Samuel Loewenberg ventures to Guatemala to survey the underlying issues of the Central American country's extreme poverty. There, income inequality equals the worst in Africa - particularly among indigenous communities. In some regions, an estimated 75 percent of the children from infants to the ages of 6 and 7 are chronically malnourished.
Guatemala: Behind the famine
Published October 7, 2009
Last month, Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom declared a "state of calamity" to shunt mass hunger and the worst drought in 70 years. Approximately 50 percent of children are suffering from chronic malnutrition.
But these are only the surface casualties of a vulnerable nation ravaged by 36 years of civil war, genocide and now, the encroaching drug war spilling over from Mexico's northern border.Worldfocus special correspondent Martin Savidge explores the current eroding conditions, the promise of the Peace Accords and the sanctity of land.
Worldfocus special correspondent Martin Savidge hosted the following guests:
Dr. Anita Isaacs is a political science professor at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. For the last decade, she has researched democracy, justice and the peace process in Guatemala. She conducts field research in the country four to five times a year. Anita is writing a book with the working title At War with the Past? The Politics of Transitional Justice in Postwar Guatemala. She has also served as consultant to the Ford Foundation, the Inter-American Dialogue, Freedom House and the Open Society Institute.
Stephen C. "Carlisle" Johnson is the producer and host of the television show "Inside Guatemala." He has worked as a venture capitalist in about 50 countries and traveled to more than 120 countries. Carlisle has lived in Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, France, England, and currently, Guatemala. He is the former publisher of the "Guatemala Post" and the former host of the English radio program "Good Morning Guatemala" on ABC Radio International affiliate. Carlisle now hosts the television show "Inside Guatemala." He is a chartered interpreter in English and Spanish.
Samuel Loewenberg is a journalist who covers public health and politics. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Economist, The Atlantic Online, The Washington Post and many others. He has reported from Latin America, Europe, China, Africa, and the former Soviet Union. His work in Guatemala was supported by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.
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Samuel Loewenberg reports on global health, policy, and politics. He has reported from more than two dozen countries. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Economist, The...
