thefilmarchive.org March 12, 2007 Politics of Guatemala takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Guatemala is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Congress of the Republic. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Guatemala's 1985 Constitution provides for a separation of powers among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. The 1993 constitutional reforms included an increase in the number of Supreme Court justices from 9 to 13. The terms of office for president, vice president, and congressional deputies were reduced from five years to four years; for Supreme Court justices from six years to five years, and increased the terms of mayors and city councils from 30 months to four years. The 1999 presidential and legislative elections were considered by international observers to have been free and fair. Participation by women and indigenous voters was higher than in the recent past, although concerns remained regarding the accessibility of polling places in rural areas. Alfonso Portillo's landslide victory combined with a Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG) majority in congress suggested possibilities for rapid legislative action. However, under the Guatemalan Constitution of 1985, passage of many kinds of legislation ...
Tags :Politics, of, Guatemala, Joint (Literature Subject), Person, Publishing (Industry), India (Country)

A trailer for the new documentary GUATEMALA LIVES. Guatemala Lives, is a fifty-minute poignant and up-to-date account of the daily struggles of indigenous peoples to attain justice, self-determination and presence in Guatemalan politics. Weaved around interviews with Mayan political and religious leaders, candidates, as well as a multitude of everyday citizens expressing opinions about politics and the role that indigenous people are playing in the building of democracy. Directed by Adrian Carrasco Zanini
Tags :Indigenous Peoples, Participatory Democracy, Guatemala (Country) Trailer, Central America, Human Rights

This is a reflection brought upon by my dear late uncle Miguel Angel who established a curiosity about Guatemalan politics and the forceful resolve of evil men. I now understand that the path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities and tyranny of evil men (Ezequiel 25:17)...May God help our Nation and those who need it most...the Mayan from whom the world has already taken so much!
Tags :Mister, President, Politics, Guatemala, Who, killed, the, Bishop, Otto, Perez, Molina, Maya, Culture

US Premiere of "Guatemala Lives" in Berkley Native News Network Staff in Entertainment. BERKLEY, CALIFORNIA -- De La Tierra Productions and AIM-WEST will premiere "Guatemala Lives," a new documentary on the daily struggles of indigenous peoples to attain justice, self-determination and presence in Guatemalan politics. HIJOS movement that seeks to punish those responsible for the killings and disappearance of thousands. AIM-WEST and De La Tierra Productions sent a team to document the 2011 presidential elections that included Nobel prize winner Dr. Rigoberta Menchú Tum as the candidate of a coalition that included her own newly founded indigenous movement WINAK and two other progressive political organizations (Frente Amplio.) Although the Frente Amplio only won three percent of the votes in the first round, despite the fact the indigenous population consists of more than fifty percent, it is clear that like Bolivia, Guatemala will have in the future an indigenous president. "Guatemala Lives" will be premiered at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Avenue, in Berkeley, California on May 3 at 7:30 pm pdt. "Guatemala Lives," is a fifty-minute poignant and up-to-date account of the daily struggles of indigenous peoples to attain justice, self-determination and presence in Guatemalan politics. Weaved around interviews with Mayan political and religious leaders, candidates, as well as a multitude of everyday citizens expressing opinions about politics and the role that ...
Tags :Indigenous, Peoples, Participatory, Democracy, Guatemala, (Country), Trailer, Central, America, Human, Rights, Guatemala Vive, Guatemala Lives, Mayan Voices, Native Peoples, Struggle, Activism, Truth, World Knowledge

Here's a video of a political speech I went to made by a UNE candidate (Union Nacional de la Esperanza) who claims to be completely against everything the current Government supports - he asserted earlier in the speech that he will publicize schools and stop the current president from "murdering everyone's children." As a side note, the dress you see everyone wearing is tipical Todos Santos garb - it is tradition to always wear the jacket with a collar that represents your family line, and a specialty made pair of red pants. Sorry about the briefness and the visuals of the video - it was very difficult to even get the camera out in the crowd.
Tags :Guatemalan politcal speech, guatemala une, politics in guatemala, guatemala election, guatemala candidate

