INSIDER
Guatemalan journalist released from prison fears for the future and being targeted for his work
Read full article: Guatemalan journalist released from prison fears for the future and being targeted for his workWhen Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora returned to his home last week after more than two years in prison without a conviction, he found it empty.
US bars ex-Guatemala President Alejandro Giammattei from entry 3 days after he left office
Read full article: US bars ex-Guatemala President Alejandro Giammattei from entry 3 days after he left officeThe U.S. State Department has barred former Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei from entering the United States, accusing him “significant corruption” just- three days after he left office.
Why is the Guatemala attorney general going after the new president?
Read full article: Why is the Guatemala attorney general going after the new president?Despite having the support of millions of Guatemalans, newly installed President Bernardo Arévalo has a clear obstacle — the attorney general’s office and its leader, Consuelo Porras.
Guatemala's electoral authority blocks the suspension of President-elect Arévalo's political party
Read full article: Guatemala's electoral authority blocks the suspension of President-elect Arévalo's political partyGuatemala’s top electoral authority says that it has blocked the suspension of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo’s Seed Movement, at least temporarily giving the party back its legal status and cutting off an attempt by rials to weaken Arévalo.
Guatemala's Congress refuses to recognize president-elect's party
Read full article: Guatemala's Congress refuses to recognize president-elect's partyGuatemala’s Congress, which is controlled in its majority by the governing party, has refused to recognize the seven lawmakers from the Seed Movement party of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo, following the suspension of his party earlier this week.
Guatemala's president-elect faces legal challenges that seek to weaken him. Here's what's happening
Read full article: Guatemala's president-elect faces legal challenges that seek to weaken him. Here's what's happeningGuatemala's Aug. 20 presidential election has been bogged down in court and legal challenges despite the fact the results were clear: Progressive candidate Bernardo Arévalo won about 61% of the vote to conservative Sandra Torres' 39%.
Guatemalan president calls for transition of power to anti-corruption crusader Arévalo
Read full article: Guatemalan president calls for transition of power to anti-corruption crusader ArévaloGuatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei is calling for a democratic transition of power to anti-corruption campaigner and president-elect Bernardo Arévalo and his party Seed Movement, which have faced waves of legal attacks in attempts to block his rise to power.
Guatemala's pick of independent anti-corruption progressive as president may face challenge
Read full article: Guatemala's pick of independent anti-corruption progressive as president may face challengeGuatemalans overwhelmingly picked an independent, anti-corruption progressive to be the country’s next president but his opponent remained silent Monday, leaving open the possibility of a challenge to landslide results that rejected the country’s elite.
Progressive Arévalo is 'virtual winner' of Guatemala election after corruption angered voters
Read full article: Progressive Arévalo is 'virtual winner' of Guatemala election after corruption angered votersOutsider Bernardo Arévalo appeared to be the “virtual winner” of Sunday’s election to be Guatemala’s next president after voters became angry at widespread corruption and leaders’ failure to tackle it.
Guatemala's corruption is thrust into international spotlight by the government's election meddling
Read full article: Guatemala's corruption is thrust into international spotlight by the government's election meddlingThe Guatemalan government’s clumsy interference with its presidential election has turned a global spotlight on a country whose struggles with deep corruption previously received little international notice.
Guatemala's political turmoil deepens as 1 candidate is targeted and the other suspends her campaign
Read full article: Guatemala's political turmoil deepens as 1 candidate is targeted and the other suspends her campaignGuatemala sank deeper into political turmoil as prosecutors targeted a progressive presidential candidate who proved to be surprisingly popular.
Bernardo Arévalo, Guatemala's electoral surprise, makes corruption fight top priority
Read full article: Bernardo Arévalo, Guatemala's electoral surprise, makes corruption fight top priorityBernardo Arévalo, the surprise of the first round of voting in Guatemala, says the choice in the Aug. 20 presidential runoff is a clear one: Continue living under a corrupt system with his rival or rebuild the country’s democracy with him.
