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Human Wall Shields Guatemala Deputies Debating Stripping Leader's Immunity

Associated Press in Guatemala The Guardian
Guatemalan civilians who support the ousting of President Otto Pérez Molina have formed a wall of bodies to let lawmakers into Congress, protecting them from presidential loyalists trying to prevent a vote on withdrawing the leader’s immunity from prosecution in a corruption scandal. A commission of lawmakers has recommended that Pérez Molina’s immunity of office be withdrawn, and now the issue is before the full congress.

Guatemala Needs Profound Change

Lauren Carasik Al Jazeera
History has shown that Guatemala’s elite will fight viciously to protect their wealth and privilege, regardless of the incalculable human costs of doing so. But its people have demonstrated remarkable resilience, courage and tenacity in their pursuit of justice and democracy. At this critical juncture, the U.S. should not send more money, nor should it insist on blind allegiance to elections that would stabilize the status quo when Guatemala needs profound change.

Tidbits - April 16, 2015 - Chicago election; Police Killings; Prisons; Jewish Anti-Zionism; Charter Schools; Cuba; Culture...more

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Tidbits - April 9, 2015 - Police Killings; Jewish Establishment Tries to Silence Critics; Guatemalans Infected with STDs; US Cold War with Iran; US Trains Neo-Nazis; and more...

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Remembering the Conviction of Guatemala’s Gen. Rios Montt

Pamela Yates North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
In anticipation of the new genocide trial of former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt, the North American Congress on Latin America is running free episodes from the web series Dictator in the Dock directed by Pamela Yates. Yates recalls Rios Montt’s first conviction in 2013 upon which the film is based. On Monday, Guatemalan Judge Janeth Valdez was forced to recuse herself from the second trial. All proceedings are suspended until a new tribunal is formed.

Guilty in Guatemala

Noam Chomsky In These Times
The U.S. owes more than empty apologies in Central America.

Efrain Rios Montt Will Still Face Justice--And So Should Henry Kissinger

By Van Gosse History News Network
Despite the May 20 ruling by Guatemala’s Constitutional Court, which overturned the original verdict on procedural grounds, the May 10 conviction of that country’s former head of state, General Efrain Rios Montt, for the genocide of Guatemala’s Mayan people, could be a defining event in modern history.
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