Guatemala condemns attacks on journalists in Honduras
The Guatemalan government on Monday condemned attacks on Guatemalan journalists by Honduran police and the interim Honduran government’s closure of a radio station and a TV channel, local media reported.
Rafael Espada, vice president of Guatemala, said his country would present a protest to the United Nations and the Organization of American States.
Two Guatemalan journalists were pushed to the ground and stamped on by security forces during an early hours raid on Radio Globo in Honduras, Espada said.
The two journalists are currently in Guatemala’s embassy in Honduras and will return home soon.
Espada called for calm from the Honduran authorities so that such events will not be repeated, and urged them to respect journalists’ work.
The interim Honduran government on Saturday issued a decree that allows the closure of mass media which “attempt against human dignity, public officers, and put at risk the peace and tranquility of the country.”
Because of the decree, police and soldiers on Monday closed radio station Radio Globo and TV channel Canal 36, which covered anti-coup activities and supported the return to power of ousted president Manuel Zelaya.
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Guatemala Independence Day
Guatemala Independence Day
Washington, DC
September 14, 2009
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On behalf of the people of the United States, I would like to extend my warm congratulations to the people of Guatemala as they celebrate the 188th anniversary of their Proclamation of Independence on September 15.
As school children parade through the streets and Guatemalans across the country and around the world join in the celebration of Independence Day, they can be proud of Guatemala’s accomplishments as a unique, multi-lingual, multi-ethnic nation. This is an opportunity to honor their rich cultural heritage and to reaffirm their commitment to democracy, equality, justice, and prosperity for all.
It will also be a day of celebration for Guatemalans in the United States, who are valued members of our own diverse nation and have contributed so much to our culture and our economy.
On this historic occasion, let me reaffirm the commitment of the United States to strengthen our partnership with Guatemala and work together to ensure a peaceful and prosperous future for all our people.
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US lawmakers urge easier Guatemalan Adoptions
There has been tremendous amount of red tape in the past in regards to being able to adopt Guatemalan children parents sometimes have to wait years. Most Central American Countries are this way the US has added some specific legislation to reduce the amount of red tape for these adoptions maybe it will secure some well deserved homes for some lonely Guatemalan children.
US lawmakers have called on their government to ease red tape that has slowed the adoption of Guatemalan children since legal reforms were introduced to more strictly regulate the process.
In a letter, 52 legislators asked US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to ensure Guatemalan measures aimed at curbing baby selling were “being carried out in a way that protects the interests of children, birth parents, and adoptive parents alike.”
Signatories said that since the reforms passed adoptions have stagnated “forcing the children involved to remain in institutions or temporary care,” with would-be parents bombarded with requests for information.
They called on Clinton “to play an active role in ensuring that their cases are completed in a fair and timely manner.”
Around 95 percent of Guatemalan children up for adoption go to parents in the United States, generating 200 million dollars each year.
The Guatemalan Congress passed a law in December 2007 aimed at preventing fraudulent adoptions by regulating them through the National Adoptions Council.
Until then, adoptions were handled privately between mothers and the families seeking to adopt, with attorneys serving as go-betweens.
Prior to the reforms, Guatemala was second only to China in the number of adoptions by US parents, and had the fewest restrictions on adoptions in the region.
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Guatemala Welcome Video
This is a a great video made by IDB showing some of the things you will see in guatemala
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Day of the Dead Guatemala
If you’re in Guatemala, Nov. 1 is the best time to visit Santiago Sacatepequez. Locals in traditional bright clothing as well as foreigners clad in shorts and tank tops flock to this small village near the ancient capital of Antigua to observe All Saints Day, known here as Day of the Dead. And it’s not the streets, halls, or restaurants that they’re heading to–it’s the graveyard.
Though it might sound morbid, the festival is actually a colorful and lively celebration for which locals build extravagant kites (known in Spanish as barriletes gigantes) and fly them high above the cemeteries as a symbolic link between the living and the dead. At last year’s festival I saw men determinedly strapping together long poles to form the base of a brightly-colored kite. The poles must have been three times my height! Constructed simply out of tissue paper and bamboo, the kites are amazingly durable. When I shaded my eyes and looked upwards, I saw one of the biggest–with a diameter of 12 feet–sailing effortlessly in the wind, its circular design of purple, yellow, orange, and red standing out against the blue sky.
The graves themselves are made astonishingly beautiful too. Painted blue, pink, or even green, on Day of the Dead they’re decorated with flowers like lilies, chrysanthemums, and flor de muerto (dead man’s flower), a strong smelling member of the marigold family. Loose petals are carefully arranged to form soft carpets.
And what would a celebration be without food? Fiambre, the traditional dish of the festival, is made only once a year. Although recipes vary from family to family and generation to generation, fiambre is customarily a mix of cheese, meat, and vegetables cured in vinegar.
It’s served cold and eaten for lunch, and around noon the lids come off the coolers. Sitting near and often directly on the graves, several different families offered to share their fiambre with us. It looked much like a cold stewed soup of eggs, celery, beets, ham, and even asparagus. I don’t think I’ll be making fiambre a regular part of my diet, but you can’t celebrate Day of the Dead without at least trying a bite.
Some Guatemalans Celebrate by Flying Brightly colored Kites That are suppose to thank the ancestors for all that they have..
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