Tag: GUATEMALA

Guatemala votes on international court handling Belize border dispute

by Edgar Calderon © Agence France-Presse GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (AFP) — Guatemala voted Sunday on whether to send a long-running border dispute with neighboring Belize to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for final resolution. Polls closed at 6:00 pm (0000 GMT) after 11 hours of voting, which took place “without reports of security incidents,” according to Supreme Electoral Tribunal president Maria Eugenia Mijangos. But despite 7.5 million Guatemalans being summoned to the ballot box, the […]

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Guatemala to move embassy to Jerusalem in May: president

  WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES (AFP) — Guatemala will relocate its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem this May, two days after the United States shifts its mission, the Latin American country’s president has announced. Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales told a cheering crowd on Sunday that “as a sovereign decision, we recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.” Speaking at the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), an influential pro-Israeli lobbying group, he said: […]

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Guatemala volcano eruption subsides after 20 hours

GUATEMALA, Guatemala (AFP) — The eruption of a volcano near the Guatemalan capital subsided Thursday after 20 hours of activity that rained ash on nearby communities and prompted an orange alert, a spokesman said. The eruption of the Volcan de Fuego (“Fire Volcano”) sent ash towering 1.7 kilometers (one mile) into the sky and raining down on at least eight communities, said David de Leon, an emergency services spokesman. Authorities announced an orange alert earlier […]

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No US pressure behind Guatemala embassy move to Jerusalem: FM

by Edgar Calderon Agence France-Presse GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala — The United States did not pressure Guatemala into announcing it will move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, the Central American state’s foreign minister said Wednesday. “There wasn’t any pressure. There wasn’t any overture from the United States to make this happen. This was a decision by the government, the state and the foreign policy of Guatemala,” the minister, Sandra Jovel, told a news conference in Guatemala City. […]

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Guatemala: Jerusalem embassy move a ‘sovereign’ decision

by Edgar Calderon Agence France-Presse GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (AFP) – Guatemala on Tuesday said its decision to follow the US in moving its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem was a “sovereign” matter that should not affect ties with other countries. “These are Guatemala’s foreign policy and sovereign decisions,” Foreign Minister Sandra Jovel told a news conference. “In any case, we are open to being able to converse with countries that see it as such, but I don’t […]

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Following Trump, Guatemala to move embassy to Jerusalem

by Edgar Calderon Agence France Presse GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala — Guatemala said Monday it is starting the process of moving its Israeli embassy to Jerusalem, after President Jimmy Morales announced he would follow US President Donald Trump’s controversial lead on the city. Morales wrote a message to Guatemalans on his Facebook page Sunday, saying he had spoken with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and that “one of the most important topics was the return of […]

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Ex-Guatemalan president to stand trial for corruption

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (AFP) – Former Guatemalan president Otto Perez was ordered Friday to stand trial on corruption charges. Perez is charged with racketeering, illicit enrichment and fraud as leader of a multi-million dollar scheme involving the Central American country’s customs duty system, said Judge Miguel Angel Galvez. The former president served from 2012 until he was forced to resign amid grassroots outrage in 2015. Perez listened calmly as the judge read out his decision after a […]

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Guatemala hospital shooting kills 2 children, 5 adults

GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) — Seven people including two children were killed and 12 injured in a gang shooting in a hospital in Guatemala on Wednesday, officials said. Police said gunmen burst into the Roosevelt Hospital in Guatemala City to rescue a jailed gang member who had been transferred there for a medical appointment. The shooters were members of the Salvatrucha gang, one of the most notorious bands terrorizing Central America. The attackers arrived in a car and […]

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Guatemala to extradite fugitive ex-governor to Mexico

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (AFP) – Guatemala will extradite Mexican ex-governor Javier Duarte for him to face racketeering and money-laundering charges after he told a court Tuesday he wanted to return home to clear his name. Duarte is known for presiding over an explosion of violence and human rights abuses in the eastern state of Veracruz from 2010 to 2016, when he abruptly resigned and went into hiding. Arrested at a lakeside resort in Guatemala in […]

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Five dead after strong quake hits Guatemala

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (AFP) — A strong 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit Guatemala and southern Mexico Wednesday, killing five people, causing power outages, and knocking down homes, officials said. The epicenter was about 156 kilometers (97 miles) west of Guatemala City in the department of San Marcos, the Institute of Seismology said. The tremor was felt across most of the country, including the capital, as well as in neighboring Mexico, according to Guatemala’s National Coordinator for Disaster […]

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One dead after strong quake hits Guatemala

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (AFP) — A strong 6.9 magnitude earthquake hit western Guatemala early on Wednesday, killing at least one person and causing power cuts, as well as damage to some buildings, officials said. The quake, originally estimated to measure 6.6 on the Richter scale before being revised upward, occurred at 1:29 am (0729 GMT), epicentered 156 kilometers (97 miles) west of Guatemala City in the department of San Marcos, the Institute of Seismology said. […]

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6.6-magnitude earthquake rattles Guatemala

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (AFP) — A 6.6-magnitude earthquake hit western Guatemala near the Mexico border early on Wednesday, shaking several cities and injuring one person according to preliminary reports, officials said. No tsunami warnings have been issued so far. The quake was registered at 1:29 am local time (0729 GMT), its epicenter around 156 kilometers (97 miles) west of Guatemala City in the department of San Marcos, the Institute of Seismology said. The United States […]

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