MSNBC report worth watching and reading

“Physical walls don’t stop people. We’ve witnessed this. But prosperity walls do.” Said by Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei in this excellent piece of reportage by MSNBC’s Ayman Mohyeldin. Read the article and watch the two video clips–all contribute to a deeper understanding of our current border crisis. What I responded to in the piece is the depth of inquiry. We who follow Guatemalan politics are aware of the reasons why thousands of Guatemalan citizens risk their lives and leave behind family and home to make the dangerous journey. But so many US viewers not involved in Guatemala or adoption or Central America don’t know the back story, are not aware of Guatemala’s history and current reality. For me, this news report feels more multi-faceted and nuanced than most, and thus, worthwhile. Read and watch here: “I flew to Guatemala to investigate the human side of America’s ‘immigration problem.’”

Covid-19 in Guatemala

Fear of Covid-19 has changed the way migrants returning from the US are received in Guatemala. Nearly 1/5 of the country’s 585 confirmed cases have been traced to deportees, many on the same US flight. Backlash to returnees includes threats of home burnings and lynching. One young man tells of a mob confronting him in Santa Catarina Palopo on the shores of Lake Atitlan. Fearing for his life and his family’s safely, he fled, and is now self-isolating in Guatemala City. The threat presented by Covid is real–an outbreak of the virus could devastate a village. Very uncertain times. Here’s a link to an article by Sofia Menchu on Reuters: Maya villages in Guatemala spurn US deportees as infections spike. The photo below is of Lake Atitlan, taken in January 2020 from the shores of Santiago.