass this law.

The article talks about the crime going on in Guatemala and how if you commit a murder in Guatemala you will most likely get away with it. Guatemala's conviction rate is in the single digits. It talks about the lack of resources the police have which in turn results in more crime and murders. Guatemala has a very weak and corrupt judicial system and system where it is bad to rat someone out by telling on them. Crime and gangs are huge in Guatemala, there is said to be more gang members then police officers.

Lorenzo Rosebaugh, a catholic priest, was killed in Guatemala in May of last year. Although the crime rate in Guatemala is very high, this killing brought new attention to crime and violence in Guatemala. Religion is very important to Latin American cultures, which makes this death stand out to society.The Guatemalan government needs to take steps to increase security and improve their leadership to help alleviate crime in their country. If the Government does not intervene and help the lives of their citizens, Guatemala could face a deleterious outcome.

In the article printed in the Guatemala Times published on May 21, 2009, the Human Rights Office of the Archbishop of Guatemala calls for the investigation into the murder of Lorenzo Rosebaugh, a catholic priest that was killed in Ixcan on the May 18th. The article continues to discuss the big issue of violence and the lack of leadership that exists in Guatemala today. They call for the government to make a strategic plan in order to protect their citizens against this violence, especially those that are involved in many of the illegal activities that are occurring.

In an effort to tie the three bookmarked articles together, this piece also discusses relevant material to Nelson's "Reckoning" alongside the movie, "When the Mountains Tremble". This article too discuses the idea and reality of Femicide or the genocide against women in Guatemala that still occurs to date. While the other readings set up an outline of what acts occur against women and the lack of influence police powers have, this article flashes numbers at the reader as a shock value to paint a picture of the immense number of women who have experienced brutality. While the other articles have mentioned the extent to which corruption influences the lack of punishment, this author seeks punishment in a different way. While doing research in Guatemala, he took victims who have been harmed themselves or have lost close ones to the war to the mountains to confront the militia men as a form of satisfaction or justice since the impunity rate is 97% in Guatemala. He explained that the gratitude of victims explaining their feelings to murderers would be far more reaching than formal punishment from the criminal justice system ever could be.

This article article talks about the uncertain future adoptions from Guatemala have. Nowadays the adoption system is very corrupt and in many cases mothers are forced and bribed to give up her children, rather than needing to give them up. Guatemala is the second largest popular country for adoption, just below China. So, if Guatemala were to discontinue adoptions from the U.S., it would change the structure of the U.S. as well. So, although adoption is not yet closed, officials are advising people to be cautious when planning to adopt from Guatemala.

Say No UniTE to end violence against women is a global call for action that began in November 2009. Its main purpose is to raise awareness of the tremendous violence against women, for example femicidio, in Guatemala. Its goal is overall education reaching across social classes and various societal institutions in hopes to eliminate violence against women and girls.

The article discusses how the Guatemalan government and different UN offices are launching a regional initiative called: "UNiTE to End Violence against Women." The initiative is a global action to end violence against women and girls in Guatemala. According to the article, violence against women has far-reaching consequences, harming families and communities, along with undermining economic growth.

This article focus's on Guatemala's need for the vote to end violence against women. Around 70% of women and girls are physically or sexually abused by men in their life time. This article highlights the importance of this issue and its prevalence in Guatemala.

Guatemala is experiencing a drastic inflation in necessary survival items such as food, housing, and clothing. This inflation concerns the entire country, especially the poor and children under five. In May of 2008, The Regional Ministerial Conference met "Towards the Eradication of Child Undernutrition in Latin America and the Caribbean" in Chile. The meeting hoped to find methods of preventing and eradicating child undernutrition in the region, especially under the inflated circumstances. Thousands of Guatemalan families are food insecure, and therefore many suffer from malnutrition. This article discusses the meeting last May; their goals, initiatives, and decisions.

Although the previously bookmarked article seeks to establish an outline of the human or women rights violations that occur within Guatemala, here, author Karim Velasco, sheds light upon newly distinguished laws and explains despite their hopeful goals, why they have ceased to work effectively. She argues that because of the "lack of effective investigation and prevention strategies of the Guatemalan authorities", women continue to be raped, tortured, and murdered at an increasing rate. Because of pressures from the European Parliament to abide by human rights laws, "on April 9, 2008, Guatemalan Congressed passed the 'Law Against Femicide and other Forms of Violence against Women Act' to severely punish any kind of gender-based violence..." However, because the violence stems from the power inequality between men and women in the first place, there is little belief or evidence that this Act will be implemented or strongly enforced by the men in power who seek to represent masculinity or display a constant idea of machismo.

The relationship between Guatemala and Mexico has not been very strong in resent years. This article reports that the relationship between the bordering counties to be improving. The article describes the meeting between Mexico's President Felipe Calderón and Guatemala President Álvaro Colom. During the meeting the two presidents discuss their countries relationships and how they are uniting to provide better lives for their people.

Guatemala has implemented a new arms and ammunition law. The law makes it much harder for citizens to own a gun. There is even a training test that the user must compete before they are able to purchase the gun. The law aims to make it harder for criminals to obtain weapons and give classification of who owns guns in Guatemala. The law also puts a cap on the amount of ammunition one is allowed to buy for their firearm. This law will hopefully lower the number of guns on the street and lower crime in Guatemala.

This article tells of the extreme poverty in Guatemala and speaks particularly on what is being done for people in this area. Guatemala has the highest rate of child malnutrition in Latin American and the fourth in the world. This is because the food that the people eat, such as tortillas and beans, are lacking in protein. The people are too poor to buy beef, eggs, or chicken, which could prevent the malnutrition.

This article discusses the violence that remains in Guatemala currently, even though the war ended over a decade ago. President Álvaro Colom hoped to increase security in Guatemala; however with increasing gang violence, Guatemala is considered the second most dangerous country in Latin America. Voters in Guatemala are calling on Colom to not only create feelings of security but also to inspire what the country has been lacking for so long: peace.

This video is about sexual violence in Guatemala and the stories of some of the survivors of this growing epidemic. In Guatemala about 10,000 people are raped every year. Many people are afraid of leaving their homes and entering the streets due to the lack of security and high violence. The patients in the video speak about how they have been affected by the incident and how they sought treatment to eventually break through the cycle of fear they were living in.

This article is a historical look at violent and violated women in Guatemala. It explores the social meanings of "gendered crimes" in rural Guatemala between 1936 and 1956. These gendered crimes include b=not only sexual violence, but also infanticide and abortion, which are defined as female. Many times harmful acts to women fail to generate criminal proceedings.