8:05 am By Maegan La Mala · Guatemala|Health|history · Comments Off
6 Oct 2010
Latina Americans being used as medical guinea pigs for U.S. medical advancement isn’t the stuff of nightmares or science fiction. Look up for example how the birth control pill that many women claim as part of their liberation came to be.
Last week, the U.S. apologized for knowingly, purposely, and without consent infecting anywhere between 700 to over 1,00 Guatemalan prisoners of the CIA, mental patients, soldiers, sex workers and children in the 1940′s with sexually transmitted illnesses like syphilis and gonorrhea in order to test the effectiveness of antibiotics The experiments came to light five years ago, stumbled upon by a professor researching the Tuskegee syphilis study, where African -Americans were withheld treatment so that scientists could observe the progression of the illness, but were only just made public.
11:37 am By la Macha · Guatemala · 2 Comments
1 Jun 2010
When I first saw the pictures, I thought they were photoshopped. Poorly at that. But then I started reading around, and no, this is real. It really happened.
via the Christian Science Monitor
The storm hit on Saturday, just two days after the the Pacaya volcano, about 20 miles south of Guatemala City, erupted, causing the international airport to shut down.
Guatemalan President Álvaro Colom had declared a 15-day calamity, before Tropical Storm Agatha dumped three feet of water in the western part of the country. Officials have said that the ash from the volcano, which again covered the airport Monday, could aggravate flooding as it blocks the nation’s drainage systems.
The Guatemalan government posted photos of the flooding tragedy, including one of a sinkhole apparently the size of an entire street block, that opened in the northern section of Guatemala City. A three-story building was swallowed by the hold. Authorities are investigating the cause. A sinkhole in the same area killed three people in 2007.
I was immediately tempted to make jokes, this seems so unreal that it is comical–but then I read that this sinkhole comes with tragedy. At least 150 people have died already because of the mammoth scale of the storms (that also helped cause this sinkhole).
I hope that all the late night comediennes and bloggers remember that before they start up with the jokes.
1:26 pm By la Macha · Immigration · 1 Comment
25 Sep 2009Remember the Postville Raids?
When the US government stormed a Kosher meat plant in the American heartland, arresting nearly 400 undocumented workers, a Guatemalan village wept. The biggest immigration raid in US history severed an economic lifeline to one of the poorest corners of the Western Hemisphere while pushing an Iowa farm town to the brink of collapse.
Well, there is a new documentary out about the raids:
In the Shadow of the Raid – trailer from Streetdog Media on Vimeo.
Documentaries like “In the shadow of the raid” have the potential to change public support of deportations because we don’t often hear about the impact on families, friends and communities of the workers who were detained.
The film will be premiering at the Morelia International Film Festival, in Mexico between Oct. 3 and Oct. 11, but we at RaceWire can’t wait for it to come to the other side of the border.
For more information on screenings of “In the shadow of the raid” visit Street Dog Media.
7:35 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Guatemala|Twitter · Comments Off
9 Jul 2009
Nearly two months age we wrote about the “tweet heard ’round Guatemala” and how that tweet landed Jeanfer, also known as Jean Anleu, in jail facing charges of inciting financial panic. Well it looks like he’s a free man and that all charges have been dropped.
Via / Boing Boing
7:09 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Guatemala|Internet|Twitter · 4 Comments
15 May 2009The situation in Guatemala is getting heavier by the moment with reports of arrests of street vendors and at least one twitter user A little background. Attorney Rodrigo Rosenberg was killed and a video released posthumously points the finger at President Alvaro Colom.
The video’s release has led to widespread protest, calling for President Colom to step down and face justice. The twittersphere in the Central American country also responded. Twitter user “Jeanfer” was arrested for suggesting in a tweet that people who had money deposited in Banrural should remove those funds, and by doing so, break the control that “corrupt people” have over the state-controlled financial institution. The murdered attorney, who was shot to death this past weekend, represented a finance expert, Khalil Musa, who was said to have refused to participate in corrupt transactions involving Banrural.
9:56 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Guatemala|Immigration · Comments Off
18 Feb 2008
They say third time is a charm, but this wasn’t the case for the Denver-based consul of Guatemala, that renewed passports and embassy identifications for its citizens living and working in Utah, Colorado and Nevada. Anti-immigration groups protested the event because the Guatemalan nationals didn’t have to prove their status in the U.S. (why would they- this was for Guatemalan documents!). Protest groups said if the Guatemalans were legal immigrants, they wouldn’t need secondary forms of identification.
Via / Local News 8
11:07 am By Maegan La Mala · Guatemala|Politics · Comments Off
15 Jan 2008
Guatemala swore in a new president yesterday; Alvaro Colom, a social democrat, defeated a scary army general back in November, and officially began his term with a pledge to help the less fortunate of his country:
“I thank God that Guatemala got the chance for the first time in 50 years to change to a social democratic government,” he said today after being sworn in. “I’m convinced that by giving to those who have the least, we will all have more.”
How many administrations have begun with just those words? Let’s hope Alvaro will keep his word. Guatemala faces serious issues many of which — like discrimination and violence — are age-old. On the topic of racism, Colom says he plans to govern Guatemala “with a Mayan face”.
8:58 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Guatemala|Politics · Comments Off
5 Nov 2007
Álvaro Colom beat out an army general proving that Latin American countries want more than just un gran macho to lead them. It doesn’t get less macho than this guy. At least that’s how the U.S. media is painting him. I mean seriously, the New York Times couldn’t find a more flattering pic?
Álvaro Colom is a business man who focused on Guatemala’s poverty throughout the campaign.
Colom himself said that vote was more about saying ‘no’ to the perpetuation of Guatemala’s militaristic history.
VivirLatino is a daily publication published by Mamita Mala Media, dedicated to featuring all the latest politics, culture, entertainment of interest to the diverse Latin@ diaspora.
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