Latin American Studies Resources

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.

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.

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.

The United Nations commission issued a summary in 1999 summarizing the claim made by the Guatemalan government that the atrocities committed during the Guatemalan civil wars were carried out by subordinate soldiers; this claim was without foundation. The statements made in the commission's conclusion advocates for a restructuring of the Guatemalan military system as well as the establishment of a commission that is under the president's authority for the purpose of maintaining a just military and observational component that monitors military officials conduct during periods of armed conflict. According to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan the restructuring of the Guatemalan government and military systems is a milestone for Guatemala. Annan further emphasizes the usage of Guatemala as an example for the world as it highlights the importance of nations and governments to recognize history plagued with violence and flagrant violations of human rights because in doing so it will guarantees a smoother path towards peace and stability.

On October 13, 1981 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights published a report that outlined the political conditions within the republic of Guatemala. Chapter IX of this report focuses on political rights and as such designates five sections that address various aspects of domestic political rights. Within the text the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights devotes one section to the history of politics since the 1940s up until the regime in power during the early 1980s. Along with Guatemala's political history, Chapter IX incorporates political rights as defined under the 1965 Guatemalan Constitution and governmental adherence to such policies as outlined by the Constitution.

This article discusses the steps that the government is taking currently to try to heal the population that was affected by the war, nearly everyone. The president is awarding compensation, in the form of money (check), to individuals who have lost family members and/or their homes because of the state military's past actions. Some say the most important thing that the president is doing is apologizing via letter that he signs or in person because it means that they recognize that they wronged many individuals and no amount of money can replace family members.

This short video clip talks about an organization, The Forensic Anthropology Foundation, that is working to uncover the mass graves from the civil war in Guatemala and put names to each of the bodies. They will hopefully be able to identify each body by DNA testing and return the corpses to their surviving family members to have a proper burial. This relates to our class because it is an account of what anthropologists are doing now to try to heal from the Guatemalan Civil War that we are studying.

This BBC article contains a timeline of political, social, economical, and cultural changes in Guatemala from the 1500's to the present day. It marks from 1970 up until the end of the civil war as a time when human rights were violated. The postwar years mainly focus on political reform.

This webpage includes a basic timeline of Guatemala's history from the beginning of the Spanish colonization to the present. It outlines social-democratic reforms, violations of human rights, the end of the civil war, storm related deaths, murders, etc. This relates to our class because it provides an easy to read outline of Guatemala's history.

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 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.

Guatemalan authorities work towards moving Guatemala away from its dark past. They want to ensure that people who are found guilty of having anything to do with the persecution of many indigenous people during the civil war are punished in some way.

This site actually does not deliver news of any kind, but instead it is testimony to the struggles that the indigenous Guatemalans faced as a result of capital and investment into a country that is not one's own. This shows disregard to the people of Guatemala who originally used the land in peaceful and harmonious ways as a way of life in order to survive which provided many of them with a sense of culture. Here the country is being showcased as if it were a product or a good, which I guess to those not living there, it is.

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.

This is a good summary of the controversy surrounding Rigoberta Menchu and her influential book that won her a Nobel Peace Prize and made many people aware of the struggle of the Mayan people and the atrocities committed against them by the Guatemalan government. The anthropologist David Stoll challenged Menchu's story, that some parts were fabricated or embellished, and did not match up with other testimonials and official documents. Many supporters of Menchu said that her testimonio is still powerful and true, even if it combines other people's stories with her own life experiences.

The article entitled "Guatemala's 'Femicide' Crisis" seeks to explain the implications of the unnecessary and brutal mass killings occurring amongst women in Guatemala mostly by male gangs. Because the killings have exceeded such an unusual extent, it has been deemed a "Femicide", otherwise known as a "Gendercide" or a genocide directed mainly against females. The ages of girls or women discussed in this article being raped, beaten, and murdered range from three year old toddlers to middle aged women. Not only do gangs of men perform these acts for no reason other to establish masculinity within their affinity groups. Moreover, the law enforcement agencies are so corrupt that it was said, "justice imposed by the state is non-existent" and "only two per cent of crimes against women are solved." This article seeks to establish the problem that is still going on even after the forty-year civil war while other chosen articles are determined to look for solutions.

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 March 1999, President Clinton apologized for the US's support and training of Guatemalan military officers, which contributed to the bloody civil war. He said the the US must "remember the past, but never repeat it" and vowed to support Guatemala in the peace-building and reconciliation process.

Indigenous groups of Guatemala are making efforts to pass a bill which will create a wave band or community radio stations. For indigenous cultures, which makes up 80% of the Guatemala population, the radio is the only form of expression through their own language. Community radio stations are vital for indigenous groups because many indigenous women are illiterate and the prominent forms of media are only carried out in Spanish. A lack of communication between indigenous cultures could result in death. If this bill is passed, it will give indigenous groups the opportunity to contribute to Guatemalan society and will help them gain free speech.

In this video, the author of Reckoning makes a comparison between opening up a mass grave in Guatemala and charging 6 American Bush-era officials for torture. They are both ways of dealing with a recent violent past that and changing the possibilities for the futures of both countries. She also describes the snake dance that she wrote about in Chapter 1 of the book.