#Guatemala 2023

[travelnshit]

A Trip To Tikal

Absolute rookie error, in all my research I didn’t catch that the ticket office was 17 kilometres from the actual site. When we arrived the colectivo driver asked us if we’d bought tickets online and because we hadn’t we had to get out, buy them, then wait for the next colectivo. The queue was quite big at that time, we arrived at 6am and this seems to be the time that the tour groups rock up.…

[stevethomasonposts]

Leaving for Guatemala, Please Pray

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[lifeinplastikzine]

In Guatemala we march with Pride!

Photos by Jose Pablo Anleu

[themakeupbrush]

Miss Universe Guatemala 2023 National Costume

Inspired by the national flower, la monja Blanca

[boricuacherry-blog]

Ng's family said they stopped hearing back from her on October 19. They also received a cryptic call from the retreat's organizer informing them of her disappearance. The Guatemalan Navy began search-and-rescue efforts the same day, but suspended the search after 72 hours without any leads.

"We don't really know exactly what happened," Nancy's brother Jonathan Ng told NBC. "The witnesses that were able to see what happened have not been extremely communicative."

The rescuers have spent the past few weeks scouring the murky volcanic lake with boats, aircraft, and drones, but have found no sign of the missing woman. Chris Sharpe, the owner of Black Wolf Helicopters, said that many witnesses have not been forthcoming and have since returned to the United States. "For me, this is now becoming a criminal investigation," he told ABC.

Nancy went missing on Oct. 19 during a "Be the Change" yoga retreat organized by Los Angeles instructor Eduardo Rimada. She went off on a kayaking excursion in Lake Atitlan with around ten people, including a San Bernardino County public defender named Christina Blazek. Blazek was allegedly the last person who saw Nancy before she disappeared, and Ng's family has desperately sought answers from Blazek but was met with silence for weeks, before Blazek finally spoke out - through her attorney. And this was only after the private search-and-rescue firm hired by the family to continue efforts on the ground, released Blazek's name in a press release to encourage her to come forward.

G. Christopher Gardner, Blazek's attorney, said in an interview with KABC-TV of Los Angeles last Wednesday that his client had tried to warn Nancy of the lake's rough waters when they were out kayaking right before she disappeared.

"[Blazek] kept one leg in her kayak and one leg in [Nancy's] kayak and tried to get back to her...and got close to her," Gardner told KABC. "And then apparently, [Blazek] lost the kayak again and she turned around to go back to get the kayak again, and when she turned back around, Ms. Ng was gone."

"If it is like she says and it is an accident, I don't understand how she could choose to leave my family in the dark for almost four weeks, and not just say that from the start," Ng's sister Nicky told ABC 7 LA.

But Blazek's account has prompted new questions from the family and resurfaced ones they've had.

"Nancy's a good swimmer. I don't understand how this could have happened. Was she struggling for a long time? Did Christina hear her scream or yell for help?" Nicky said. "What was the scope? The circumstances? Did she just disappear? Was there a land nearby that she could have swam? I had no context or not enough context of what was going on. So those are the same questions we still have today."

Gardner claims that his client didn't come forward sooner because she needed time to herself after going through the "traumatic experience."

Nancy's disappearance, however, has been even more devastating for the family of six, Nicky said.

"When we think about the [possibility of] drowning, my dad, he takes it really hard because he taught Nancy how to swim," Nicky said. "I think they're taking it really hard, and at the same time, they're trying to be strong for me and my brothers."

Nicky added that the search for Nancy, who worked with special needs children, has been difficult for the students she was close with as well.

"We have had a lot of her clients' parents reach out to us and just say Nancy had a special connection with their child and that their child now doesn't understand why Nancy's not back," Nicky said.

The investigation is ongoing and the FBI continues to interview witnesses in the case.

Earlier this month, the owners of the kayak company used by Ng before she vanished said the group she was with 'immediately clammed up' after she disappeared. Lee and Elaine Beal, the proprietors of Kayak Guatemala, said that ten people went out on the excursion, but only eight returned - with Ng and another woman seen paddling further into the body of water.

Eventually the woman returned to shore alone, with no sign of Ng.

"No one in the group was interested in talking to anybody," Lee told Good Morning America. "It was almost like, immediately clamming up and like we are not going to say anything."

The group failed to pay the owners then all left the country 'within 12 hours' of the suspected accident, which struck Elaine Beal as odd.

"They didn't say a word to us. I just don't understand that part, leaving within 12 hours," she added.

The couple described how they were watching the group, with Ng and the female kayaker about 100 yards away. The women continued paddling until they were out of sight.

The next thing the couple saw was a distress signal, before the woman returned alone.