Guatemala is to hold a presidential election in September, and the issues confronting candidates are enormous. Extreme poverty, child malnutrition and corruption continue to be huge challenges. But narco-trafficking groups and organized crime are threatening to become the country's new bosses. Duration: 02:10
Tags :WEB, GUATEMALA, POLITICS, DRUGS, CORRUPTION

www.democracynow.org - Retired military general Otto Pérez Molina has been sworn in as Guatemala's new president. Pérez is the first former military official to win the Guatemalan presidency since the end of the military dictatorship in 1986. bq. *Otto Pérez Molina*: "Everyone rise and fly the blue and white flag in our hearts and work for change. We will have security if we all work for it. We will have development if we all make an effort. We will have peace if everyone does their part, because Guatemala belongs to all of us, regardless of social or economic conditions." Otto Pérez Molina ran for office in Guatemala largely on a platform of using "an iron fist" to crack down on drug cartels. On his first day in office, Perez called on the military to help "neutralize" organized crime in Guatemala. Pérez, who was trained at the US military school formerly known as the School of the Americas, is also seeking an end to a US ban on military aid to Guatemala. Human rights groups have accused Pérez of being directly involved in the systematic use of torture and acts of genocide in Guatemala in the 1980s. Jennifer Harbury, human rights attorney appearing, said this on Democracy Now! last year: "Well, we're all extremely concerned, given his background in human rights violations in Guatemala. He's always declared that he was not involved in the genocidal campaign of 1982 in the Quiché Highlands, but in fact a video showing [journalist] Allan Nairn interviewing him, precisely as ...
Tags :democracy now, dn, headlines, news, politics, amy goodman, otto perez molina, guatemala, mayan genocide, human rights, military dictatorship, jennifer harbury, allan nairn, quiche highlands

Guatemala is a country marked by decades of dictatorship, terrorism and disregard for human rights. Thousands of people were kidnapped, abused or murdered.Now the government wants to work through history with help from Germany. Berlin is to pay for the reconstruction of files and other ways of working through the past. But does a project like this make any sense in a country where only two percent of crimes are solved even today?
Tags :Deutsche, Welle, Germany, DW-TV, People, Politics, Guatemala, human, rights, terrorism, dictatorship, history, reconstruction, of, files

DemocracyNow.org - On Tuesday, a national court in Guatemala handed down the first convictions for a notorious massacre. It was 1982 when Guatemalan soldiers attacked the village of Las Dos Erres and killed more than 200 people — many of them women, children and the elderly — who were assaulted and beaten before they were shot or bludgeoned to death and then thrown down a well. Now a Guatemalan judge has sentenced four of the soldiers who carried out the Dos Erres attack to 6060 years of prison each, 30 years per person they killed. Democracy Now! speaks with Annie Bird, co-director of Rights Action, and with Ramón Cadena, the ad hoc judge who heard the Dos Erres massacre case before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Watch Part 2 of 2: youtu.be The court also found the soldiers guilty of crimes against human rights, adding another 30 years to their sentences. It is the latest step in a process to end impunity for those involved in the deaths or disappearances of more than 200000 people in the 1980s and 90s. However, human rights groups allege that the leading presidential candidate, General Otto Perez Molina, was directly involved in the systematic use of torture and acts of genocide during these years. For the complete transcript, to download the podcast, or for more information about Democracy Now!, visit www.democracynow.org FOLLOW DEMOCRACY NOW! ONLINE Facebook: www.facebook.com Twitter: @democracynow Subscribe on YouTube: www.youtube.com Daily Email News ...
Tags :amy goodman, democracy now, dn, news, politics, guatemala, 1982, massacre, dos erres, otto perez molina, annie bird, ramon cadena, rights action, torture

Guatemala going back to a Militant forceful resolve, never again! Are instruction and voting initiatives in Guatemala a neglected phenomena? Purposely, effectively to ensure power remains in the hands of the few? How did Bolivia enter into their new age of enlightenment? Someone please post a response...algunos Chapines de Guate? We need answers and real representation!
Tags :Impunity, Never, Again, Maya, Guatemala, Politics, General, Banana, Republic, Evo, Morales, Bolivia

