Trade between Guatemala and the UK set to increase (Revue)

There’s not a cocktail bar in Central London that doesn’t stock Ron Zacapa, an English Starbucks that isn’t preparing to launch a “Guatemala cappuccino” or a high-end British supermarket that doesn’t sell petit-pois straight from the country’s Highlands, according to Guatemalan Embassy staff in the U.K.

Outside the U.S., Guatemala’s biggest export market is Great Britain, and trade between the two countries has been steadily increasing over the past few years. With a new free trade agreement between the European Union and Central America going into effect later this year, commerce between the nations is set to grow even further. It now seems as though the Guatemalan Embassy in London doesn’t exist so much for the 300 chapines who live there as it does for the two countries’ exchange of ideas and trade.

Asisclo Valladares has been the Guatemalan Ambassador to the U.K. for nearly three years.

“In 2010 we didn’t have any economic investment sections, but I established that,” says Valladares, who ran for president twice before taking up this position.

“Trade is good in both directions, so we work closely with the U.K. Embassy in Guatemala City, which wasn’t done before.”

Valladares and his team recently chaperoned a group of British businessmen to Guatemala, as part of Explore Guatemala, and gave them an insight into the commercial opportunities that exist within the country.

Investment missions like these led the health insurance giant BUPA to begin operating in Guatemala and Pollo Campero to set up shop in the U.K.

However, it’s not just about new business. Valladares is also the Guatemalan representative of coffee, sugar, oil and cocoa to the U.K.; he serves as the Guatemalan Ambassador to a host of African countries; and he works closely with Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina to gain support for his ideas in Europe.

“I used to be the Attorney General in Guatemala and fought against drug traffickers. It was risky, but it’s useless if you take one drug cartel out of play, as another will just fill its shoes. This is why I feel so strongly about Pérez Molina’s drug (legalization) policy. We need new methods.”

Shortly after serving as the Attorney General, Valladares received his first diplomatic posting, following in the footsteps of his father, who occupied the same position for 18 years.

“I was Ambassador to the Vatican twice and I loved it—it was incredible,” he says. “The first time was with Pope John Paul II and the second was with Pope Benedict. I met John Paul II many times and always got the same impression—he was a saint. But Benedict is very human and was easier to talk with.”

Sitting in the Ambassador’s residence in London there are nods to his homeland on every wall.

“I love everywhere in Guatemala. Many countries have more than we have, but nowhere has as much as we do in such a small space. I measure my life before and after visiting Tikal. I went when I was 14 and I felt so small in the universe—it’s so special the emotions you get.”

Pictures of La Antigua Guatemala and Lake Atitlán compete for space alongside photographs of Valladares with various Presidents, Popes and members of the British Royal family.

“When my father met the Queen (Elizabeth II) I remember him writing us a letter saying that she was a charming young lady. So when I met her I said: ‘My father said you were a charming young lady and so you are.’ ”

When asked if there’s anything left that he still wants to accomplish or anyone whom he still wants to meet, the Ambassador describes a meeting with the Guatemalan Nobel Prizewinning poet, Miguel Ángel Asturias.

“I met him in Paris and could tell he missed Guatemala. We spoke of Christmas: the flavours, the colours, el nacimiento and he became very contemplative. I asked him if he was nostalgic and he replied: ‘Sometimes I am.’ Then he stopped and said: ‘I’m not nostalgic about the past; I’m nostalgic about the future. The things I’m going to miss, what people will invent.’ And now I’m becoming the same,” smiles Valladares.

Guatemalan living in darkness to bring light to others (Latina Lista)

http://latinalista.com/2013/03/guatemalan-solar-company-defines-new-generation-of-utility-companies-striving-to-help-those-without/

For the past three weeks Juan Rodriguez has been living in complete darkness. Not because he can’t afford to pay his electricity bill, but because this CEO is refusing to turn his lights back on until he has raised $50,000 for hundreds of thousands of Guatemalans who do not have access to electricity.

