Desperate young Guatemalans try to reach the US even after horrific deaths of migrating relatives
In the small town of Comitancillo in Guatemala’s mostly Indigenous highlands, two murals memorialize the nearly two dozen local migrants who died in mass tragedies en route to the United States recently.
Guatemala leader in Taiwan expresses 'rock-solid friendship'
The president of Guatemala has appealed to other governments to respect Taiwan’s sovereignty during an official visit at a time when China’s ruling Communist Party is stepping up efforts to isolate the self-ruled island democracy claimed by Beijing as part of its territory.
Disturbance to emerge over the southwestern Gulf Friday
A robust tropical disturbance moving through Belize, northeastern Guatemala, and the Yucatán Peninsula of southeastern Mexico is headed toward the Bay of Campeche and extreme southwestern Gulf of Mexico, where it’s set to emerge briefly Friday and Saturday.
US and Mexico seek ways to do more on irregular immigration
In consecutive visits this month, Vice President Kamala Harris and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas have conveyed to the most important U.S. partner that the Biden administration is taking a more nuanced approach to immigration than its predecessor, but still asking what more Mexico can do.
VP Harris announces business investments in Central America
Vice President Kamala Harris has announced commitments from a dozen companies and organizations to invest in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador as part of the Biden administration’s efforts to address the root causes of migration from the region.
Expelled from US at night, migrant families weigh next steps
Migrants sleep under a gazebo at a park in the Mexican border city of Reynosa, Saturday, March 27, 2021. The decisions unfold amid what Border Patrol officials say is an extraordinarily high 30-day average of 5,000 daily encounters with migrants. But under pandemic authority, Mexicans and citizens of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras can be expelled to Mexico throughout the night and in smaller towns. A U.S. travel advisory says heavily armed criminal groups patrol Reynosa in marked and unmarked vehicles. AdFelicia Rangel, founder of the Sidewalk School, which gives educational opportunities to asylum-seeking children in Mexican border cities, sees the makings of a squalid migrant camp like in nearby Matamoros, which recently closed.
Funcionarios de Estados Unidos y México hablarán de migración
Mexican immigration agents stop people who crossed the Suchiate River, the natural border between Guatemala and Mexico, to see their identification documents near Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico, Monday, March 22, 2021. Agents are forcing those with permission to enter Mexico for work or a visit to use the official border crossing bridge, and those who do not are being returned toGuatemala, as they enforce new limits on all but essential travel at its shared border with Guatemala. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)(Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Guatemala woman, 23, is among 13 killed in California crash
(AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)EL CENTRO, Calif. – One of the 13 people killed when the SUV smuggling them into California hit a tractor-trailer was a 23-year-old woman who was fleeing violence in Guatemala for the hope of a better life, family members said. “She couldn’t reach the American dream,” her father, Maynor Melendrez of New York, told the paper in Spanish. The youngest injured was a 15-year-old girl whose name and nationality were undetermined, according to California Highway Patrol. The Guatemala City woman lost consciousness. The Border Patrol said surveillance video showed the Expedition and a Chevrolet Suburban drive through an opening in the border wall about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of the crash.
Evacuation request ignored at Guatemala's Pacaya volcano
A child sits on a motorcycle as the Pacaya volcano erupts in the background, viewed from San Vicente Pacaya, Guatemala, Wednesday, March 3, 2021. The national disaster relief agency said there were more eruptions Thursday, but with a decrease in their intensity. Agency spokesman Davíd León said there are at least 21 hamlets around Pacaya that have been asked to evacuate out of precaution. Residents say they are familiar with the habits of the 8,373-foot (2,552 meter) volcano, located just 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Guatemala City. Pacaya had an explosive blast in 2010 that killed a reporter and two locals.
