Guatemala

The most recent reports show that 56.7% Guatemala’s population lives in poverty, with 26.8% in extreme poverty. Food insecurity is one of the main reasons poverty plagues this country. The production of maize, rice, and beans—its three main staple foods—covers only 60% of internal demand. Because domestic food production fails to keep pace with its rapid population growth, a myriad of individual families face food shortages. Irregular rainfall and dry spells have negatively affected the coffee market and agricultural sector, aggravating the already difficult economic situations presented especially within rural communities.

The recent economic slowdown in the United States has also directly affected the economy in Guatemala. As a result, many job opportunities have been undercut and returns in the coffee and maquila industries have withered.

The most vulnerable populations are children younger than five and expectant or nursing mothers. Guatemala currently ranks as #1 in chronic malnutrition in Latin America. Approximately 75,000 severely malnourished children have been identified. What’s more, 67% of indigenous children suffer from chronic malnutrition.

Guatemala has made little progress in protecting human rights and upholding the rule of law despite the return of civilian rule after nearly two decades. Upon examining human rights abuses, impunity remains the rule. Though efforts have been made in promoting accountability in recent years, continuing acts of political violence threaten to undo all the progress that has been made.

The truth commission, sponsored by the U.N., has estimated that of the 626 massacres that occurred during their 36 year war, which ended in 1996, only one case has been successfully been prosecuted in the Guatemalan courts. A reason for this unfortunate statistic is that the investigators and prosecutors carrying out these cases do not receive adequate training and resources, police do not provide sufficient protection to those involved in politicallysensitive cases, among other such inadequacies within the whole judicial system.

Guatemalans pursuing justice for past abuses over the past four years have overwhelmingly been targets of attacks and threats from “clandestine groups”. Those at risk are individuals involved with human rights cases, such as justice officials, forensic experts, human rights advocates, plaintiffs, witnesses, journalists, and labor activists, among many others. These “clandestine groups” are associated with private, secretive, and illegally armed networks with connections to state agents and organized crime, giving them access to political and economic resources. Because the Guatemalan justice system can barely contain common crime, these groups have proved to be a powerful threat to the law.

Another eminent problem is the sex discrimination of women and girls working in the export-processing and live-in domestic worker sectors (the two female dominated industries). Minimum wage guarantees, the eight-hour workday, paid national holidays are labor rights that are denied these women. In addition, some workers are denied or limited in maternity benefits among other injustices. Recently a law was proposed to legislation which would have set minimum wage salary standards, protected against sexual harassment, and limited permissible work hours;however, it failed to pass within the Guatemalan Congress.

At the end of 2003, 78,000 adults were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and this epidemic is growing rapidly. Of the total population in Guatemala, the adult infection rate yielded between .6% and 1.8%. This epidemic in this particular region is spread primarily through sexual activity. High at risk populations are men who have sex with men and female commercial sex workers. 5% of female sex workers, according to a recent international survey, are diagnosed with HIV. However, the highest levels of HIV prevalence are men who engage in male-to-male sex.

The reason for such high levels of HIV/AIDS is mainly education. If safe sex is practiced, the transmission of this epidemic would slow down. Also, male-to-male sex is highly stigmatized, and if continued to be ignored or denied, the problem will only grow exponentially. Concentrated mainly upon socially marginalized populations who are compelled to migrate in search of work and income are especially vulnerable to this epidemic. Stronger social and political mobilization around HIV/AIDS will help solve this ever growing problem.

Fortunately, the Guatemalan government has taken concrete steps to address the epidemic. A National Strategic Plan was introduced, and was made for 1999-2003. It is being updated for 2004-2008. Some key components included: building the capacity of health service personnel, strengthen training and education about HIV/AIDS, and designing prevention policies and programs that target vulnerable groups.

Guatemala is among the worst performers in terms of health outcomes in Latin America, with one of the highest infant mortality rates, and one of the lowest life expectancies at birth. Major causes of death in Guatemala still include treatable, and communicable diseases, such as diarrhea, pneumonia, cholera, malnutrition, and tuberculosis.

A significant share of Guatemalans lack access to health care services. A combination of both supply- and demand-side constraints limit the ability of households to seek health care services in Guatemala, with supply-side constraints playing a more dominant role in rural areas than urban.

Some progress has been made in reforming the health sector. Important steps have been taken on the institutional side, with health being one of the pilot ministries to decentralize financial management under the Integrated System for Health Care (SIAS program). Public spending has shifted toward preventive care, which is essential for treating the health problems faced by the poor. Despite these efforts, spending and health outcomes has not improved significantly. In addition, public spending on health is not well targeted.

Overall, public health spending benefits the highest quintiles disproportionately.

Deforestation is the main environmental problem in Guatemala. Over 50% of the nation’s forests have been destroyed since the late 19th century. Soil erosion has consequently occurred.
Also at risk is the water supply due to industrial and agricultural toxins. 57% of those in rural areas do not have direct access to pure water whereas 8% of urban dwellers do not.

The nation’s soil is high polluted due to the thousands of tons of fertilizer coupled with the .7 million tons of solid waste the country produces per year. A significant number of deaths from respiratory and digestive illnesses are attributed to environmental contamination. In 1975 the government committed to conserving and improving the human environment; however, Guatemala suffers from a lack of financial resources and adequately-trained personnel to put into practice environmental control programs.

Besides the human population, many animal populations in danger of extinction, including the green sea turtle, American crocodile, and the Eskimo curlew, among a many others.

Progress has been made in the last five years in pre-school (32.6% for girls and 33.1% for boys and primary school (83.6% for giels and 81.07% for boys) enrollment. However, the quality of schooling is not very resulting in frequent school absenteeism and high retention and drop out rates. 50% of children complete primary school in urban areas and only 20% complete it in rural areas. Furthermore, an estimated 60% of the school age population lives in rural areas whereas only 24.5% of the schools located in rural areas. A large amount of children do not even have the opportunity to gain an education. Only 58% of cities have a secondary school.

According to surverys from UNESCO, of those aged 15 and older, 75.4% of males are literate compared to females who are only 63.3% literate. Encouraging is the fact that the younger population seem to be more literate which shows that the educational system has a positive influence. Of those aged 15-24, 86.4% of males are literate compared to the 78.4% of females who are literate.

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