Guatemala voters send 2 presidential candidates on opposite sides of political spectrum to a runoff
Read full article: Guatemala voters send 2 presidential candidates on opposite sides of political spectrum to a runoffGuatemalans have sent two presidential candidates from opposite sides of the political spectrum to an Aug. 20 runoff, giving hope to many disenchanted voters that change may be possible.
Early vote count for Guatemala's presidential election gives no indication of leaders
Read full article: Early vote count for Guatemala's presidential election gives no indication of leadersElectoral workers are slowly tallying ballots across Guatemala, and early counts are giving no indication of which two candidates from a huge field of presidential contenders will advance to a runoff.
Guatemala leader in Taiwan expresses 'rock-solid friendship'
Read full article: Guatemala leader in Taiwan expresses 'rock-solid friendship'The president of Guatemala has appealed to other governments to respect Taiwan’s sovereignty during an official visit at a time when China’s ruling Communist Party is stepping up efforts to isolate the self-ruled island democracy claimed by Beijing as part of its territory.
Presidents of Taiwan, Guatemala visit Mayan pyramid
Read full article: Presidents of Taiwan, Guatemala visit Mayan pyramidTaiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and the Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei have toured the archaeological site of Tikal during a trip by Tsai that aims to shore up the self-governing island’s ties with its remaining allies in Central America.
Taiwan leader scrambles for allies in Central America visit
Read full article: Taiwan leader scrambles for allies in Central America visitAs Taiwan’s diplomatic partners dwindle and turn instead to rival China, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen is aiming to shore up ties with the self-governing island’s remaining allies during a trip this week to Central America.
Guatemalans march in protest of corruption, cost of living
Read full article: Guatemalans march in protest of corruption, cost of livingHundreds of Guatemalans set out from various points of the capital to protest alleged corruption by a deeply unpopular government, the high cost of living and attacks on freedom of expression.
Concern that Nicaragua repression could be "model" in region
Read full article: Concern that Nicaragua repression could be "model" in regionNicaragua President Daniel Ortega’s government has closed seven radio stations this week owned by the Roman Catholic church, as well as two other outlets serving the largely rural northern area with a history of opposition.
Guatemala arrests migrant smugglers wanted by the US
Read full article: Guatemala arrests migrant smugglers wanted by the USGuatemalan authorities have arrested more than a dozen alleged members of a migrant smuggling network near the shared border with Mexico, including four sought by the United States in connection with the death of a migrant in Texas in 2021.
Salvadoran leader rebuffs Blinken effort to bolster summit
Read full article: Salvadoran leader rebuffs Blinken effort to bolster summitIn the run-up to this week's Summit of the Americas, President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador rebuffed attempts by U.S. officials to set up a phone call with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Guatemala's much-criticized top prosecutor seeks 2nd term
Read full article: Guatemala's much-criticized top prosecutor seeks 2nd termOnce the envy of Central America for anticorruption efforts that took down a sitting president, Guatemala’s attorney general’s office has more recently been accused of blocking corruption investigations, protecting powerful interests and persecuting those who pursued the corrupt.
Taiwan pays $900,000 for ally Guatemala to lobby Washington
Read full article: Taiwan pays $900,000 for ally Guatemala to lobby WashingtonGuatemala has hired for $900,000 a major supporter of former President Donald Trump to seek influence with U.S. officials in an unusual lobbying contract paid for by its ally Taiwan.
Guatemala's former anti-corruption prosecutor faces arrest
Read full article: Guatemala's former anti-corruption prosecutor faces arrestGuatemalan officials say they're trying to arrest a former anti-corruption prosecutor whose ouster led the U.S. to reduce cooperation with the Central American nation’s legal system.
Harris tells Latin Americans the US can offer them hope
Read full article: Harris tells Latin Americans the US can offer them hopeVice President Kamala Harris is telling the poor and threatened populations of Latin America that the United States has “the capacity to give people a sense of hope” in the region so they can make better lives without fleeing to the U.S. Harris closed her first foreign trip as vice president unapologetic for her decision not to visit the U.S.-Mexico border as part of her mission to address migration to the U.S. She said her meetings with leaders and others in Guatemala and Mexico were vital...
