http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/guatemala/ en-us Wed, 1 Oct 2008 13:43:41 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2094805/posts (English-language translation) Taipei - Taiwan awaits the arrival to the island of a Guatemalan business delegation that will conduct commercial consultations with island businessmen to strengthen cooperation, the Taiwan Foreign Trade Development Council reported today. The delegation will visit the island on October 6-17 and will tour Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung to speak to businessmen from all parts of Taiwan. According to Council officials, the Guatemalans' objective is to promote exports from their country to the island, especially coffee, lumber, medications, and crafts. Taiwan is interested in strengthening its commercial ties with Guatemala, one of the island's 12 political allies... Prensa Libre (Spanish-language article) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2094805/posts#comment Wed, 1 Oct 2008 13:43:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2088370/posts 175 Alleged Gulf Cartel Members and Associates Arrested in Massive International Law Enforcement Operation "Project Reckoning" Leads to the Seizure of $60 Million and More Than 40 Tons of Illegal Drugs From One of Mexico's Largest Drug Trafficking Cartels NEW YORK - Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey announced that 175 individuals were arrested on Sept. 16, 2008, on charges related to an international drug trafficking cartel in a coordinated enforcement action by hundreds of international, federal, state and local law enforcement officials throughout the United States and Italy. Including the operations announced today, a long-term investigation of one of Mexico's... ICE http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2088370/posts#comment Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:00:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050888/posts It is not often that undocumented immigrants sneak into the United States and then alert authorities to their whereabouts, but three men trapped in a sweltering rail car had little choice and used a cell phone to call 911. Smugglers had stashed two Mexicans and a Guatemalan in a grain hopper in the Rio Grande Valley and told them they would ride further north, said Daniel Doty, a spokesman for the Border Patrol's McAllen Sector. As the temperature climbed Tuesday, the dehydrating men feared for their lives and reached for the phone. "It gets hot very fast in those places,"... Houston Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050888/posts#comment Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:22:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041967/posts It's something no parent wants to hear, their child telling them someone sexually abused them. But one Augusta mother says those are the words she woke up to this morning. Deputies arrested a man accused of molesting the woman's 11-year-old son. Edwin Hernandez is behind bars, and accused of molesting an 11 year old boy! Richmond County investigators were called out to a home on Heather's Way in South Augusta early Wednesday morning. The child's mother called 911 after her son told her Hernandez performed a sex act on him. She then chased him out of her home with a... nbcaugusta.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041967/posts#comment Mon, 7 Jul 2008 18:26:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2038592/posts Team rescued 120 women from grim conditions when it dismantled the operation in Houston The farewell party was in full swing at midnight when police came for Maximino "El Chimino" Mondragon, his accomplices and his victims — scantily dressed women and girls he forced to sell beers and sexual favors under the flashing lights of a revolving crystalline disco ball inside his strip mall bar off Hempstead Highway. Mondragon was celebrating his retirement at El Potrero de Chimino bar, also known as the Wagon Wheel. He had a one-way ticket back to his native El Salvador and blueprints in the... Houston Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2038592/posts#comment Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:19:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036433/posts Leftist ideology may be gaining ground in Latin America. But it will never set foot on the manicured lawns of Francisco Marroquin University. For nearly 40 years, this private college has been a citadel of laissez-faire economics. Here, banners quoting "The Wealth of Nations" author Adam Smith -- he of the powdered wig and invisible hand -- flutter over the campus food court. Every undergraduate, regardless of major, must study market economics and the philosophy of individual rights embraced by the U.S. founding fathers, including "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." A sculpture commemorating Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" is... Los Angeles Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036433/posts#comment Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:13:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2032298/posts MEXICO CITY -- Police say they have found 154 illegal migrants inside a semitrailer. Federal police official Arturo Herrera says many of the migrants were suffering from severe dehydration after spending nearly a week cramped inside the semitrailer. Herrera says police stopped the rig along a highway in the Gulf state of Tabasco. Inside the tractor-trailer, authorities found 140 Guatemalans, seven Ecuadoreans, four Hondurans, two Salvadorans and one Chinese. The driver was detained and the migrants were turned over to immigration authorities for deportation. The Monitor/AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2032298/posts#comment Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:49:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2028324/posts Guatemala plans to send hundreds of troops, elite presidential guards and anti-drug police to its border with Mexico to stem growing drug violence, the government said on Saturday. "The unit should be ready within about 90 days. We are talking about 500 troops" and members of the presidential guard, Interior Ministry spokesman Ricardo Gatica said. Gatica declined to say how many counternarcotics police would be sent to the border, where drug smuggling into southern Mexico, bound for the United States, goes unchallenged. In southern Mexico, suspected drug gunmen dumped a man's head outside a newspaper in Tabasco state on Saturday... