Ancient Maya knowledge helps Guatemalan farmers cut agrochemical use

Key Ideas Guatemalan farmers are turning to organic pesticides, rooted in traditional practices and sustainable ideas, to replace expensive synthetic alternatives. Using a mixture of locally available plants, and ideas about farming passed down by ancestors, they are creating natural pesticides to protect their plots. Cheaper than agrochemicals, these biopesticides are safer to use and don’t cause the ecological damage associated with chemical use.

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Legal logging and soaring saplings: the ‘green islands’ bucking the deforestation trend in central America

In Guatemala’s Maya biosphere reserve local people are making a living from trees at the same time as increasing forest cover, showing nature is best protected by those who depend on it. Mark Hillsdon writes in The Guardian as part of the publication’s Age of Extinction series. Illegal logging is an increasing issue across Central and South America tied into power and criminality.

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Pacoj Buries Its Victims of the War in Guatemala

In a rural hamlet in Chimaltenango, the remains of dozens of victims of the Guatemalan armed conflict piled up in a dingy storage room for decades. Now, their families have begun a burial that the government had promised but never carried out. Yuliana Ramazzini writes, movingly, in El Faro English about a long-delyed burial for victims of the internal armed conflict and reminds us about the violence, racism, and brutality of the Guatemalan armed forces, and the state, in that period and about the affect on individuals.

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GHRC – El Quetzal (Summer 2026)

She set an example of love, courage, and service for all whose lives she touched. The Summer 2026 edition of El Quetzal, from The Guatemala Human Rights Commission (GHRC), has recently been published. The recent renewal of key leadership within the justice system, particularly the appointment of a new Attorney General, has contributed to a less confrontational climate and opened the possibility for long-awaited institutional change.

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PBI Guatemala – Applying to become a field volunteer

"It was a pivotal experience to work and live for 12 months alongside my team and learn directly from human rights defenders.” - Former PBI Guatemala volunteer PBI’s field volunteer programme is one of the most direct ways to support human rights defenders on the ground. Our team in Guatemala is now recruiting and is looking for committed individuals ready to serve as trained international observers, accompanying defenders in courtrooms, at protests, and in communities facing threats.

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Guatemala’s Defense Chief Thinks He Can Clean Up the Army — and Keep Trump Happy

Yuliana Ramazzini has an interesting interview in El Faro English with the Guatemalan Defense Minister, Henry Sáenz. He talks about the roll of the Guatemala defense forces today, rooting out corruption within state security forces, how he views the relationship with the U.S., the challenges posed by narco-trafficking, and regional security, among other things. Since the beginning of his administration in 2024, Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo has become a close ally of the United States, despite the ideological divide between a conservative president like Donald Trump and one who describes himself as a social democrat.

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A Seed That Blossoms Over Time: Letter of Gratitude to Supporters of Santa María Tzejá Education Program

I wanted to share this post from Rights Action to celebrate their work and to give voice to the community of Santa María Tzejá. Rights Action supporters may recall that from 1995-2010 we helped fund an empowering education project in the Maya community of Santa Maria Tzeja, Ixcan, Quiche, Guatemala. Over the years, the education program grew to strengthen primary school, and add middle and high school, and scholarships for university.

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Opportunity to reverse criminalisation of lawyers in Guatemala following new Attorney General appointment

Shared by Amnesty UK, Lawyers for Lawyers has joined the statement of the International Mission of Jurists for Guatemala following the appointment of Gabriel García Luna as the new Attorney General of the Republic and Head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Guatemala, who will assume office on 18 May 2026. In the context of this appointment, the Mission underscores that a genuine democratic transition is essential to reverse the patterns of criminalisation against lawyers and other justice operators in Guatemala.

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After the Elections, the Debate Guatemala Keeps Putting Off

Juan Francisco Sandoval, the former head of Guatemala’s Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity (FECI). writes in El Faro English about the need for Guatemala to discuss and tackle the systemic issues at the heart of the judicial system. There is little to be gained by proclaiming the winner in a race unless there are genuine attempts to tackle the rules of the race as well.

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New Attorney General Must End Criminalization

Judge Miguel Ángel Gálvez shares, through the Guatemala Human Rights Commission (GHRC), his thoughts following the inauguration of Gabriel Estuardo García Luna as the new Attorney General. He examines how, under the administration of María Consuelo Porras, the Guatemalan judicial system was turned into a selective mechanism of intimidation against independent justice operators, indigenous peoples, human rights defenders, journalists, and lawyers.

