Beyond fear and violence: people flee from Guatemala for hunger. This was confirmed by Unicef, which denounces an extraordinary food shortage that afflicts the Central American country. The causes are many and ancient. But the two hurricanes of last November that hit this region with fury, one after the other, brought the population to their knees. They have flooded fields, destroyed farms, dissolved roads, exterminated herds. Many have found themselves without a job. They don’t know how to live. They have nothing left to grow or raise. They have no money and cannot buy food for their families.
The Washington Post says that a team of nutritionists discovered this reality that was hidden in the great drama of migrants marching to the southern border of the US, observing the skeletal bodies of some children living in rural areas of Guatemala. Dilcia Cajbon, 11 months, writes the US newspaper, had ribs sticking out under the skin “reduced to tissue paper”. Stefany Martinez, head of the group, had no doubts: “Severe acute malnutrition”. Speaking with the family, he realized that they ate only once a day. They used to cultivate the nearby palm grove, “but the storm destroyed it,” explained Dilcia’s mother. After the few earnings, even the food disappeared. The woman said she was no longer able to “give my little one solid food”.
Usa, children’s emergency on the southern border. “But we won’t put them back in the cells”
by Daniele Mastrogiacomo
After months of real famine, many choose to leave. The economic situation in Guatemala offers no alternatives. There had been encouraging growth but climate change, with the unexpected and unprecedented fury of hurricanes, has nullified the effort. “We hear more and more often”, explains Ana María Méndez, director of Oxfam for Guatemala: “What am I doing here if I can’t get food to my table?”.
The country has the sixth highest rate of malnutrition in the world. According to the latest government study, the number of acute cases of children doubled between 2019 and 2020. The response from the authorities has been weak and intermittent. They sent food with first aid. “They did not last long and nothing else came”, the farmers of the most affected regions confirm. Consumer prices have risen. The cost of beans, a staple dish among the population, increased by 19.6 percent in four months. The situation is even more serious in the regions of the Highlands: chronic child malnutrition is around 70 percent. It is the highest rate in the world. From here, 16 of the 19 migrants were found and then burnt on two pick-ups in northern Mexico, a stone’s throw from the border with Texas. They were all very young. But now the food crisis is affecting children, even newborns. “At this rate”, comments Carlos Carrera, UNICEF national director, “it will take 100 years for Guatemala to eradicate chronic malnutrition”.
The farewell to the 19 skeletons in the Jeeps in Guatemala: burned by Mexican traffickers on their way to the USA
by Daniele Mastrogiacomo
The great escape from poverty concerns the entire Triangle of violence, as El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala are called. From here the migrant caravans set out; the origin of the largest number of minors received in the USA is also recorded here. Thanks to remittances from relatives, those who have already made the big leap in the US, those who leave can pay the traffickers. The rates are huge: even 10 thousand dollars. And you’re not always sure you’ll get to your destination. The human market is ruthless. Everyone asks for the passage fee. If you’re broke, they hold you hostage until someone pays. If you no longer need it, they just kill you. Ballast to be disposed of.
Guatemala, sticks against the migrant caravan
by Daniele Mastrogiacomo
One in four countries in Latin America and the Caribbean is at risk of default. This is confirmed by a worried report by the UN Development Program (UNDP) which analyzes the state of the economy and the debt of the 40 states in the region. Of these, 14 are considered “vulnerable” and 5 are considered “seriously vulnerable”. Venezuela, Argentina, Ecuador, Belize and Granada are unable to repay the external debt incurred; the rest – Bolivia, Costa Rica, Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic and Haiti – are classified as “highly speculative” debt. The problem is twofold, according to analysts: their public finances are upset by the pandemic with serious internal consequences and the “medium-income” countries, therefore still in the saddle, are not the ones to whom the aid provided by the Program and the IMF will go. There is a risk of a domino effect: action is taken on those collapsing, insolvent, and dragging the others into the abyss.
Joe Biden’s Administration has already allocated 4 billion in aid. But you have to invest them in an intelligent and productive way. It’s not easy. The risk is to disperse them in a thousand streams. Covid has made everyone more voracious. You can save yourself from the virus and then starve.
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