'Do not come': Harris seeks 'hope at home' for Guatemalans
Read full article: 'Do not come': Harris seeks 'hope at home' for GuatemalansVice President Kamala Harris has offered an optimistic outlook for improved cooperation with Guatemala on addressing the spike in migration to the U.S. But after her meeting with Guatemala's president Monday, Harris also delivered a direct warning to migrants considering making the trek: “Do not come.
Harris targets corruption, immigration on Latin America trip
Read full article: Harris targets corruption, immigration on Latin America tripWith Kamala Harris visiting Guatemala and Mexico on her first foreign trip as vice president, the Biden administration is expected to announce new measures to fight smuggling and trafficking, and hopes to announce additional anti-corruption efforts as well on Monday.
Mexico marks end of last Indigenous revolt with apology
Read full article: Mexico marks end of last Indigenous revolt with apologyMexico is marking the 116th anniversary of the battle that ended the last Indigenous rebellion in North America, by issuing an apology for centuries of brutal exploitation and discrimination.
Harris meets virtually with Guatemalan president
Read full article: Harris meets virtually with Guatemalan presidentVice President Kamala Harris has told Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei that the U.S. is planning to increase relief to the Northern Triangle region and “strengthen our cooperation” to better manage the steep increase in migration at the U.S. southern border.
Hundreds of migrants set out from Honduras, dreaming of US
Read full article: Hundreds of migrants set out from Honduras, dreaming of US(AP Photo/Delmer Martinez)SAN PEDRO SULA – A few hundred Honduran migrants set out for the Guatemalan border before dawn Tuesday in hopes of eventually reaching the United States, but by afternoon they had largely dispersed. There were three checkpoints before the border on the Honduras side where authorities checked documents, especially for those traveling with children. That caravan, which grew to a few thousand migrants, was eventually dissolved by authorities in Guatemalan using tear gas and riot shields. Mexico last week began restricting crossings at its southern border to essential travel and stepped up operations to intercept migrants, especially families, in the south. The Northern Triangle countries — Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador — have accounted for the majority of migrants arriving at the U.S. southern border in recent years.
Guatemala declares emergency measures as new caravan rumored
Read full article: Guatemala declares emergency measures as new caravan rumoredMigrants disembark on the Mexican side of the border after crossing the Usumacinta River from Guatemala, in Frontera Corozal, Chiapas state, Mexico, Wednesday, March 24, 2021. Guatemala issued a similar decree in January to stymie a previous caravan, arguing it represented a public health risk amid the coronavirus pandemic. During the previous attempt in January, Guatemalan police and soldiers launched tear gas and wielded batons and shields to stop a group of about 2,000 Honduran migrants at a roadblock. AdSeveral caravans of mainly Honduran migrants have tried to cross Guatemala and Mexico to reach the U.S. border, though none has succeeded since 2019. U.S. authorities reported more than 100,000 encounters on the southern border in February, the highest since a four-month streak in 2019.
Hondurans await results in primary elections
Read full article: Hondurans await results in primary elections(AP Photo/Moises Castillo, File)TEGUCIGALPA – Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández’s name keeps popping up in the New York trial of an alleged drug trafficker. And one of the candidates running to replace him in Sunday’s primary elections has been convicted in the same court of laundering money for the same cartel. Polls closed at 5 p.m. and the vote count had begun, but there was no immediate word on when results would be available. Political analyst and three-time former presidential candidate Olban Valladares said the elections are an opportunity for Hondurans to begin to free themselves of failed leaders. But voters will also choose the candidates who will compete for the 128 seats of the National Congress in November, as well as 298 local governments and other positions.