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Guatemala: New Attorney General appointed, Porras’s disastrous tenure ended

Marlies Stappers and Denis Martinez write in Impunity Watch about the newly appointed Attorney General, Gabriel García Luna, and the disastrous legacy of the previous AG, Consuelo Porras. The piece covers the various attempts of the incumbent AG to remain in a position of power within the judicial system and talks of the other judicial elections in Guatemala which are, themselves, of significance.

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New Guatemalan AG Starts Cleaning House After Years of Corruption and Lawfare

A new attorney general took office in Guatemala amid calls to restore confidence after his predecessor fueled the ranks of exiles and prisoners of conscience. This removes what President Arévalo had long called an obstacle: an adversary as top prosecutor. Yuliana Ramazzini writes in El Faro English on the new Attorney General in Guatemala and the challenges ahead. The piece outlines some of the twists and turns in the process and the various ways in which Consuelo Porras sought to remain in power, at some level.

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Podcast: A Friend to Trump, Netanhayu, and Bukele Takes Office in Costa Rica

Costa Rican President Laura Fernández tells Israel she’s willing to open an embassy in Jerusalem. U.N. experts demand proof of life for Nicaraguan Indigenous leader Brooklyn Rivera. El Salvador tried…

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Podcast: Guatemala Turns the Page After Eight Years of Consuelo Porras

A new Guatemalan AG is set to take office May 17, capping years of selective justice. Guatemalan journalist Carlos Humberto Cal Ical is killed in Alta Verapaz. Bukele escalates a tax crackdown…

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Guatemala’s Attorney General Selection: A Critical Test for the Rule of Law and U.S. Engagement

Ana María Méndez Dardón recently wrote in Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) about the challenges facing the rule of law in Guatemala as it seeks to select a new Attorney General and how Washington may, or may not, engage. Guatemala once again faces a pivotal opportunity to restore democratic institutions and rebuild the rule of law by selecting a new Attorney General.

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Guatemala: The fall of Consuelo Porras

Guatemala’s Attorney General for 8 years is bound to leave her office. She has been the nightmare of anticorruption prosecutors, human rights activists and transitional justice advocates. But does it signal profound change? Jody García writes in Justice Info on the major change to the post of Attorney General with the removal of Consuelo Porras from the list of prospective candidates.

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GHRC – Recent Developments on Justice and Human Rights

In Guatemala high-stakes elections continue to be the battleground for forces of progress and forces against it. Elections for University of San Carlos rector are taking place in a climate of fear and intimidation, leading the Organization of American States to call on police to protect voters and candidates. The nominating committee for attorney general continues its work of winnowing a list of 49 candidates down to 6 for President Arévalo to select among.

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Guatemalan Gangs Step Into Politics and Drug Trafficking

Guatemala’s two major gangs appear to be evolving in different directions: The notorious 18th Street has waded into politics; the government suggests it is being politicized to stoke chaos. Meanwhile, in a series of strategic moves, MS-13 has wrested the monopoly on street-level drug dealing from the cartel that had held it for over 30 years. Carlos Martínez writes in…

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Statement from AJR: Victims of the Ixil Genocide Seek Justice Before the IACHR After 23 Years of Delay

Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) presented a translation of a press release on behalf of The Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR), The Human Rights Office of the Archdiocese of Guatemala (ODHAG), and the Institute of Comparative Studies in Criminal Sciences of Guatemala (ICCPG). Today, March 12, 2026, we presented to the honorable rapporteur of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Andrea Pochak, a petition against the State of Guatemala, primarily regarding the DENIAL OF JUSTICE in the case known as the Ixil Genocide, during the Lucas García period, which began in 2001 and went to trial 23 years later, when it was interrupted by an illegal ruling issued by the First Chamber of the Court of Appeals, whose members have direct ties to corrupt individuals seeking impunity. You can read the full statement, with a link to the original, here, Statement from AJR.

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In Arévalo’s Guatemala, It’s Not “Spring” Quite Yet

José Enrique Arrioja writes in Americas Quarterly about the continuing challenges facing President Arévalo in the face of gang violence, institutional corruption and high disapproval rates. From the moment he took office, President Bernardo Arévalo raised expectations with his talk of a “democratic spring”—bringing not just prosperity, but a sense of institutional calm to Guatemala. In some respects, the most progressive leader in the country’s recent history has delivered.