US motions expand drug claims against Honduras president
(UNTV via AP)NEW YORK – U.S. federal prosecutors have filed motions saying that Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández took bribes from drug traffickers and had the country's armed forces protect a cocaine laboratory and shipments to the United States. The documents quote Hernández as saying he wanted to “'shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos' by flooding the United States with cocaine." The motions filed Friday with the U.S. Southern District of New York do not specifically name the president, referring to him as “CC-4,” or co-conspirator No. During that trial, the president was accused of accepting more than $1 million from Mexican drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán — an accusation repeated in the new motions. At this time, CC-4 was pursuing election as the President of Honduras as a member of the Partido Nacional de Honduras (the “National Party”),” the motion said.
Cientos de hondureños intentan salir del país en caravana
Menos de 24 horas después de empezar a caminar, muchos fueron retornados hacia San Pedro. Las fuerzas de seguridad hondureñas, apostadas en la carretera pocos kilómetros antes de Agua Caliente, frontera con Guatemala, pedían a los migrantes su pasaporte o célula de identidad y una prueba de COVID-19. “Perdí todo, pasaporte de mi niño, su ropa, todo, no es justo lo que nos hacen”, agregó llorando la mujer, una de las muchas afectadas por las recientes tormentas. “¿Cómo le digo a mi hijo: ‘no tengo casa, no tengo comida para darte’? El niño solo llora por leche”.
Never say never, but hurricane season appears to be winding down
The rain in Central America is not going to let up quickly because the cold front that came through Florida will be in the vicinity as well. In addition, a Tropical Disturbance in the extreme southern Caribbean Sea will pull additional moisture over Central America and northern Colombia. It’s a broad low-pressure area at this point, and it has a very slight chance of developing into a tropical depression. Since all of the systems involved are moving slowly, the strong winds off the ocean will continue through the week. It’s unlikely to amount to much, though it has a slight chance of padding the 2020 stats.
Life-threatening flooding continues in Central America from Iota while a cold front protects Florida
The center of what’s left of Hurricane Iota is dying out over El Salvador, but moisture continues to be pulled into the mountainous areas in Central America, especially in Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala. But the flash flooding at high elevations continues, and that water cascades down the mountains in the gullies, valleys, and rivers. Conditions will slowly ease as what’s left of Iota drifts toward the Pacific Ocean and dies out tomorrow. It would have very little time to organize before it moved across Central America late this week or over the weekend. An upper-level disturbance that is helping to drive the cool air south might kick off a non-tropical system east of the Bahamas.
Centroamérica busca recuperarse de estragos dejados por Eta
Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. Todos los derechos reservados. Este material no puede ser publicado, difundido, reescrito o redistribuido sin permiso. La periodista de The Associated Press Sonia Pérez D. en Guatemala contribuyó con este reporte. Las autoridades aumentaron el domingo la cifra de muertos a 17, al tiempo en que seguían reportando a 62 personas que no habían sido localizadas probablemente porque quedaron en algunos poblados remotos incomunicados y a los que los equipos de socorro no habían podido acceder.
Eta atraviesa a Cuba mientras Guatemala busca sobrevivientes
Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. Este material no puede ser publicado, difundido, reescrito o redistribuido sin permiso. Los periodistas de The Associated Press Marlon González en Tegucigalpa y Sonia Pérez D. en Guatemala contribuyeron a este despacho. Rubiera explicó que estará lo suficientemente lejos como para no afectar con sus vientos, pero “el peligro no ha pasado” y se prevén inundaciones severas costeras en el Malecón de la capital con zonas especialmente bajas. If you need help with the Public File, call (954) 364-2526.
Eta zeroes in on Cuba, as Guatemala searches for victims
Members of search and recovery teams search for survivors in the debris of a massive, rain-fueled landslide in the village of Queja, in Guatemala, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020, in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Eta. Cuba braced for Eta even as searchers in Guatemala were still digging for people believed buried by a massive, rain-fueled landslide. The U.S. National Hurricane Center issued tropical storm warnings for southern Florida and the Florida Keys, and warnings were issued for central Cuba; parts of southern Florida and the Keys were even put under a hurricane watch. The storm was expected to hit Cuba by early Sunday, and approach the Florida Keys and south Florida late Sunday or Monday. South Florida started emptying ports and a small number of shelters opened in Miami and the Florida Keys for residents in mobile homes and low lying areas.