Families begin burying murdered Guatemalan migrants
Read full article: Families begin burying murdered Guatemalan migrants(AP Photo/Moises Castillo)COMITANCILLO – Families of some of the 16 Guatemalan migrants killed near the Mexico-U.S. border in late January began burying their remains Saturday in the town of Comitancillo, where 11 of the victims were from. The migrants' charred bodies arrived Friday night to the region near Guatemala's border with Mexico after being sent from the other side of Mexico, Reynosa, just across the U.S. border from Texas. “We are seeing his coffin, we will not see his face anymore,” reflected Magdalena Dalila Miranda, the young man's sister. Because the bodies had been burned, it took weeks for positive identifications through DNA samples, but the families in Guatemala had already started mourning. The massacre raised memories of another migrant massacre in Tamaulipas in August 2010, when members of the Zetas cartel killed 72 migrants near the town of San Fernando.
Drug trafficker says he bribed Honduras president
Read full article: Drug trafficker says he bribed Honduras presidentFILE - In this Jan. 14, 2020, file photo, Honduras' President Juan Orlando Hernandez arrives for the swearing-in ceremony for Guatemala's new President Alejandro Giammattei at the National Theater in Guatemala City. AdThe accusation came in the third day of testimony in the trial of alleged drug trafficker Geovanny Fuentes Ramírez. U.S. prosecutors have made it clear that allegations against President Hernández would arise during the trial, though he has not been charged. During that trial, the president was accused of accepting more than $1 million from Mexican drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. Alvarez said that he had never taken money from Rivera Maradiaga, who called the politicians he allegedly bribed “narco-politicians.”Ad“I don’t have anything to hide,” Alvarez wrote.
Mexican president works from isolation after virus test
Read full article: Mexican president works from isolation after virus testLópez Obrador appeared “with resolute spirit, working and looking good,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, who is also isolating and awaiting test results, said on Twitter. On Monday, the WHO chief said via Twitter: “I am sorry to hear that you have tested positive for #COVID19, President @lopezobrador— . Stay strong!”At the start of the pandemic López Obrador was criticized for leaning into crowds and giving hugs. López Obrador is known to be stubborn and more often doubles down on a position rather than retreat in the face of criticism. ___Associated Press video journalist Lissette Romero and AP writer Mark Stevenson in Mexico City and writer Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.
Large migrant caravan dissolves in Guatemala
Read full article: Large migrant caravan dissolves in GuatemalaA Honduran migrant child is helped off a Guatemalan army truck after being returned to El Florido, Guatemala, one of the border points between Guatemala and Honduras, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. A once large caravan of Honduran migrants that pushed its way into Guatemala last week had dissipated by Tuesday in the face of Guatemalan security forces. (AP Photo/Oliver de Ros)EL FLORIDO – A once large caravan of Honduran migrants that pushed its way into Guatemala last week had dissipated by Tuesday in the face of Guatemalan security forces. They were passed from Guatemalan border agents to their Honduran counterparts and then boarded buses that would take them back to their hometowns. Guatemalan forces effectively dissolved multiple migrant caravans last year.
Guatemala forces stall migrant caravan with tear gas, batons
Read full article: Guatemala forces stall migrant caravan with tear gas, batonsHonduran migrants clash with Guatemalan soldiers in Vado Hondo, Guatemala, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021. Guatemalan authorities estimated that as many as 9,000 Honduran migrants crossed into Guatemala as part of an effort to form a new caravan to reach the U.S. border. (AP Photo/Sandra Sebastian)VADO HONDO – Guatemalan police and soldiers launched tear gas and wielded batons and shields against a group of Honduran migrants that tried to push through their roadblock early Sunday. The roadblock was strategically placed at a chokepoint on the two-lane highway to Chiquimula in an area known as Vado Hondo. The security forces beat them back and deployed tear gas.