Approximately 2.6 million people in the Central American nation live in remote locations where the traditional grid system is yet to arrive. When the sun goes down they turn to kerosene and candle light – expensive alternatives that can lead to serious health problems.

Earlier this year, two toddlers in the north of the country were killed when the bed they were sleeping in caught fire from a nearby burning candle. Avoidable accidents like this occur far too often among poor families, which is why Rodriguez’s solar power company, Quetsol, has developed a new way to transmit affordable electricity to some of Guatemala’s poorest, and most isolated, people.

Since it was founded in 2010, Quetsol has distributed over 3,000 solar power kits throughout Guatemala. Its current model supplies a small home with up to six hours of light each night, allowing children to continue studying and parents to continue working.

However, over the next five years the company hopes to reach 100,000 homes with its new pay-as-you-go system, which cuts out banks and puts people in charge of their own accounts – enabling them to generate their own electricity via a single cell phone payment.

“The total cost of buying candles and walking to the nearest town to pay for charging a cell phone is 130 quetzales (US$17) per month. Our solution will cut this cost to 90 quetzales (US$11) a month, empowering families to sustainably develop,” says the Guatemalan-born CEO.

So far Rodriguez’s campaign on the crowd-funding site, indiegogo, has raised $30,000 – over 50 percent of the money needed to launch his company’s latest model.

“The support of everyone has been the light in my dark room, and the goal [$50,000] has kept me motivated. I was very anxious before I entered, but now I can honestly say it has been one of the best experiences of my life. My patience levels have exceeded my expectations. In general, I just feel more awake, as if a part of my brain that was asleep is now alive,” says Rodriguez.

The Guatemalan got the idea for the campaign from a man he met who had developed a therapy called Darkness Retreats. Following on from that initial meeting, Rodriguez gave a speech in Colorado last year about Quetsol where he turned the theatre lights off so that his audience could get a better understanding of how it feels to live without electricity.

Rodriguez started the challenge on February 18 in a sound- and light-proof recording studio, but had to move after 14 days: “I was inhaling all the fibers from the fiber glass walls, which can be very damaging, so we completely darkened my room, with black sheets covering the windows.”

Although he has no access to light and electrical appliances, the Quetsol CEO still uses his cell phone and laptop so that he can run his company and push the campaign. During the day he hosts interactive sessions using a webcam where he chats with followers and plays song requests for $100.

“We want to be more than just one little solar company trying to raise money. We want to be a part of a new generation of utility companies that support rural development and protect the environment at the same time,” says Rodriguez.

Where are they now? Rigoberta Menchú (New Internationalist)

When a former coffee-picker stepped forward to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992, a light was momentarily cast upon the plight of indigenous people throughout the world.

Guatemalan-born Rigoberta Menchú Tum, who was living in self-imposed exile at the time, was awarded the prestigious accolade in recognition of her work: highlighting the exploitation and persecution of her country’s indigenous people during its brutal civil war.

More than twenty years later the war may have ended, but has Menchú’s esteemed prize improved the rights of the people she was fighting for?

With two unsuccessful presidential campaigns under her belt, where she failed on both occasions to garner more than three per cent of the vote, it may seem like her work has done little to enhance the lives of Guatemala’s natives. However, in a country where votes are often bought, not earned, her success is far larger than the polls suggest.

“I’ve really enjoyed the last two elections,” says Menchú. “I haven’t reached a large per cent of the vote, but I’ve reached 95 per cent of the country.”

In 2007, the Mayan activist became the first indigenous person to run for Guatemala’s top position, and four years later founded the country’s first Mayan political party, WINAQ.

“We were never interested in winning the elections. You can’t win without money and no multimillionaire would support us,” she says. Recounting an anecdote from her last campaign, she describes addressing a rural town when an opposition party’s bus drove by announcing it was giving away packets of rice, and her audience disappeared.

“Elections here are a carnival, they’re not democratic. Parties use poverty: giving the poor hope by handing them food.”

Despite the irony that the majority of the people she campaigns for do not vote for her, Menchú considers her political career a great success.

“I’ve opened a door to Mayans and to women. Not only do we now have a party, but we also have one person in congress,” she says, referring to Mayan lawyer, Amilcar Pop.