Guatemala searches, Eta regains storm status, heads to Cuba
Members of search and recovery teams search for survivors in the debris of a massive, rain-fueled landslide in the village of Queja, in Guatemala, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020, in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Eta. The storm was expected to hit Cuba by early Sunday, and approach the Florida Keys and south Florida late Sunday or Monday. Tropical storm warnings were issued for central Cuba, southern Florida and the Florida Keys. South Florida started emptying ports and a small number of shelters opened in Miami and the Florida Keys for residents in mobile homes and low lying areas. The storms’ threat comes as many streets across South Florida have been inundated by heavy rains and unusual King Tides.
Eta regresa al mar tras vapulear a Centroamérica
Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. Los periodistas de The Associated Press Marlon González en Tegucigalpa, Seth Borenstein en Kensington, Christopher Sherman en la Ciudad de México y Manuel de la Cruz en Chiapas contribuyeron en este despacho. “A medida que pasan las horas vamos a empezar a ver, muy a nuestro pesar, algunos cuadros dantescos de personas encontradas fallecidas”, agregó. (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)If you need help with the Public File, call (954) 364-2526.
Guatemala digs through landslide where 100 believed buried
A barefooted woman makes her way around debris brought on by a landslide on a road blocking traffic, in the aftermath of Hurricane Eta, in Purulha, northern Guatemala Friday, Nov. 6, 2020. In a news conference, President Alejandro Giammattei said he believed there were at least 100 dead there in San Cristobal Verapaz, but noted that was still unconfirmed. Her home in La Lima, a San Pedro Sula suburb, is 150 feet from the roiling Chamelecon river and only a short way from the international airport’s runway. It said rescues were happening Friday in San Pedro Sula and La Lima, but the need was great and resources limited. The U.S. State Department said in a statement Friday that four U.S. helicopters from the Soto Cano Air Base near Tegucigalpa had flown to San Pedro Sula to participate in rescue operations.
Weakened Eta drenches Central America; at least 57 dead
A pregnant woman is carried out of an area flooded by water brought by Hurricane Eta in Planeta, Honduras, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Delmer Martinez)TEGUCIGALPA – The rain-heavy remnants of Hurricane Eta flooded homes from Panama to Guatemala Thursday as the death toll across Central America rose to at least 57, and aid organizations warned the flooding and mudslides were creating a slow-moving humanitarian disaster across the region. Eta had sustained winds of 35 mph (55 kph) and was moving north at 8 mph (13 kph) Thursday. When what’s left of the storm wobbles back into the Caribbean it will regain some strength and become a tropical storm again, forecasts show. “Whatever comes out (of Central America) is going to linger awhile,” said Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.
Reporte: Agentes de EEUU en Guatemala violaron acuerdo
Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. Este material no puede ser publicado, difundido, reescrito o redistribuido sin permiso. La policía revisaba los documentos de los migrantes, y aquellos que no contaban con la documentación apropiada eran enviados de regreso a la frontera con Honduras. (Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)If you need help with the Public File, call (954) 364-2526.
Retenes y cansancio disuelven caravana migrante en Guatemala
Todos los derechos reservados. “No tengo todos los elementos, pero hay indicios de que esto se armó con ese propósito. No sé en beneficio de quién, pero no nos estamos chupando el dedo, falta un mes”. Díganle a sus jefes que nos den una oportunidad”, señaló un hombre, que no se identificó, a un policía. “En un principio me quería regresar, pero se han abierto puertas que pienso que me van a permitir avanzar”, dijo, reconociendo que teme por sus hijos en caso de un enfrentamiento.