Guatemala tries blocking caravan of 9,000 Honduran migrants
Read full article: Guatemala tries blocking caravan of 9,000 Honduran migrantsHonduran migrants hoping to reach the U.S. border rest on the side of a highway, as soldiers patrol the road in Vado Hondo, Guatemala, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021. Guatemalan authorities estimated that as many as 9,000 Honduran migrants crossed into Guatemala as part of an effort to form a new caravan to reach the U.S. border. (AP Photo/Sandra Sebastian)GUATEMALA CITY – Guatemalan soldiers blocked part of a caravan of as many as 9,000 Honduran migrants Saturday at a point not far from where they entered the country seeking to reach the U.S. border. On Friday night, two groups of more than 3,000 Honduran migrants each pushed their way into Guatemala without registering, part of a larger migrant caravan that had left the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula before dawn. The Honduran migrants are trying to cross Guatemala to reach Mexico, driven by deepening poverty and the hope of a warmer reception if they can reach the United States border.
Migrant caravan on the move in Honduras in uncertain times
Read full article: Migrant caravan on the move in Honduras in uncertain timesBefore the large breach, Guatemalan authorities had reported picking up only small groups of Hondurans and returning them to the border. Mainor Garcia, a 19-year-old laborer from San Pedro Sula, carried a purple knapsack as he walked along the highway early Friday. In recent caravans, Guatemalan authorities have stopped small groups of migrants at roadblocks and returned them to Honduras. Other attempted caravans last year were broken up by Guatemalan authorities before they reached Mexico. __Escalon reported from San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
Honduran migrants trek north toward Guatemalan border
Read full article: Honduran migrants trek north toward Guatemalan borderAbout 200 Honduran migrants resumed walking toward the border with Guatemala early Thursday, a day before a migrant caravan was scheduled to depart the city of San Pedro Sula. That first group set out Wednesday but paused at night before reaching some 75 police officers, dressed in riot gear, who waited along the highway on the outskirts of San Pedro Sula. By Thursday, more migrants arrived at San Pedro Sula's bus terminal. On Thursday, Mexico's National Immigration Institute posted videos showing hundreds of agents and National Guard members drilling on the southern border. The decree noted the threat of migrants entering without required documentation and without following pandemic-related screening at the border.
US motions expand drug claims against Honduras president
Read full article: US motions expand drug claims against Honduras president(UNTV via AP)NEW YORK – U.S. federal prosecutors have filed motions saying that Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández took bribes from drug traffickers and had the country's armed forces protect a cocaine laboratory and shipments to the United States. The documents quote Hernández as saying he wanted to “'shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos' by flooding the United States with cocaine." The motions filed Friday with the U.S. Southern District of New York do not specifically name the president, referring to him as “CC-4,” or co-conspirator No. During that trial, the president was accused of accepting more than $1 million from Mexican drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán — an accusation repeated in the new motions. At this time, CC-4 was pursuing election as the President of Honduras as a member of the Partido Nacional de Honduras (the “National Party”),” the motion said.
Macron is the latest world leader to catch COVID-19
Read full article: Macron is the latest world leader to catch COVID-19Trump announced in October that he and his wife, first lady Melania Trump, tested positive for the coronavirus. DONALD TRUMPPresident Donald Trump announced in October that he and his wife, first lady Melania Trump, tested positive for the coronavirus. BORIS JOHNSONThe British prime minister was the first major world leader confirmed to have COVID-19, after facing criticism for downplaying the pandemic. Other top officials in former Soviet states who were infected include Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. 2 man in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, was hospitalized for COVID-19 last month and has recovered.
Protesters torch Guatemala's Congress building amid unrest
Read full article: Protesters torch Guatemala's Congress building amid unrestRiot police form a cordon as flames shoot out from the Congress building after protesters set a part of the building on fire, in Guatemala City, Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Oliver De Ros)GUATEMALA CITY – Hundreds of protesters broke into Guatemala's Congress and burned part of the building Saturday amid growing demonstrations against President Alejandro Giammattei and the legislature for approving a controversial budget that cut educational and health spending. About 1,000 protesters were demonstrating outside the Congress building. Discontent had been building over the 2021 budget on social media and clashes erupted during demonstrations on Friday. Both the former president and Baldetti are in jail awaiting trials in various corruption cases.
