Guatemala

Guatemala is a country located in Central America, bordered by Mexico, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador. The country has a rich history and culture, but it also faces significant challenges related to poverty, inequality, and social injustice. Guatemala has a diverse population, with various indigenous groups and a significant number of people living in rural areas. The country has been working to promote economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve access to education and healthcare. However, Guatemala still faces significant challenges related to human rights abuses, corruption, and political instability.

 

‘Beyond troubling’: Current, former government officials tied to human trafficking probe in Georgia
|

‘Beyond troubling’: Current, former government officials tied to human trafficking probe in Georgia

Farmworker advocates linked to human trafficking and forced labor in Georgia Two Georgia labor officials whose jobs involved protecting or advocating for farmworkers have links to one of the largest U.S. human trafficking cases ever prosecuted involving foreign agricultural laborers brought here on seasonal visas. One individual indicted in the case, Brett Donovan Bussey, left…

5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour in Durban, South Africa
|

5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour in Durban, South Africa

Assessing global progress made towards achieving the goals of Target 8.7: Securing the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour by 2025.  The 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour was held in Durban between 15-20 May 2022.   Hosted by the Government of South Africa, delegates from around the world…

Eight Defendants Indicted for Human Smuggling and Drug Conspiracy
| | | | | |

Eight Defendants Indicted for Human Smuggling and Drug Conspiracy

Eight individuals were charged in an indictment, unsealed today in the Eastern District of Louisiana, for their involvement in an international scheme to smuggle 24 undocumented individuals from Honduras into Louisiana aboard the Motor Vessel (M/V) “Pop,” which is owned by one of the defendants. One of the defendants was also arrested for conspiring to…

California Couple Sentenced for Conspiring to Subject Mother and Her Daughter to Labor Trafficking
| | | |

California Couple Sentenced for Conspiring to Subject Mother and Her Daughter to Labor Trafficking

Nery A. Martinez Vasquez, 54, and Maura N. Martinez, 54, both of Shasta Lake, California, were both sentenced today for conspiring to subject three victims to forced labor, a crime to which the defendants had previously pleaded guilty. Vasquez was sentenced to six and a half years in prison and Martinez was sentenced to three…

Migrant minors dispute pits Florida against Catholic Church
| | |

Migrant minors dispute pits Florida against Catholic Church

MIAMI (AP) — The debate over whether to deter or accommodate minors arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border without their parents has pitted Florida’s Catholic governor against the state’s highest-ranking Roman Catholic. The Archbishop of Miami, Thomas Wenski, and other faith leaders have implored the governor to reconsider an order that suspends renewals of state licenses…

Guatemala charges 10 for 2021 trip when migrants were slain
| | |

Guatemala charges 10 for 2021 trip when migrants were slain

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Prosecutors in Guatemala on Friday charged 10 members of a smuggling ring that allegedly organized a 2021 trip during which 15 migrants were killed in northern Mexico. Prosecutors said the suspects are charged with criminal conspiracy, money laundering, human trafficking and other crimes. A dozen members of an elite police unit…

New Project to Counter Migrant Smuggling
| | | | | |

New Project to Counter Migrant Smuggling

Vienna (Austria) 2 November 2021 – A two-year project to combat organized crime groups that smuggle migrants over multiple continents to North America is underway in thirteen countries. The STARSOM initiative will support States along the main smuggling routes to work together to respond to migrant smuggling while protecting the lives and upholding the rights…

Investigation: Corporations Are Profiting From Immigrant Detainees’ Labor. Some Say It’s Slavery.
| | | |

Investigation: Corporations Are Profiting From Immigrant Detainees’ Labor. Some Say It’s Slavery.

In February, she sued the company for labor trafficking. Gonzalez spent those … to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, ICE and the Department of Labor calling on them to help GEO defend itself …

The wicked problem of drug trafficking in the Western Hemisphere
| | | | | |

The wicked problem of drug trafficking in the Western Hemisphere

How to address the ongoing threat of illegal drug use in the United States remains a persistent challenge. The activities of increasingly sophisticated transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) exacerbate that challenge for the whole of the Western Hemisphere. The incoming Biden administration should be especially wary of the likely inevitable growth of fentanyl shipment through maritime…