But it’s not all politics.

In the same year she won the Nobel Peace Prize, the indigenous activist founded the Rigoberta Menchú Tum Foundation, dedicated to the pursuit of peace and promotion of indigenous people’s rights.

In the past two decades, the organisation has campaigned for justice for the victims of the war: exhuming mass graves, legislating new crimes, fighting for usurped ancestral lands to be returned to Mayan communities and legally documenting around 36,000 women. Menchú herself even travelled to Spain to bring genocide cases against Guatemala’s war criminals.

The Foundation recently implemented a Multicultural Education programme at the country’s state university. Menchú calls previous syllabuses “racist” and “colonial” and says this degree, with its emphasis on ancestral culture, trains students from rural communities to become teachers.

Although sometimes misunderstood by Guatemala’s non-indigenous population, Menchu remains devoted to her original cause: the plight of her people. However, for their position within society to be significantly enhanced, the government needs to act on the issues that were highlighted in Oslo twenty years ago – many of which are still prevalent today.

A trade deal with a difference, but will it improve workers’ lives? (BBC)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-21608732

A deal between six Central American countries and the European Union to import a range of produce has been described as one of the most ambitious trading agreements as it binds market access to human rights and working conditions.

Sugar – one of the region’s largest industries is already feeling the benefit as producers now receive a higher price for their products.

Humphrey Hawksley has been to Guatemala to see how the trade deal could affect a country where over half the population live below the poverty line.

Guatemala youth learn to take control of their environmental future and change the course of their country (Latina Lista)

http://latinalista.com/2013/01/guatemala-youth-learn-to-take-control-of-their-environmental-future-and-change-the-course-of-their-country/

In the small pueblo of Chimaltenango, just 45 minutes outside of Guatemala City, a group of young people from across Guatemala and neighbouring El Salvador gather for a 4-day youth leadership congress, organised by the Guatemalan NGO Seres.

Young girl learns the importance of planting trees for the future of Guatemala.

In a scene that could be mistaken for an acrobatics class, they discuss how in teams of six they can hold a group pose with only eight hands and three feet touching the ground. There is laughter and high spirits as one by one each human pyramid comes crashing down. But, despite the jovial atmosphere, there is a reason why these young people are here today: each one of them is concerned about environmental issues that are devastating their communities and they want to help put a stop to them.

Aged between 15 and 25 these young adults have come together to discuss the problems that their hometowns face, create ideas to tackle them and draw up detailed action plans, which will then be presented to their communities with the hope of generating enough support to bring their proposals to fruition.

Daniella Grijalua is 16-years-old and comes from Escuintla, an industrial city that is characterized by extreme poverty. Daniela says that rubbish used to be so bad in her community that they could smell it from her classroom. But since becoming involved with Seres she has made her neighbourhood more environmentally aware and there are now fines for people who litter.

“I’m so satisfied that I’m helping my community, and each time I come here I get new experiences to take back to my family. I don’t use tins or plastic bags anymore, and since the school in my community doesn’t have a kitchen we are collecting bottles and filling them with inorganic waste so that we can build one.”

Seres’ focus on inspiring and empowering Guatemala’s youths stems from its belief that young people need to be taught the necessary skills to drive their own communities forward, rather than sit back and wait for someone else to do it.

“In Guatemala almost 50% of the population is 18 or under,” says Seres founder Corrina Grace. “But because of the country’s 25-year history of aid and charities that have formed a gift economy, there is this generation rising up that aren’t empowered to do anything with their life.”

Guatemala hosts more foreign NGOs than any other country in Central America. These organisations have been particularly important in providing support for human rights works and fighting rural poverty; however, they often take on tasks that should be carried out by non-governmental and civil society organisations.

“As [foreign] NGOs what we really should be doing is writing ourselves out of existence and training up Guatemalans to lead their own communities. But at the moment we’re not in this mentality. What Seres is really about is recreating the development paradigm and putting power back into the hands of the people – because this is the only way we can achieve sustainable development.”