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2028324/posts#comment Mon, 9 Jun 2008 15:32:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2027682/posts (English-language translation) After meeting with different social sectors of the country, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte pointed out yesterday that the impunity and weakness of the Guatemalan state prevail as the major problems in fighting organized crime and drug trafficking. Negroponte declared that his country is willing to aid the Central American region in fighting criminals and announced that Guatemala will play an active role in the Mérida Plan towards that purpose. The Mérida Plan is a U.S. assistance program for Mexico, Central America, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic to fight drug trafficking, transnational crime, and terrorism.... Prensa Libre (Spanish-language article) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2027682/posts#comment Sat, 7 Jun 2008 22:09:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/2027672/posts (English-language translation) WASHINGTON - The Department of State cleared the way yesterday for the United States to provide military education and training to the Guatemala Air Force, Navy, and Corps of Engineers. An announcement published in the Federal Register reports that these institutions respect human rights and cooperate with civil judicial investigations of military personnel who "have been the object of credible accusations of having committed human-rights violations." This "certification" was a requirement towards activating half a million dollars the United States will dedicate to those ends, according to the so-called Foreign Operations Law of 2008. The [Guatemala] Army is... Prensa Libre (Spanish-language article) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/2027672/posts#comment Sat, 7 Jun 2008 21:25:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2027392/posts LA JOYA, Texas — Local police are accustomed to dealing with illegal border crossings, but they were astounded by the video of 15 Chinese immigrants unfolding themselves from the back of a red Suburban near this small border town. The vehicle appeared abandoned when police rolled up early on a recent Saturday morning. But when Border Patrol agents arrived and swung open the double rear doors, the Chinese immigrants tumbled out, squinting in the sunlight. "They were in bad shape," said La Joya Police spokesman Joe Cantu. The immigrants were silent, able to communicate only with hand gestures. One man... Houston Chronicle/AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2027392/posts#comment Sat, 7 Jun 2008 00:14:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2013472/posts I'm surprised nobody posted this. I rarely listen to Laura, although I always enjoy when I do. Today on her show she announced she has just adopted a 3 year old Guatemalan girl. Just a little late night nice story. I'm so tired of the other ones... radio http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2013472/posts#comment Fri, 9 May 2008 06:06:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2009409/posts The first defendants from the April 16 immigration raid at the local Pilgrim's Pride chicken processing plant appeared before Federal Magistrate Susan Kerr Lee on Tuesday. She ordered that all five of the men, who are citizens of Guatemala, continued to be detained. They are all represented by the federal defender's office. One man faces up to 10 years in federal prison, while those with only illegal re-entry charges face up to two years. Roberto Gabriel-Ramirez, 40, said he has a third-grade education. He is charged with illegal re-entry into the country and use of a fraudulent Social Security card.... Chattanoogan.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2009409/posts#comment Wed, 30 Apr 2008 23:23:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2003958/posts The arrests of 100 foreign workers at a Chattanooga poultry plant came swiftly Wednesday morning, but it could be months before they are sent home. “Time in the detention facility can be anything from weeks to months,” said Robert Divine, Chattanooga-based chairman of the immigration group for the Baker Donelson law firm. “It depends on the availability of a judge, and the need to get the person where there is a judge, Atlanta or Memphis.” Most foreigners arrested this week in Chattanooga will have to appear before a U.S. Immigration Court judge. The deportation process also can drag because U.S.... Chattanooga Times Free Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2003958/posts#comment Sat, 19 Apr 2008 14:23:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2003829/posts FLORIDA, April 18, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Guatemalans are "dumbfounded" and angered to learn about the international "culture of death" and its multi-pronged attack on human life, according to Human Life International, which participated in a pro-life conference in the country from April 3rd to April 5. The conference, entitled, "Life and the Dignity of the Human Person," was organized by the Guatemalan Bishops' Conference, in cooperation with HLI and several local pro-life organizations. About ten bishops attended in all, including the apostolic nuncio, and approximately 250 seminarians. According to Fr. Thomas Euteneuer, the conference attendees were taken aback by what... LifeSiteNews http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2003829/posts#comment Sat, 19 Apr 2008 02:51:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2003728/posts GUATEMALA CITY -- Reuters news agency is reporting that Guatemalan officials have captured a senior member of Mexico's powerful Gulf cartel. Daniel Perez Rojas, who is wanted in the United States, and believed to be the second in command of the Gulf cartel's armed wing, the Zetas, was arrested last week in Guatemala City where he was posing as a car salesman. A former Mexican soldier who helped create the Zetas in the lates 1990s, Perez is accused of involvement in a deadly shootout in southern Guatemala in March, Reuters reported. Experts told the news agency the arrest of Rojas... The Monitor http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2003728/posts#comment Fri, 18 Apr 2008 23:20:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2000669/posts TUXTLA GUTIERREZ, Mexico -- Police rescued 83 illegal migrants Friday from the hidden compartment of a cramped, sweltering cargo truck carrying animal feed through southern Mexico. At a roadblock near the Guatemalan border, the panicked migrants alerted officers to their presence by screaming and banging on the walls of the truck, Mexican immigration agent Mario