Central America, Guatemala, Latin America: Week in Review
50 People Injured In Guatemalan Student Protests
July 3, 2012 By Staff
Top Story — At least fifty people, including students, journalists, and Guatemala’s ministers of education and the interior, were injured in a Guatemala City park as students protested education reforms on Monday. For the last two months, students studying to become teachers have opposed a measure to lengthen the time it would take primary school teachers to earn their degrees, an increase from three to five years. According to the Guatemalan government, protesters briefly detained Education Minister Cynthia del Aguila, who was speaking at the Parque de la Industria and who suffered a panic attack and fainted when confronted by the students. Interior Minister Mauricio Lopez Bonilla deployed riot police to the park, who sprayed tear gas and pepper spray on the crowd. At least 40 students were taken to the hospital, del Aguila was injured by pepper spray, and López Bonilla was reportedly injured by a thrown object.
Read more from the BBC.
Headlines from the Western Hemisphere
North America
- Mexican immigrants fleeing drug war violence in their homeland have an approximately 5 percent chance of gaining asylum in the U.S.
- The majority of Mexican voters casting votes from abroad in Sunday’s election voted against Mexican president-elect Enrique Peña Nieto.
- Mexico’s agriculture ministry reported that bird flu has killed 870,000 poultry birds in the last month, but poses no threat to humans.
Caribbean
- Cuban President Raúl Castro is visiting China and Vietnam during a tour of Asia.
- Jamaican sprinter Yohan Blake upset star countryman Usain Bolt in both the 100 and 200 meter dashes in Jamaica’s Olympic trials on Sunday.
- Puerto Rican authorities captured Jordan Ayala Cruz for allegedly shooting a teenage driver and stealing his Lexus in June.
Central America
- The Committee of Families of Disappeared and Detainees in Honduras (COFADEH) has filed a claim against the government for using the military to police Honduras.
- Delegates at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in Panama will discuss indigenous whaling quotas and the possibility of declaring the South Atlantic a whale sanctuary.
Andes
- Ecuadorean photojournalist Byron Baldeon was killed after witnessing a crime in which police allegedly participated, according to Extra newspaper.
- U.S. authorities revealed Monday that they are investigating Colombian General Cesar Augusto Pinzon for his involvement with the “Oficina de Envigado” crime syndicate.
- Peru’s National Police destroyed 34,000 marijuana plants in a two-day operation in a jungle region of central Peru.
- Colombia has downgraded the alert for the Nevado del Ruiz volcano after it erupted Saturday.
Southern Cone
- Brazil’s National Council for Justice reported that the number of judges receiving death threats has gone up in the last year from 136 to 150.
- Paraguay’s new president Federico Franco called Mercosur’s decision to suspend Paraguay “illegal and illegitimate” and said Paraguayans may vote on whether to remain part of the trade bloc.
- Brazilian soccer club Vitoria is requesting fans to donate blood in a bid to increase the number of blood donors in Brazil.
Image: Rudy A. Girón @ Flickr.
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