Hurricane Nana hits Belize, then dissipates over Guatemala
PUNTA GORDA – Hurricane Nana made landfall in Belize, pelting a relatively sparsely populated stretch of the country's coast with heavy rain and wind, before weakening while pushing across Guatemala and dissipating late Thursday. The U.S. National Hurricane Center reported that Nana hit land between the coastal towns of Dangriga and Placencia in the early minutes of Thursday at an area around 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Belize City with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph), making it barely a hurricane. Nana weakened to a tropical depression with maximum sustained winds near 35 mph (55 kph) by late in the afternoon, and dissipated during the night near Guatemala's border with Mexico. Guatemala reported heavy rains, especially along that border, but the country's national disaster coordinator reported no deaths and said no one had been moved to shelters. Long lines stretched through supermarkets and hardware store shelves were nearly bare as residents of Belize bought materials to board up windows and doors.
Nana Inland Over Northern Guatemala
Location 150 miles NNE of Guatemala City Guatemala Wind 60 mph Heading WSW at 15 mph Pressure 29.53 Coordinates 89.7W, 16.6NDiscussionAt 700 AM CDT (1200 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Nana was located near latitude 16.6 North, longitude 89.7 West. On the forecast track, Nana will continue to move inland over Guatemala and extreme southeastern Mexico today and tonight. A Tropical Storm Watch means that tropical storm conditions are possible within the watch area. Tropics Models at 3:10 Thursday Night, September 03rdLand HazardsWIND: Tropical storm conditions will continue in the warning area in Guatemala for a few more hours. STORM SURGE: Water levels along the Belize coast will gradually subside through the morning as Nana moves farther inland.
Panama extradites Coral Gables rape suspect deported by ICE in 2018
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said Orozcos deportation undercut the very credibility of the criminal justice system. Neither I nor our law enforcement partners could ever allow that to stand, Fernandez Rundle said in a statement. Miami-Dade prosecutors in the extradition section of the legal unit worked closely with the Coral Gables Police Department and the Department of Justice Office of International Affairs. Officers arrested him Sept. 11, 2018 and ICE deported him 13 days later. This criminal case will finally be resolved in a courtroom, Fernandez Rundle said.
Homestead teen dies after being intubated in hospital with COVID-19
HOMESTEAD, Fla. A South Florida mother is mourning the death of her teenage daughter, who died last week after contracting COVID-19. Her mother spoke with Local 10 News, saying she never thought this pandemic nightmare would hit so close to home. According to her mother, Estelia was born with underlying medical conditions that made her among those most vulnerable to the coronavirus. She said Estelia came down with a fever in early July that went on for about three days. Estelia is survived by two brothers, who live with their mother in Homestead.
Tropical storm kills 17 in El Salvador and Guatemala
Vehicles stand damaged by the Acelhuate River after a flash flood at a neighborhood in San Salvador, El Salvador, Sunday, May 31, 2020. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)SAN SALVADOR Rains from Tropical Storm Amanda left at least 17 dead and seven missing while causing extensive damage across El Salvador and Guatemala that pushed thousands of people into shelters amid the coronavirus pandemic. EL Salvador Interior Minister Mario Durn said Monday some 7,000 people were scattered across 154 shelters. Amanda pounded El Salvador with rain for days before moving ashore as a tropical storm on Sunday and pushing across Guatemala. Mexico issued a tropical storm warning from Campeche west to the port of Veracruz, expecting the depression to become a tropical storm Monday night or Tuesday.
US deports former Guatemalan soldier wanted in 1982 massacre, living in Boca Raton
MIAMI, Fla. – A former Guatemalan sergeant who acknowledged participating in a massacre in 1982 during the country's civil war was deported Tuesday by U.S. authorities. Gilberto Jordan, 64, is the third former Guatemalan soldier to be deported to face war crime charges for that massacre, said the Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a statement. Jordan went to the U.S. illegally in 1985 and eventually settled in Boca Raton, Florida, where he worked at a country club as a cook before his arrest in 2010. The 1982 slaughter went unpunished for years — even after Guatemalan authorities issued 17 arrest warrants. The civil war from 1960 to 1996 left 200,000 people dead and 45,000 missing, a United Nations report says.