I’ve started every update off with the same sentiment… I really need to update this website more. This month has started off slow. While there are a lot of things occurring in Guatemala, I’ve not been able to finish up the pitches I have in mind. They will come together at some point or another.
At the beginning of the month I finally succeeded in writing a piece for Foreign Policy Magazine. I’ve wanted to write for them for years. The piece looks at the lack of state led re-integration and response protocols for Guatemalan migrants deported from the United States. The piece is built off my visit to the deportee reception center in June of this year.
This month I have also published two articles for my now weekly column The Other Americans over at the website of the Progressive Magazine.
The first piece looks at the eviction of Q’eqchi Mayan residents of a land occupation in Alta Verapaz, which I had visited in October 2020. After nearly four years of fighting for the land where many of the occupiers were born, the nearly 58 families were evicted by the police. There are few options for them of where to go… and in the region many are seeking to migrate to the United States. https://progressive.org/latest/other-americans-guatemala-religious-narco-state-abbott-091422/
The second piece looks at the rise of the influence of evangelical groups in the politics of Guatemala, and how these far right groups have made alliances with drug-trafficking groups. The result is there is a construction of a religious-narco state in process in Guatemala. https://progressive.org/latest/other-americans-guatemala-religious-narco-state-abbott-091422/
At some point I will update the site with all the pieces I’ve published this year. There are so many… Or at least post the best of the best. Keep an eye out. I am going to do my absolute best to update the site more often.