Latin America | Guatemala | Law

2 Guatemalan Women Win Civil Courage Prize for Human Rights Work

Two internationally renowned Guatemalan women who spent years prosecuting and adjudicating organized crime and corruption cases at great personal risk will receive the 16th annual Civil Courage Prize on Oct. 14 in New York City. Dr. Claudia Paz y Paz Bailey, who became Guatemala's first female attorney general in 2010, and Judge Iris Yassmin Barrios Aguilar, who presides over one of Guatemala's High Risk Tribunals, will share the award and the $50,000 prize. The Civil Courage Prize has been awarded annually since 2000 by the New York-based Train Foundation. The two women are well known i

Latin America | Guatemala | Corruption

Guatemala’s ex-vice president ordered held in jail during corruption trial

Source: US News and World Report

A judge ordered Guatemala's former vice president to remain in jail Wednesday while she stands trial on charges of conspiracy, customs fraud and bribery, based on allegations that she accepted $3.7 million in bribes as part of the scandal that forced her from office. Judge Miguel Angel Galvez ruled that former Vice President Roxana Baldetti would not be allowed bail because she held an Italian passport and was considered a flight risk. On Monday, he ordered her to stand trial on charges of receiving bribes from businessmen to evade import duties. She denies any wrongdoing. Leaving the

Latin America | Guatemala | Corruption

Guatemala vice president resigns amid corruption scandal

Source: The Tico Times News

Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina announced Friday that his vice president, Roxana Baldetti, was resigning after one of her top aides was accused of participating in a customs bribery ring. The announcement came two days after Guatemala‘s Supreme Court called on Congress to remove Baldetti’s immunity from prosecution, clearing the way for possible legal action against the vice president. Pérez said Baldetti had voluntarily left the post “in order to participate in and collaborate with the necessary investigations and above all with due process of the law.” “Her decisi

Latin America | Guatemala | Corruption

Unprecedented: Guatemala revokes vice president’s immunity

Source: Pangea Today

Guatemala’s Supreme Court unanimously decided to revoke Vice President Roxana Baldetti’s immunity, and approved an unprecedented pre-trial hearing to investigate her alleged involvement with a network of officials charged with customs fraud. To date, 24 people have been arrested, including the top tax official in the country. The scheme was allegedly run by Baldetti’s private secretary who is currently on the government’s most wanted list and reported missing. The Supreme Court believe that there is sufficient evidence to take away Baldetti’s immunity, as requested by the p

Latin America | Guatemala | Corruption

Guatemalans demand vice president Roxana Baldetti and president resign over corruption scandal

Source: Tico Times News

Thousands of Guatemalans gathered in the country’s capital on Saturday to demand the resignation of President Otto Pérez Molina and Vice President Roxana Baldetti following revelation of a tax corruption scandal involving top government officials — including Baldetti’s private secretary. Protesters yelled “Resign now,” blew whistles and banged pots and pans while demanding that the country’s top two officials leave their posts and turn themselves over to the courts. “We don’t want the thieves to govern anymore,” said 70-year-old María Letona, who went to the protest wit

Latin America | Guatemala | Politics

Zury Rios, former dictator’s daughter, to run for president of Guatemala

Source: Latin Correspondent

The daughter of former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt is running for president of the Central American nation. Zury Rios is a three-time member of congress. In recent months, she launched a campaign inviting Guatemalans to send her messages suggesting political changes they wish to see. Rios, 47, announced Thursday she would accept the nomination of the Christian conservative Vision with Values party.

International | Guatemala | Culture

The 15-Year-Old From Rural Guatemala Who Addressed The U.N

Source: NPR

When Emelin was 13, she asked the mayor of her rural Guatemalan town to find ways to help girls stay in school and get better health care. He laughed out loud. "You are wasting my time; you should go home," he told Emelin and her friend Elba, who had come with her. That was then. Emelin, now 15, spoke by invitation at the United Nations in the "Every Woman Every Child" program presented as part of the Commission on the Status of Women. She sat — and spoke about the obstacles girls face in her community and how she and Elba persuaded the mayor to implement and fund policies that would hel