Through word of mouth, Seres is creating an organic youth movement: training young Guatemalans who can then go back into their communities and share their skills with others.

Julio Vasquez comes from Uspantán, an indigenous area in the mountains that recently found itself at the mercy of oil drillers, miners and hydroelectric dams.

“My community has a lot of problems with la minería. The mayor gave permission for the mining companies to go ahead two years ago, but they cut down all the trees in the mountains and the birds died. You used to be able to see and hear nature all around you, but now there’s nothing.”

Guatemala youth participate in group exericise during four-day youth leadership congress.

Since starting with Seres, Julio has learnt the importance of caring for the environment – something that is rarely taught in Guatemala’s public school system – and is currently involved in a project to encourage Uspantán’s youths to engage with local issues and help create change.

Through receiving talks from their elders about how life in their community has changed over the past 60 years, taking part in nutritional workshops and watching documentaries about successful youth-run projects, these young Guatemalans are learning how to tackle their community’s problems and are being given the confidence to create their own future.

Seres has worked with over 300 youths and helped to facilitate projects such as tree planting, building eco-schools and starting medicinal plant gardens in areas where pharmaceutical products are too expensive.

“Wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could train a whole generation of Guatemalans that could grow up to be leaders, look at problems, know how to deal with them and drive their own communities? Then we wouldn’t need to be here trying to fix malnutrition, poverty or building houses – we would have created a whole generation of leaders that could do that,” says Corrina Grace.

Otto Pérez Molina and the Mexican drug cartels: one year on (New Internationalist)

http://newint.org/blog/2013/02/14/guatemala-war-on-drugs/

When Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina first came to power just over a year ago, he promised to govern the country with a mano dura, an iron fist.

After years of Mexican drug cartels muscling their way across the border into Guatemala and Central America, it seemed as though the former army general had inherited a nation on its knees. The word on voters’ lips was ‘security’ and he assured them he would deliver: increasing the army to fight drug trafficking and secure the country’s borders.

About 90 per cent of the cocaine entering North America every year passes through Central America, according to the UN’s International Narcotics Control Board, costing Guatemala billions of dollars and thousands of lives each year.

However, it wasn’t always like this. Up until fairly recently, the large majority of Latin American-grown drugs was transported to the US by plane or boat. But the ‘war on drugs’ shifted the problem inland, which left Guatemala caught in the crossfire between illegal narcotic-producing countries in the south and illegal narcotic consumers in the north.

Due to his previous job as head of military intelligence, Otto Pérez Molina has been at the forefront of his country’s drug war for more than 20 years. Now, after more than 12 months in power, has his government had any success at reducing drug trafficking?

‘Otto Pérez Molina has prevented further expansion of [the Mexican drug cartels], yes. He’s halted the effect, but not reversed it,’ says US Security Analyst Samuel Logan. ‘For drug shipment interdiction, 2012 was wholly successful and Pérez Molina allowed an unprecedented level of international access. But do Guatemalans feel more secure? I’d argue they don’t.’

Soon after taking office in January 2012, the Guatemalan President approved the creation of two new military bases in the country, upgraded a third and made it a priority to reinstate a longstanding ban on US military aid to Guatemala – a controversial move since the aid was stopped over concerns regarding abuses during the country’s civil war.

In late August 2012 around 200 US Marines arrived in Guatemala as part of Operation Martillo, an international mission aimed at intercepting illegal narcotics, bulk cash and weapons being transported along Central America’s isthmus.

Operation Martillo has divided the public: some see it as a great success, but others disagree.

‘There may be a few arrests, and there will be continuing military operations carried out in various regions of the country, in the name of fighting narco-trafficking, but there will be no fundamental changes in terms of the flow of drugs north,’ says Graham Russell from the Human Rights NGO Rights Action that works in Guatemala.

Logan agrees that the mission will not reduce the overall amount of drugs entering the US:

‘Does it slow down trafficking? I don’t think so. If you fumigate one area, the crops will spring up in another: if we squeeze trafficking in Guatemala, it’ll shoot up in Honduras.’