"I witnessed the survivor being ushered up the steps," Elaine added. "She was clearly distressed."

Guatemalan authorities had struggled to locate the woman who was last with Nancy, or the tour guide as they left the country.

[jorgema]

Por favor, alguien puede decirle a mi ansioso y estresado corazón, que el 2023 solo es un año más y no el fin de la existencia como la conocemos.

— Nota personal || @jorgema

[kp777]

'The Guatemalan People Have Spoken': Anti-Corruption Advocate Bernardo Arévalo Wins Presidency

By Jake Johnson

Common Dreams

Aug. 21, 2023

"The force of this victory is going to make it clear that there is no place for the attempts to derail the electoral process," Arévalo said following his win.

In a blow to Guatemala's right-wing political establishment, former diplomat Bernardo Arévalo won the nation's presidential election on Sunday, pledging to fight corruption that has eroded the country's institutions and entrenched massive levels of inequality and poverty.

Voters chose Arévalo over former first lady Sandra Torres in a landslide, putting the anti-corruption advocate on track to become the most progressive Guatemalan leader since Jacobo Árbenz, who was ousted in a U.S.-sponsored coup in 1954.

As The Washington Postnoted, "Arévalo's father, Juan José, is widely known as a leader of the 'Guatemalan spring,' a period of democratic rule that began in 1944 when he was elected president." The ouster of Árbenz, Juan José's successor, marked the start of decades of brutal military rule bolstered by U.S. support.

The question now is whether Arévalo will be permitted to take office. Ahead of Sunday's contest, Guatemalan authorities barred several candidates from the ballot, including leftist Indigenous leader Thelma Cabrera.

During his victory speech late Sunday, Arévalo acknowledged possible efforts by Guatemala's political establishment to prevent him from assuming office.

"We know that there is a political persecution underway that is being carried out through the institutions and prosecutor's offices and judges that have been corruptly co-opted," Arévalo said, alluding to the nation's crackdowns on officials, journalists, and activists who have worked to combat graft.

"We want to think that the force of this victory is going to make it clear that there is no place for the attempts to derail the electoral process," said Arévalo. "The Guatemalan people have spoken forcefully."

Arévalo—who is set to be sworn in on January 14, 2024—stunned political observers when he came in second place in the first round of voting in late June. What followed offers a possible preview of coming efforts by political elites to block certification of Arévalo's win.

Rafael Curruchiche, a Guatemalan prosecutor who has himself been accused of corruption, pushed for the suspension of Arévalo's party following the first round of votes, claiming to have uncovered evidence that more than 5,000 signatures for the party's campaign were unlawfully obtained.

While Guatemala's Supreme Electoral Tribunal ultimately rejected Curruchiche's effort, citing laws preventing the suspension of political parties during the election process, the court's ruling could still be appealed to Guatemala's Constitutional Court.

Allan Nairn, an American investigative journalist who has covered Guatemala for decades, wrote before Sunday's election that in the case of an Arévalo victory, Guatemala's conservative elites "have made it clear that they will do what's needed to prevent" him from taking office.

"Merely winning the vote will not be enough; to take office he must first win big, and then many thousands will have to be ready to take to the streets if circumstances demand," Nairn added.

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.

[gothmusiclatinamerica]

"Cenizas," a 2023 single by Quetzaltenango, Guatemala-based post-punk goth act Memory Drops

[shank-on-fire]

Spring is back 🌱🌱🌱✨

🌱FLORECERÁS GUATEMALA 🌱

[nugothrhythms]

“Cenizas,” a 2023 single by Quetzaltenango, Guatemala-based post-punk goth act Memory Drops

[travelnshit]

Around Lake Atitlán

We decided to take a tourist shuttle from Antigua directly to San Pedro on account of the fact public transport would required four buses and a boat and quite frankly fuck getting on and subsequently off five different transports whilst the muscles in my legs consisted entirely of pain and regret. Plus I couldn’t be arsed being potentially overcharged on five different transports when I could…

[mileycyrusguatemala]

El día 4 de mayo del 2023 "Flowers" de Miley Cyrus se une al Billions Club de Spotify por alcanzar mil millones de reproducciones en dicha plataforma, felicidades Miley.

[thestorytellerwithin]

A memoir writing retreat can provide the inspiration, motivation, and focused writing time that gives your book the life it needs to carry you from just beginning the process to producing a polished manuscript. Research read reviews, and view the format, instructors, and location as a way to find the best memoir writing retreat for you at the next step in your writing journey.

[blogarteplus]

Lo mejor del año 2023.

Desde Blog Christian Paiz, Recapitulando el año.

[postnoted]