Guatemala News and Articles
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Guatemala News | December 2006
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Guatemalan babies becoming a commodity?
In keeping with our case study of Guatemala, I read a NY Times article from earlier this month by Marc Lacey, "Guatemala System is Scrutinized as Americans Rush in to Adopt." The article comments on an adoption trend in which foreign parents fly to Guatemala to essentially buy children from primarily indigenous women via baby brokers (known as jaladoras) and lawyers. The issues being discussed here are the rights of the mother, the rights of the child, indigenous rights in general, and the circumstances which may lead to these indigenous children being dealt with as transactions. In a sense the rights of the child are, if anything, being guaranteed in that this “adoption” process is not necessarily a bad thing for their future. The mothers being tricked into giving up their children is another issue....
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Tikal, Guatemala - Exploring ancient history
TIKAL, Guatemala - The jungle rises 100 feet into the air, a rainforest of ceibas and mahogany and cedar trees. But the ancient stone pyramids rise even higher.
The Temple of the Jaguar Priest. The Temple of the Two-Headed Serpent. Their flat tops poke through the canopy, into the vast and misty sky. It is a scene so otherworldly that filmmakers used it in a "Star Wars" movie. This is Tikal, in the tropics of Guatemala. It is one of the largest Mayan ruins in the world and is even more otherworldly in reality than it is on the screen. You can spend several days walking through Tikal - walking where the Maya walked, trying to imagine yourself back in time...
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The flashy flavor of Guatemala
ANTIGUA, Guatemala – "Tone it down, buddy," the salsa instructor said to my 16-year-old son. At the moment, Walker was wildly swinging his hips from side to side with all the subtlety of a clock pendulum."Like this – smooooth," the instructor continued, and as his feet kept rhythm to the scorching salsa beat, he swiveled his hips with the perfect degree of relaxed Latin cool....
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If you go to Guatemala
The phone number of the Guatemala Tourist Commission is 888-464-8281.There are three hotels at Tikal and several restaurants. Camping near the site is less than $10 a night. (First come, first served. Pay at the visitors center.)
My husband and I stayed in Belize and took a daylong tour, with a guide and a driver, crossing the border into Guatemala early in the morning, driving 60 miles, touring the site for half a day, eating lunch, stopping on the way back to buy table linens and still getting back to our lodge near San Ignacio in time for dinner. It is also possible to tour Tikal from a base in Guatemala City...
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