In addition to his involvement in the US-led mission, the Guatemalan President ruffled a few feathers when he became the first head of state to suggest legalizing drugs.

The controversial proposal provoked strong criticism from the US, as well as intense debate within Guatemala. However, it succeeded in getting the international community to discuss Latin America’s drug problem, which many believe was his objective.

During a recent press conference at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the rightwing general appealed to world leaders for a new approach to regulating the drugs market – stating that the current method was not working.

After spending more than a year fighting against drug trafficking on land and at sea, it seems the Guatemalan President’s new approach to the ‘war on drugs’ is to urge the international community to help tackle the problem that their consumption fuels. But when the countries caught in the crossfire are on the other side of the world, it is all too easy to turn a blind eye.

Guatemala company revs up the adventure for tourists with motorbike tours (Latina Lista)

There is something undeniably cool about motorbikes, cobbled streets and rock and roll. Combine all three and you have one of the most exhilarating ways to explore Guatemala’s most popular tourist town: driving through the pueblos of La Antigua, on the back of a trike, with The Rolling Stones blaring from the speakers.

CATours has been specialising in creating tailor-made motorbike tours of Guatemala and beyond since 1999; offering adventurous travellers everything from driving up volcanoes to overnight beach trips and excursions to the country’s picturesque lakes.

I started my adventure at the company’s own Motocafe with a strong cup of coffee and a quick briefing of the morning’s itinerary from CATours’ owner, Dave Drudge.

I was to be chief passenger for the day on the newest addition to the company’s fleet of 13 motorbikes: a fierce looking, two-person, orange trike. Perfect for those who aren’t brave enough to take the handlebars themselves, or who simply want to focus on the beautiful vistas rather than the passing traffic, the three-wheel bike gives you the luxury of being chauffeur driven by the tour group’s experienced instructors, leaving you free to snap away at the stunning scenery you pass.

Englishman Drudge bought the rare bike, which is from the U.S.A., over eBay two years ago. After flying up to West Virginia from Guatemala to collect it, he spent about two weeks driving it back through The States and Mexico.

“My first stop after leaving Charleston was Memphis, Tennessee, then I drove to Lake Charles, Louisiana, onto Texas and then all the way to Matamoros, Mexico. I stayed there for two nights and for the first time on the trip I had to buy a road map. Mexico made my eyes open; I’d been there before, but had never been noticed in this way.

“On the trike I felt like some kind of alien. From then on I knew that I stood out, not that the trike wasn’t noticed in The States, but it just didn’t attract the same kind of open-mouthed stares,” says Drudge, who has been riding motorbikes since he was 15 years old and has taught thousands of people in Guatemala how to do the same.

Dave and I set off from the center of Antigua and into its indigenous surrounding villages: meandering along open roads against the backdrop of Volcan Agua whilst accompanied by a 1960s rock ‘n’ roll soundtrack.

After about 15 minutes we reached Santa Maria de Jesús, a village in the foothills of the volcano, and stopped off to explore the area and purchase some fruit in the local market. The next part of our journey took us out past women doing their laundry in the central pila, and onto the cobbled streets of another small community, San Juan del Obispo.

Our third dismount was in the colourful calles (streets) of San Pedro Hueltas, where we visited a church and an indoor market before heading back to Antigua through the dusty back streets of Guatemala’s famous cowboy boot making village, Pastores.

The unique thing about CATours is that here you are the one in charge – driving yourself to such touristic destinations as Lake Amatitlán, Lake Atitlán and Monterrico beach, stopping off when you want and for how long you want.

Without another tourist in view you can gain a rich insight into Guatemala ‘off the beaten track’ on a Yamaha 175 DT, a Honda 200 CTX or on the back of a trike.

While novices can purchase a series of beginner lessons before heading off, more experienced riders can grab a helmet, a map and an instructor and explore some of Guatemala’s roads less traveled.

The CATours team organise half day, full day or even fortnight-long tours from Antigua Guatemala to as far afield as Costa Rica and Panama and for every booked tour they make a donation to a local charities.