Media Coverage

The European Union on February 2 imposed sanctions against five individuals from Guatemala for undermining democracy, the rule of law, or the peaceful transfer of power in Central America's most populous nation. The listings include the attorney general of Guatemala, Maria Consuelo Porras Argueta De...

Anti-corruption crusader Bernardo Arévalo was sworn in as Guatemala's president in the early hours of January 15 after a chaotic inauguration that was delayed for hours by a last-ditch attempt by Congress opponents to weaken his authority. The latest in a series of legislative setbacks triggered by...

Guatemalan police on January 11 arrested the country’s former interior minister for allegedly not carrying out his duties when he opted for dialogue with protesters rather than using force to remove them as a court had ordered. Police arrested Napoléon Barrientos at his home, leading him out in...

Retired Guatemalan Colonel Juan Ovalle Salazar was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Thursday for his role in the massacre of 25 Indigenous people, mostly children, some 40 years ago during one of the most brutal periods of the country's conflict. Eight other former members of the Central American...

A Guatemalan appeals court disobeyed a ruling from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights by ordering the release of three former high-ranking military officers convicted of crimes against humanity. In March, the regional human rights court halted the release of the prisoners “to prevent...

A Guatemalan court on Wednesday sentenced both former President Otto Perez and his vice president, Roxana Baldetti, to 16 years in prison each in a graft case years after explosive corruption revelations forced the two out of office early and into prison. Perez and Baldetti were accused of leading a...

The prominent Guatemalan investigative newspaper “El Periodico” announced Wednesday that it is stopping its print edition, after the government arrested the paper’s president. All the paper’s reporters have been let go, and it is not clear how it can continue with digital editions only. The...

It was a landmark piece of legislation for Guatemala: a law that established stiff prison sentences for violence against women and appeared to signal a new era for a country still emerging from decades of civil war and military rule. But in recent years, public officials have found another use for...

Guatemala’s controversial attorney general has started a second term, but Maria Consuelo Porras‘ last-minute reappointment this week has sparked widespread condemnation and new sanctions amid alarm over backsliding on the rule of law. President Alejandro Giammattei swore in Porras for another four...

Indigenous women raped by paramilitaries during Guatemala’s brutal civil war have triumphed in court, when their aggressors were sentenced to 30 years each in prison. In a verdict hailed as a vindication for survivors who have spent years fighting for justice, a tribunal convicted five former...