Inscriptions on a wall of what appeared to be a studio for royal scribes in Guatemala may date to the early ninth century, several hundred years older than the examples previously known.

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Archaeologists Unearth Ancient Maya Calendar Writing

The ancient Mayans were masters of time, keepers of good calendars. And now we have one of their timekeepers’ workrooms to prove it. In a striking find, archaeologists in Guatemala report the discovery of a small building whose walls display not only a stunningly preserved mural of a brightly adorned Mayan king, but also calendars that destroy any notion that the Mayans predicted the end of the world in 2012. Read full article > >

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Mayan prophecy: The world won’t end, as a newfound calendar goes on and on and on

Archaeologists report a striking find in Guatemala of the first Mayan art on a wall, as well as the oldest known Mayan calendar.

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Oldest Mayan calendar unearthed

Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina tells a regional summit that the war on drugs has failed, and it is time to consider decriminalisation.

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Guatemala raises legalising drugs

Guatemala arrests former police chief Marlene Blanco Lapola for alleged involvement in extra-judicial killings of criminal suspects.

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Guatemala arrests ex-police chief

IN THE FALL of 2010, the Obama administration acknowledged a shocking truth: From 1946 through 1948, officials working in Guatemala for the U.S. Public Health Service conducted tests on some 5,100 unwitting individuals and deliberately infected at least 1,300 with sexually transmitted diseases. None of the victims — who included prisoners, soldiers, the mentally ill and commercial sex workers — consented to this barbaric treatment. At least 83 people died, and many suffered permanent damage. Read full article > >

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Editorial Board: The U.S. must do more for Guatemala over STD study

The papaya, mango, coconuts and pineapple, scented with cinnamon, had simmered for hours in an aluminum pot, filling the Rockville home with the aroma of ponche, a tropical fruit drink. For this family, ponche — introduced two years ago after a son brought it home from a trip to Guatemala — is Thanksgiving . So is the turkey recipe, featuring Goya seasoning, olive oil and garlic, that was taught to an El Salvador native by expatriate Iranians. Read full article > >

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With blended customs, Salvadoran family celebrates Thanksgiving

The United States Drug Enforcement Administration now has five commando-style squads it has been quietly deploying to Western Hemisphere nations that are battling drug cartels.

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U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency Expands War on Drugs

MEXICO CITY — Retired army general Otto Perez is leading in the polls going into Guatemala’s presidential runoff election Sunday, and the tough-talking former chief of military intelligence has promised an iron-fisted confrontation with the criminal gangs that have stoked soaring violence in the poor Central American nation. Read full article > >

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Guatemala, Nicaragua go to the polls

She had spent her final week praying for one outcome while preparing for another. With five days left before she was supposed to leave the United States, Paula Godoy explained to her three children what it meant to be deported. With three days left, she packed her clothes and rosary beads into a makeshift suitcase. With two days left, she arranged to live in Guatemala with the only relative still there, a distant uncle whom she would identify at the airport by his orange Hawaiian shirt. Read full article > >

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Amid new guidelines, Va. woman’s deportation case comes down to the last minute

Otto Pérez Molina finished first in the country’s presidential election on Sunday, but short of the 50 percent plus one vote required for outright victory.

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Ex-General to Face Runoff in Guatemala

Rising concerns about gangs and drug cartels seemed to weigh on voters’ minds as they went to the polls to elect local and national leaders on Sunday.

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In Guatemala, an Election Focused on Security Issues

MEXICO CITY — Guatemalans frustrated by soaring crime go the polls Sunday as the front-running candidates promise to aggressively confront the mafias that have turned the poor Central American state into a killing field. The No. 1 issue is violence, according to opinion polls. Armed gangs, bolstered by the incursion of Mexican drug cartels, have taken over towns; more than 90 percent of the cocaine entering the United States crosses the Guatemala border. Martial law has been declared in the provinces. Read full article > >

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Guatemalans head to polls

Consumers of illegal drugs share the blame for fuelling drug-related violence, Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom tells the BBC, as he evaluates his years in office.

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Guatemala drug war: Users blamed

U.S. government researchers who purposely infected unwitting subjects with sexually transmitted diseases in Guatemala in the 1940s had obtained consent a few years earlier before conducting similar experiments in Indiana, investigators reported Monday. The stark contrast between how the U.S. Public Health Service scientists experimented with Americans and Guatemalans clearly shows that researchers knew their conduct was unethical, according to members of the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, which is investigating the experiments. Read full article > >

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U.S. scientists knew 1940s Guatemalan STD studies were unethical, panel finds