Regional Commission Against Impunity in Central America

The countries of Central America's so-called northern triangle, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, are studying the idea of setting up an international commission against impunity – an initiative that has the support of human rights organisations.

GUATEMALA: Foreign Adoptions Are Back – Along with the Doubts

The reopening of international adoptions in Guatemala in June might not only mean the chance of a better life for many children, but may also spell a return to corruption, fraud and the theft of babies, human rights groups warn.

CENTRAL AMERICA: “It’s Up to the EU Whether the Deal Is Signed”

"We do not see a real willingness on the part of Europe to take Central America's interests seriously," Guatemalan deputy minister for integration and foreign trade Raúl Trejo said in Brussels, at the final round of negotiations for a treaty between the two regions.

CENTRAL AMERICA: Honduras Pushing for End to Isolation

More than nine months after the coup d'etat that overthrew the government of Manuel Zelaya in Honduras, the country is still isolated and remains outside of the Central American Integration System (SICA) and the Organisation of American States (OAS).

GUATEMALA: Bringing Murdered Activist Bishop Back to Life on the Screen

On the evening of Apr. 26, 1998, as Bishop Juan Gerardi returned to the parish house at St. Sebastian's Church, three blocks from the seat of national government in the heart of the Guatemalan capital, he had no idea it would be the last day of his life. That night, his head was bludgeoned with a concrete block.

GUATEMALA-EL SALVADOR: Cross Border Opposition to Mine

The Cerro Blanco gold and silver mine in the southeastern Guatemalan province of Jutiapa, on the border with El Salvador, is under fire from environmentalists in both countries concerned about the threat it poses to the shared Lake Güija and rivers on either side of the border.

CENTRAL AMERICA: Ousted President or Coup Leader to Regional Parliament?

The Central American Parliament (Parlacen) has been caught up in the political confrontation in Honduras between Manuel Zelaya, the president who was ousted on Jun. 28, and the leader of the coup government, Roberto Micheletti, because the regional body is having a hard time deciding which of the two it should accept as a member.

CENTRAL AMERICA: Cross-Border Cartels Dig in Their Heels

Stepped-up efforts against drug trafficking in Colombia and Mexico are increasingly driving drug mafias into Central America, where drug-related corruption and violence are on the rise.

GUATEMALA: Ok for Ex-President’s Extradition to US Just One Step

Civil society groups in Guatemala say a court decision authorising former Guatemalan president Alfonso Portillo's extradition to the United States is just a first step in a lengthy process.

RIGHTS-GUATEMALA: ‘Our Lives Are Cut Short at a Stroke’

"This is a time of great tension because we know that at any moment, when we least expect it, our lives can be cut short at a stroke," Tito Gálvez, a leader in the Resistance Front for the Defence of Natural Resources and Rights of the Guatemalan Peoples (FRENA), told IPS.

CENTRAL AMERICA: Women Make Headway in Politics – and Want More

The victory of Laura Chinchilla in Costa Rica's presidential elections, and the growing participation of women in Central American parliaments, point to their progress in the region's spheres of political power. But they still have a long way to go, experts say.

GUATEMALA: Off Track for Millennium Development Goals

Guatemala knows that when it comes time to demonstrate compliance with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of global anti-poverty and development target to be met by 2015, it will make a poor showing.

CENTRAL AMERICA: Women Eke Out a Living in Informal Economy

"I've been working in the streets since I was a girl. My parents didn't send me to school, so it's really hard for me to find a job," says Carol Orozco, 31, who forms part of the veritable army of vendors hawking their wares on the streets of Central America.

GUATEMALA: Anti-Mine Activists Encouraged by Canadian Ruling

Ecologists in Guatemala see a recent ruling by Canada's Supreme Court, which ordered Canadian mining companies to carry out rigorous environmental assessments, as a positive precedent that could help improve environmental controls over the mining industry in this Central American country.

RIGHTS-GUATEMALA: The Best-Kept Secrets – the Military’s

Human rights groups are worried that the declassification of military archives dating from Guatemala's 1960-1996 civil war, which left more than 200,000 victims, by a special commission will not go far enough in terms of clarifying the atrocities.

RIGHTS-GUATEMALA: Naming the “Disappeared”

Through the "My Name Is Not XX" campaign, the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation is working to identify the remains of thousands of victims who were forcibly disappeared during the country's 1960-1996 armed conflict, by inviting their relatives to provide DNA samples.

GUATEMALA: Lynching, Another Face of Impunity

After a bus driver was shot to death in Sololá, a city in southwestern Guatemala, an angry mob captured two men and one woman suspected of committing the crime, beat them and burnt them alive in the central plaza.

RIGHTS-GUATEMALA: Army Records Spur Hopes for Justice

Original Guatemalan army records on a scorched-earth campaign known as "Operation Sofía", presented as evidence in a human rights case in Spain, have bolstered hopes for justice among the relatives of victims of Guatemala's 36-year civil war in which more than 200,000 people, mainly Mayan Indians, were killed.

GUATEMALA: Sex Education, Family Planning Finally Available

Social organisations in Guatemala are celebrating the entry into effect of a family planning law that will usher sex education into the country's classrooms and facilitate access to birth control methods, as a victory in the fight against the country's high birth and maternal and infant mortality rates.

ENVIRONMENT-GUATEMALA: SOS from Lake Atitlan

A thick, chocolate-coloured scum floats on the normally clear blue waters of Lake Atitlán, in the southwestern Guatemalan province of Sololá, caused by agricultural fertilisers and untreated sewage from surrounding villages and farms.

GUATEMALA: (Barely) Surviving on Beans and Tortillas

Juan Manuel Ardón's bones jut out and his hair is dull and thin: signs of severe malnutrition. He is so weak that he can hardly walk or talk, and the doctors say his weight and stature are those of a six-year-old, rather than 15-year-old, boy.