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In Guatemala’s Western Highlands, There’s Life After Deportation

Carlos Barrera presents a piece of photo-reportage on El Faro English highlighting challenges of emigrating to the US from Quetzaltenango (Xela) and subsequent deportation and re-integrating back into Guatemala, sometimes after many years of being away. The piece highlights the work of the Garibaldi Association of Migrants and Deportees (Asociación de Migrantes y Deportados Garibaldi – AMIDEGA). When Vicente Sacor was deported from Los Angeles, California, in 2008, he faced a reality he wasn’t prepared for.

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Guatemala at a New Institutional Crossroads: Local Elections and the Future of the Justice System

Guatemala Human Rights Commission (GHRC) recently posted a report by Juan Francisco Sandoval, former head of the Special Office Against Impunity in Guatemala, now in exile. The report explains the critical moment Guatemala is entering. President Arévalo will receive a shortlist of candidates for the attorney general position by April 17 and will make his selection by May 17. Among the candidates is current Attorney General Consuelo Porras, who has been sanctioned for corruption by more than 43 countries.

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Forum: La Puya’s Victory and the Challenges of International Arbitration

Recently, the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) posted a piece on a discussion forum, of which they were part, to share insights and discuss how international investment treaties allow transnational corporations to sue governments within the context of the experiences of the struggle of La Resistencia Pacífica La Puya. Last December, defenders of life and territory received some truly inspiring news: the US mining company Kappes, Cassiday & Associates (KCA) lost its multi-million-dollar lawsuit against the Guatemalan state.

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No Defenders, No Climate Justice

Our friends in Peace Brigades International UK (PBI-UK) have released a short film on their work with Human Rights Defenders, and Environmental Defenders. Think about what it takes to keep a forest standing. Not the satellite imagery or the international agreements - the actual, daily, human act of standing in front of a bulldozer, filing a legal challenge against a mining company, or organising an Indigenous community to assert its ancestral rights.

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Jose Ruben Zamora: “We Need to Refound Guatemala”

“People have confidence in journalism. With my work I have wanted to honor journalists who gave their lives for a free society.” An interview with José Rubén Zamora was carried out by Carlos F. Chamorro of Confidencial and was translated into English and posted in the Havana Times. Thanks also to Rights Action. In the interview he talks about, amongst other things, how he survived the solitude while in prison, about the cruelty of the Public Prosecutor’s Office (

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Consuelo Porras Signed Irregular Adoptions of Children from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras

Roman Gressier writes in El Faro English on the allegations of historical illegal adoptions and the alleged role of a high-ranking official in Guatemala, namely the current Attorney General, Consuelo Porras. It appears that a record of the position in which she signed off on them is absent from her re-election portfolio. Information recently submitted to a United Nations group of experts implicates Guatemala’s Attorney General, Consuelo Porras, in at least 80 “allegations of illegal adoptions” committed by the State between 1968 and 1996.

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Trespassing the Rule of Law: the role of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the evictions of Indigenous communities in Guatemala

Consuelo Porras’s second term as Attorney General of Guatemala will end on May 17, 2026. This presents an opportunity for the next head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office (Ministerio Público — MP) to review institutional policies and practices that instrumentalize criminal law to evict indigenous communities from their ancestral lands for the benefit of companies and landowners who claim ownership of the lands.

guatemalasolidarity.org.uk

GHRC – Recent Developments in Justice and Human Rights

Elections for the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, Constitutional Court, and attorney general are progressing, with positive results in some areas and concerning results in others. The international community is closely monitoring these elections. The United States, the European Union, the Organization of American States, and the United Nations High Commissioners Office for Human Rights have openly expressed concern about some of the candidates.

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U.N. Experts Warn of Illegal Adoptions Tied to Guatemalan Attorney General

A recent podcast on El Faro English, with Yuliana Ramazzini and Gabriel Labrador, presents among CA items, the news that U.N. experts have tied the internationally sanctioned Guatemalan Attorney General Consuelo Porras to an illegal adoption scheme. You can read the piece with links, including to the podcast, here, U.N. Experts Warn of Illegal Adoptions Tied to Guatemalan Attorney General.

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