Guatemala going back to a Militant forceful resolve, never again! The 36 year war took countless lives that have been determined by many as genocide. Impunity and crime go hand in hand in Guatmala. Given her recent blood-rich history, how can the people elect a president that was part of the FORCEFUL RESOLVE? Are the people of Guatemala really electing such presidency? It seems to be yet another incorrigible act by those in power--a power paradox of a convenient existence.
Tags :Never, Again, Guatemala, Politics, Military, Forceful, Resolve, IMPUNITY, Mayan

Agenda de Competitividad 2012-2021
Tags :Guatemala politics documentary, Competitividad, Economía, PRONACOM, Politicas

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Bill Stark, Communications Administrator Described and Captioned Media Program 1447 East Main Street Spartanburg, SC 29307 Phone: 1-800-237-6213 ext. 201 Email: bstark@dcmp.org DCMP to Participate in US State Department Leadership Conference on International Disability Rights, May 9, 10, 2012 Spartanburg, SC—On May 9-10, 2012, more than 100 leaders of key human rights and development organizations from around the world are gathering in Washington, DC to participate in a Leadership Conference on International Disability Rights, hosted by the United States Department of State. The purpose is to advocate for the inclusion of persons with disabilities, and foster increased civil society engagement in promoting international disability rights. DCMP is proud that its description and captioning work is being represented as part of an accessible technology demonstration being led by Bridge Multimedia. GeoQuest: Guatemala, available to DCMP subscribers, is a 25-minute documentary about Guatemala's history and culture. The description and captioning was a co-production of DCMP and Bridge. GeoQuest: Guatemala, distributed by Film Ideas (www.filmideas.com), is available with audio descriptions and captions in two language versions English and Spanish. A powerful original score by the award-winning Guatemalan composer/performer Magda Angelica, is also featured in the film. GeoQuest: Guatemala marks DCMP's first fully bilingual captioned and described ...
Tags :geoquestguatemala, ENG, Short

Sandra Torres www.shanagrant.com Sandra Torres Casanova is the former First Lady of Guatemala. Along with her ex-husband, President Alvaro Colom Caballeros, she is of Guatemalan nationality, originally from the county of Melchor de Mencos, in the department of Petén. She has a degree in Communication Sciences from the University San Carlos de Guatemala and a Masters degree in Public Politics from the University Rafael Landívar de Guatemala. On March 8 2011, Sandra Torres de Colom publicly accepted to be the presidential nominee for the UNE political party for the upcoming 2011 elections despite Constitutional article 186 which prohibits her from doing so. The Constitutional Court will have the last word in the interpretation of the Constitutional article, even though the article gives no room for interpretation. However, within the newly appointed magistrates of the Constitutional court there are at least four who have had a close relationship with Colom and Torres; one of them is even a former attorney of Torres. This confirmed political experts' predictions that the election of the Court would be done in an obscure way that would benefit Torres. In the event that the magistrates ruled against Torres, there had been rumors that the presidential couple would bypass the constitutional impediment by filing for divorce. This became a reality on March 21 2011, when it was known that President Colom and First Lady Torres had already filed for divorce on March 11. This was ...
Tags :Sandra, Torres, First, Lady, of, Guatemala, alvaro, colom, caballeros, melchor, de, mencos

thefilmarchive.org March 12, 2007 Óscar José Rafael Berger Perdomo, born on 11 August 1946 in Guatemala City, is a former President of Guatemala. Of Belgian descent, Berger was born to an upper class family with large sugar and coffee holdings. He graduated in law from the private, Jesuit Rafael Landívar University. In 1967 he married Wendy Widmann, also from a land owning Guatemalan family. From the mid seventies he ran a successful skittles parlor. In 1985 he joined Álvaro Arzú's successful campaign to become mayor of Guatemala City. From January 1991 to June 1999, he was mayor himself. In the general election held on 9 November 2003, Berger was candidate for the conservative Grand National Alliance after being persuaded out of a retirement spent farming to return to politics. He obtained 34 percent of the votes, putting him well ahead of Álvaro Colom of the National Union of Hope (26 percent) and former president Efraín Ríos Montt of the Guatemalan Republican Front (19 percent). A run-off vote between Berger and Colom took place on 28 December 2003, which Berger won with a 54 percent share of the vote. He was sworn in on 14 January 2004 and left office 14 January 2008. en.wikipedia.org
Tags :Presidents, of, Guatemala, Guatemalan, people, Belgian, descent, 1946, births, Living, from, City, Grand, National, Alliance, (Guatemala), politicians, Solidarity, Party, President (Job Title), Ceremony (Quotation Subject), Press, Conference, Election, Health, Plaza, Person

