Today’s episode: Political Prisoners, Indigenous Land Rights and the Fight against Neoliberalism in Guatemala.

It’s been a while since we have brought to you news from Guatemala, a country that to this day suffers the consequences of neocolonialism and Reagan’s Dirty Wars in Central America during the 1980s. Despite the MSM narrative currently emphasizing the struggles of Ukraine and the EU, let’s not forget that Guatemalans (specifically indigenous) are still being persecuted and are still dying as a direct result of US intervention 40 years ago and beyond.

Today we welcome two guests who will share with us their recent travel experiences and current work in Guatemala.

Our first guest is Ben Gutman who is an independent writer, researcher, and organizer pursuing an MA in Global Communication from The George Washington University. He is currently working on his capstone research and digital media project on the outsourcing of US border militarization to Guatemala in collaboration with the Guatemala Solidarity Project and the Promoters of Migrant Liberation.   

Next we will hear from Palmer Legare who is co-founder and volunteer coordinator of the Guatemala Solidarity Project. He has spent much of the past 20 years in Guatemala. He is a Registered Nurse and Community Organizer who has been detained for civil disobedience and other forms of nonviolent protest over a dozen times. He has spent months in jails and prisons for this work. He has been told directly by both the US Ambassador to Guatemala and Guatemala's Presidential Commission on Human Rights to leave the country or he will be arrested or killed.

Finally, I would like to add that Friends of Latin America has created a Guatemala Political Prisoner fund. Please donate at any time as we share with you Guatemala’s ongoing fight against US interventionism and neoliberalism. DONATE Via Venmo: @FoLatinAmerica

In partnership with Friends of Latin America, Massachusetts Peace Action and Task Force on the Americas, original broadcasts of WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean can be viewed every Wednesday at 4:30pm PT/7:30pm ET on CODEPINK YouTube Live