Guatemala digs through landslide where 100 believed buried
Read full article: Guatemala digs through landslide where 100 believed buriedA barefooted woman makes her way around debris brought on by a landslide on a road blocking traffic, in the aftermath of Hurricane Eta, in Purulha, northern Guatemala Friday, Nov. 6, 2020. In a news conference, President Alejandro Giammattei said he believed there were at least 100 dead there in San Cristobal Verapaz, but noted that was still unconfirmed. Her home in La Lima, a San Pedro Sula suburb, is 150 feet from the roiling Chamelecon river and only a short way from the international airport’s runway. It said rescues were happening Friday in San Pedro Sula and La Lima, but the need was great and resources limited. The U.S. State Department said in a statement Friday that four U.S. helicopters from the Soto Cano Air Base near Tegucigalpa had flown to San Pedro Sula to participate in rescue operations.
Weakened Eta drenches Central America; at least 57 dead
Read full article: Weakened Eta drenches Central America; at least 57 deadA pregnant woman is carried out of an area flooded by water brought by Hurricane Eta in Planeta, Honduras, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Delmer Martinez)TEGUCIGALPA – The rain-heavy remnants of Hurricane Eta flooded homes from Panama to Guatemala Thursday as the death toll across Central America rose to at least 57, and aid organizations warned the flooding and mudslides were creating a slow-moving humanitarian disaster across the region. Eta had sustained winds of 35 mph (55 kph) and was moving north at 8 mph (13 kph) Thursday. When what’s left of the storm wobbles back into the Caribbean it will regain some strength and become a tropical storm again, forecasts show. “Whatever comes out (of Central America) is going to linger awhile,” said Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.
Many in migrant caravan bused back to Honduran border
Read full article: Many in migrant caravan bused back to Honduran borderEarly Saturday, hundreds of migrants who had entered Guatemala this week without registering were being bused back to their country's border by authorities after running into a large roadblock. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)RIO DULCE – Hundreds of U.S.-bound Honduran migrants who had entered Guatemala this week without registering were being bused back to their country's border Saturday by authorities who met them with a large roadblock. Police said that hours earlier, migrants had boarded buses and army trucks to be taken back to the border. They heard about the caravan that formed earlier this week in San Pedro Sula via WhatsApp and Facebook. I don’t know to whose benefit, but we’re not naive.”The new group was reminiscent of a migrant caravan that formed two years ago shortly before U.S. midterm elections.
Trump joins growing list of virus-infected world leaders
Read full article: Trump joins growing list of virus-infected world leadersHe was moved to intensive care in April after his virus symptoms dramatically worsened a day after he was hospitalized for what were called routine tests. (Pippa Fowles/10 Downing Street via AP, File)JOHANNESBURG – President Donald Trump has joined a growing group of world leaders who have been infected with the coronavirus. BORIS JOHNSONThe British prime minister was the first major world leader confirmed to have COVID-19, after facing criticism for downplaying the pandemic. Other top officials in former Soviet states who were infected include Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. GAMBIAVice President Isatou Touray tested positive in July along with the ministers of finance, energy and agriculture.
Migrants cross Guatemala despite government threats
Read full article: Migrants cross Guatemala despite government threatsA new caravan of about 2,000 migrants set out from neighboring Honduras in hopes of reaching the United States. But further ahead on the highway through northern Guatemala, about 1,000 migrants met a police and army roadblock late Friday that prevented them from advancing. On Thursday, Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei vowed to return the migrants to Honduras, citing efforts to contain the pandemic. Hundreds of migrants crossed into Mexico, were allowed to walk for several hours up a rural highway and then detained. Even if the migrants were allowed to cross Mexico without interference, the U.S. has essentially closed its border to legal immigration and entering illegally is as difficult as ever.
