Word: guatemala
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...village of La Reforma in eastern Guatemala doesn't seem like the kind of place that would have a first-rate hospital and a handful of mansions. There's no bank, no grocery store and more than 70% of the inhabitants of the municipality that includes La Reforma, called Huite, are poor. But officials tell TIME they suspect a few locals are making a handsome profit by assuring that Colombian cocaine makes it safely through Guatemala to Mexico and then...
...they write. Americans are "exporting their faith" by wedding it to their other gods: belief in free markets and "putting the consumer first." Corporations proudly tout Christian values, pastors like Rick Warren are launching publishing empires from the pulpit, and U.S.-style megachurches are sprouting from Seoul to Guatemala City, where one cavernous house of worship boasts a helipad (and an address off "Burger King Drive"). The authors falter by limiting their discussion of non-Christian faiths--including virulently antimodern strains of radical Islam. Readers are left to decide whether this religious revival is something to relish...
...Guatemala's most popular Maya ruins lie at Tikal, but for real bragging rights you'll have to head deep into the Peten jungle, where you'll find the ancient city of El Mirador. Dating back to 300 B.C., it's about a century older and more than twice the size of Tikal. And while getting to Tikal is a simple matter of climbing into an air-conditioned vehicle, to get a glimpse of El Mirador's monumental temples you need to trek your way through the jungle - the nearest road is about 45 miles (75 km) away...
Expect a two-day slog through dense rainforest, bare-bones style camping and blisters. From Guatemala City, it's a short flight to Flores, where you can organize guides, mules and equipment through a local outfitter (try www.nitun.com). The trail proper starts at the village of Carmelita and the wise will arrive in dry season (November to May), when the rainforest is scorching but mosquito- and mud-free. The journey is utterly exhausting, of course, but your inner Indiana Jones will exult at your first glimpse of El Mirador - thought to be home to around 80,000 at one time...
...Billionaires." But amid the various business tycoons, A-list celebs and royal heirs on the annual roll call is someone known mainly by members of Mexico's seedy underground and the police officers who chase them: Joaquin "El Chapo" (Shorty) Guzman Loera. (Read "Mexico Exports its Drug Wars to Guatemala...