Guatemala

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei has banned travel between the different departments of the Central American country before and during Easter to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The ban comes as Guatemalans living in large cities were preparing to head home to celebrate Easter with family members in the countryside, many of them older and more vulnerable.

Giammattei also announced a ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol that will take effect on Sunday afternoon and end on April 12.

GUATEMALA CITY, April 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Thousands of people have been detained across Central America for violating rules put in place by their governments to curb the fast-spreading new coronavirus in a region that has fewer medical resources than developed countries.

Central America is home to a large, poor population with no options to work from home, take paid sick leave or observe social distancing rules because they work in the informal economy and live in crowded conditions.

SAN SALVADOR, Jan 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei offered his Salvadoran counterpart, Nayib Bukele, the opportunity to build and operate a port in Guatemalan waters in the Atlantic Ocean to promote commerce.

Giammattei, who took office in January, said the governments will work to develop a legal framework so that El Salvador can develop projects through a public-private partnership on the Guatemalan coast.

TECUN UMAN, Guatemala (AP) — Denis Contreras, a Honduran making a second try at reaching the U.S., laid out the plan Sunday night to his fellow migrants marooned in this Guatemalan border town: First the men will go, then the families and the women traveling alone with children.

More than a thousand Central American migrants were preparing to again walk en masse early Monday across a bridge leading to Mexico in an attempt to convince authorities there to allow them safe passage through the country.

GUATEMALA CITY, Jan 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least 2,200 people have entered Guatemala in a fast-growing US-bound caravan from Honduras, authorities said.

Mexico’s government is bracing for the arrival of hundreds of Central Americans on its southern border in coming days, an event likely to be closely monitored by the US government, which has made curbing illegal immigration a priority.

BOGOTA, Jan 17 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Guatemala has cut all diplomatic ties with Venezuela,  Anadolu Agency reported President Alejandro Giammattei as saying on Thursday.

Giammattei said he had ordered the closure of Guatemala’s embassy in the Venezuelan capital, according to local media. 

Prior to being sworn in as Guatemala’s 51st president, he had vowed to cut off relations with Caracas.

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — A trailer truck collided with a passenger bus in eastern Guatemala early Saturday, killing at least 20 people and leaving a dozen wounded, according to the national disaster agency. It said nine of the dead were minors.

Volunteer firefighters told reporters the truck appeared to have collided with the bus from behind in the municipality of Gualan, roughly 150 kilometers (95 miles) east of Guatemala City.

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — A Guatemalan immigration agreement signed with the Trump administration won’t work because the Central American nation does not have the resources, the country’s new president-elect says.

Alejandro Giammattei, a conservative who was chosen overwhelmingly by voters in a weekend runoff election, said in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday that Guatemala is too poor to tend to its own people, let alone those from other countries.

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Conservative Alejandro Giammattei has blazed a long, strange path to Guatemala’s presidency, which he won on his fourth try.

The 63-year-old spent several months in prison in 2008, when he was director of the country’s prison system, after some prisoners were killed in a raid on his watch. He was eventually acquitted of wrongdoing.

Until courts prevented some of the more popular candidates from running in this year’s race, he also appeared to be a long-shot candidate in a tumultuous campaign season.

17 June 2019; AFP: Former first lady Sandra Torres was in the lead after partial results early Monday from Guatemala's presidential election, following a tumultuous campaign that saw two leading candidates barred and the top electoral crimes prosecutor flee the corruption-weary country.

With 49 percent of votes counted after Sunday's polls, Torres was on just under 24 percent while her closest rival Alejandro Giammattei was on 15 percent, the Electoral Supreme Court (TSE) said.