Hundreds of Honduran migrants set out for US amid pandemic
Read full article: Hundreds of Honduran migrants set out for US amid pandemicHonduran migrants hoping to reach the U.S. entered Guatemala on foot Thursday, testing the newly reopened frontier that had been shut due to the new coronavirus pandemic. Guatemala’s president quickly vowed to detain them and return them to Honduras, saying the migrants represented a threat to the health of Guatemalans amid efforts to contain the pandemic. In one group were four teenagers, all friends and neighbors from San Pedro Sula, from which hundreds of migrants had set out the previous night. Mexico and the United States deported hundreds of migrants back to their home countries to try to empty detention centers. Mexico has typically offered migrants the opportunity to seek asylum there, but many have their minds set on the United States.
Guatemalan president tests positive for new coronavirus
Read full article: Guatemalan president tests positive for new coronavirusGuatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei wearing a protective face mask as a precaution against the new coronavirus arrives at Constitution square for the independence day celebration in Guatemala City, Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)GUATEMALA CITY – Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei said Friday he has tested positive for the new coronavirus, but he told a local radio station he feels well. Up to now, I have body aches, it hurt more yesterday than today, like a bad cold,” the president said. Guatemalans returning to their country and children under 10 would not be subject to the test requirement. The country of 16 million has more than 83,600 confirmed coronavirus cases, and 3,036 deaths.
Signs that Guatemala's justice system is under attack
Read full article: Signs that Guatemala's justice system is under attackWith the departure of the United Nations-backed anti-corruption commission last year that supported a war against some of the countrys most powerful political, business and criminal leaders, Guatemalas pursuers have become the pursued. The U.N.-sponsored International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala left the country in September, after then-President Jimmy Morales decided not to renew its mandate. Both prosecutors are in the United States, which is also where Guatemalas former Attorney General Thelma Aldana went after leading Guatemala's anti-corruption fight. It is a clear attempt by criminal and corrupt networks to take control of the justice system to obtain impunity and protection for themselves," she said. With the justice system under attack from outside forces and from within, President Alejandro Giammattei has remained on the sidelines even though its his party that controls Congress.
COVID hits dozens of Latin leaders, including presidents
Read full article: COVID hits dozens of Latin leaders, including presidentsFILE - In this May 25, 2020, file photo, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, wearing a face mask amid the coronavirus pandemic, stands among supporters as he leaves his official residence of Alvorada palace in Brasilia, Brazil. Bolsonaro said Tuesday, July 7, he tested positive for COVID-19 after months of downplaying the virus's severity while deaths mounted rapidly inside the country. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)
COVID hits dozens of Latin leaders, including presidents
Read full article: COVID hits dozens of Latin leaders, including presidentsBolsonaro said Tuesday, July 7, he tested positive for COVID-19 after months of downplaying the virus's severity while deaths mounted rapidly inside the country. And in Venezuela, 57-year-old socialist party chief Diosdado Cabello said Thursday on Twitter that he, too, had tested positive, at least temporarily sidelining a larger-than-life figure considered the second-most-powerful person in the country. An Associated Press review of official statements from public officials across Latin America found at least 49 confirmed cases of new coronavirus in leaders ranging from presidents to mayors of large cities, along with dozens, likely hundreds, of officials from smaller cities and towns. Many leaders have used their diagnoses to call on the public to heighten precautions like social distancing and mask wearing. They have to be responsible.Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei placed his entire Cabinet and their staff in quarantine Thursday after one of his ministers tested positive.
The Latest: Beijing shuts main food market after 7 new cases
Read full article: The Latest: Beijing shuts main food market after 7 new cases(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)BEIJING Beijing closed the citys largest wholesale food market Saturday after the discovery of seven coronavirus cases in the previous two days. In the battle against COVID-19, public health workers spread across states, cities and small towns make up an invisible army on the front lines. ___Follow AP pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak___HERES WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING TODAY:SEOUL, South Korea South Korea has reported 49 new coronavirus cases. ___SAN DIEGO A top U.S. Border Patrol official says coronavirus cases are on the rise in certain pockets of the agency. AP reported Thursday that border states Arizona and Texas have seen a recent rise in coronavirus cases.