Dec. 8 - Guatemalans turn out en masse for the historic burning of devils to start the Christmas season. Tara Cleary reports.
Tags :business, reuters, news, politics, finance, devil, effigy, Guatemala, festival, burning, Christmas, cleanse

Nov 7 - Retired general, Otto Perez sweeps to power in Guatemala's presidential election, promising a crackdown on violent crime. Marie-Claire Fennessy reports.
Tags :business, reuters, news, politics, finance, Guatemala, Otto Perez, presidential election, crackdown on crime

Nov. 7 - Supporters in Guatemala City celebrate new right wing leader retired general Otto Perez. Jessica Gray reports.
Tags :business, reuters, news, politics, finance, Guatemala elections Perez

DemocracyNow.org - A White House bioethics commission has revealed gruesome new details about venereal disease experiments from 1946 to 1948 in which US medical officials intentionally infected Guatemalan sex workers, prisoners, soldiers and mental patients with syphilis in order to study the effects of Penicillin. The commission concluded that nearly 5500 Guatemalans were subjected to diagnostic testing — without their consent — and more than 1300 were exposed to venereal diseases by contact or inoculations. At least 83 people died as a result of the US-led research that was approved by the Guatemalan government. President Obama has apologized for the program, and Guatemalan President Álvaro Colom has described it as a "crime against humanity" and ordered his own investigation. Democracy Now! speaks with commission member, Dr. Anita Allen, a Professor of Law and Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Also interviewed is Piper Hendricks, an attorney collaborating with Guatemalan lawyers on a class-action lawsuit against the US government on behalf of 700 Guatemalans who were unknowingly infected with syphilis. Since the case was filed in March, one victim has passed away. "This is something that has happened many years ago and people are waiting for decades to receive justice," notes Hendricks. "Time is of the essence to address the horrifying things that people went through back in the late 1940s." Watch Part 2 of the interview: youtu.be For the ...
Tags :amy goodman, democracy now, dn, news, politics, Guatemala, Anita Allen, Piper Hendricks, Syphilis, Penicillin, Alvaro Colom, Dr. John Cutler, Susan Mokotoff, CDC, STD

DemocracyNow.org - On Tuesday, a national court in Guatemala handed down the first convictions for a notorious massacre. It was 1982 when Guatemalan soldiers attacked the village of Las Dos Erres and killed more than 200 people — many of them women, children and the elderly — who were assaulted and beaten before they were shot or bludgeoned to death and then thrown down a well. Now a Guatemalan judge has sentenced four of the soldiers who carried out the Dos Erres attack to 6060 years of prison each, 30 years per person they killed. Democracy Now! speaks with Annie Bird, co-director of Rights Action, and with Ramón Cadena, the ad hoc judge who heard the Dos Erres massacre case before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Watch Part 1 of 2: youtu.be The court also found the soldiers guilty of crimes against human rights, adding another 30 years to their sentences. It is the latest step in a process to end impunity for those involved in the deaths or disappearances of more than 200000 people in the 1980s and 90s. However, human rights groups allege that the leading presidential candidate, General Otto Perez Molina, was directly involved in the systematic use of torture and acts of genocide during these years. For the complete transcript, to download the podcast, or for more information about Democracy Now!, visit www.democracynow.org FOLLOW DEMOCRACY NOW! ONLINE Facebook: www.facebook.com Twitter: @democracynow Subscribe on YouTube: www.youtube.com Daily Email News ...
Tags :amy goodman, democracy now, dn, news, politics, guatemala, 1982, massacre, dos erres, otto perez molina, annie bird, ramon cadena, rights action, torture