Lopez said. Lopez said the migrants were dehydrated, bruised and scraped. He said 76 were from Guatemala, five from El Salvador and two from Brazil. Earlier this week, 54 illegal migrant workers from Myanmar suffocated in the back of an unventilated truck in Thailand. In... Seattle Post-Intelligencer/AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2000669/posts#comment Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:28:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1999526/posts BANQUETE-Authorities near Banquete searched for illegal immigrants who jumped out a truck following a high speed chase Wednesday evening. Officers rounded up more than two dozen illegals in two separate locations. Some of the immigrants come from as far away as the middle east. Fifteen of them were caught in the Mathis area and nine more were later captured just south of Banquete. San Patricio County Sheriff, Leroy Moody, told KRIS 6 News that he believes there are more out here hiding out in a thick brushy line of trees, and if it were not for strong winds, a DPS... KRIS TV http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1999526/posts#comment Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:47:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1998144/posts Three people were killed early Monday when a van loaded with illegal entrants tried to evade the Border Patrol and rolled on Interstate 10 west of Benson, an official said. Early indications point to many of the passengers being Guatemalan. Oscar Padilla, the Guatemalan consular general in Phoenix, is en route to Tucson to meet with the victims and identify their nationalities. Four of the injured entrants are from Mexico, said Alejandro Ramos Cardoso, a spokesman for the Mexican Consulate in Tucson. The four men are in stable condition in Tucson hospitals, he said. Two are from Sinaloa, one from... ARIZONA DAILY STAR http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1998144/posts#comment Mon, 7 Apr 2008 22:23:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1976379/posts MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Immigration agents say they've learned the true identity of a van driver charged in a Minnesota bus crash that killed four children. Twenty-4-year-old Olga Marina Franco of Guatemala is accused of running a stop sign and hitting the school bus. Investigators say she gave them a fake name after last week's crash and told them she was from Mexico. Franco is charged with four counts of criminal vehicular homicide and lesser crimes. Authorities say she claims she stopped at the sign and the bus hit her. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers say they believe Franco is an... AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1976379/posts#comment Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:16:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1961395/posts First one is from Kaphoto.ca, which has a LOT of pictures of Canada (mostly eastern Canada). This is Tews Falls in the Spencer Gorge near Hamilton: The second is a view of a rockfall from a dome eruption of Santiaguito volcano, from Photovolcanica's Santiaguito/Santa Maria Volcano page. This page has a lot of other great views and a short animation of a "ring fissure" eruption. See below http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1961395/posts#comment Tue, 29 Jan 2008 16:16:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1945448/posts MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexico is going high tech to better track the movements of Central Americans who regularly cross the southern border to work or visit. Starting in March, the National Immigration Institute will distribute cards containing electronic chips. Those items will record every arrival and departure of so-called temporary workers and visitors, mostly from Guatemala. The cards will replace a non-electronic pass formerly given to area residents. Officials say the purpose is to guarantee security for workers and visitors. Statistics from the institute show that more than 182,000 undocumented migrants were detained in Mexico in 2006. Most were... KGBT 4 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1945448/posts#comment Sat, 29 Dec 2007 03:56:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1940658/posts To duck radar, gangs ditch tattoos, go for college look CHIMALTENANGO, Guatemala — Tattoos, baggy pants and tank tops are out. Smart blazers and university recruits are in. It’s an extreme makeover for Central America’s gangs. Facing harsh crackdowns by government security forces and citizen vigilante groups, they are trying to lower their profile. The Mara 18 and Mara Salvatrucha gangs are known throughout Central America and the United States for their brazen tactics, including beheading their enemies and covering entire buildings and even their bodies with gang symbols. Now, according to anti-gang operatives, these traditionally uneducated and aimless youth... Valley Morning Star/AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1940658/posts#comment Mon, 17 Dec 2007 16:00:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1940158/posts A man charged in an immigrant smuggling run gone horribly wrong — in which a high-speed chase that began in Frio County ended with a deadly wreck in San Antonio — was sentenced Friday to 100 months in federal prison. Prosecutors had recommended a sentence of as little as 70 months in a plea deal for Wilberto Calderon-Yero, 29, a Cuban national. But U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez opted for a stiffer penalty to account for the three men, presumably undocumented immigrants, who died in the July 9 wreck and now are buried in the same pauper's grave. Yero pleaded... San Antonio Express-News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1940158/posts#comment Sun, 16 Dec 2007 04:36:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1935574/posts SANFORD - Antonio Rosales, accused of raping a child, had sat silently through his trial, and it was nearing its conclusion Wednesday when he suddenly lashed out. As a prosecutor gave her closing argument about 10 feet away, Rosales grabbed a computer keyboard, smashed it against its monitor, then toppled the 200-pound table on which it sat. Two Seminole County deputies grabbed him, pinned his arms behind his back and quickly wrestled him to the ground, but he continued to struggle. I need a deputy," Circuit Judge Debra S. Nelson yelled down a hallway. Other officers rushed in, and Rosales... Orlando Sentinel http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1935574/posts#comment Thu, 6 Dec 2007 13:57:09 GMT