Environmental Geography

 Climate

The temperatures vary by altitude in Guatemala with yearly temperatures along the coast ranging from 77 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit. In the central highlands the temperature averages at 68 degrees Fahrenheit while in the higher mountains the temperatures average at 56 degrees Fahrenheit. The rainy season spans from May to October inland and into December for the coast. The dry season spans from November to January and because of Guatemala's temperate climate it has come to be know as the "Land of Eternal Spring". Below is a bar graph indicating yearly rainfall figures for Guatemala [1].

source: http://orphanshopeproject.org/images/Guateclimate.JPG

Deforestation

Guatemala houses a very diverse forest system which is home to 1246 species of amphibians, birds, reptiles and mammals along with 8681 species of plants of which 13.5 percent are endemic, meaning that they are only found in Guatemala. Current forrest cover of the country stands between 25% and 33%, between 1990 and 2005 the country lost 17% of its forest cover. Guatemala's rural population is one of the poorest in Central America, therefore most of the people rely heavily on natural resources as there are not many work opportunities. National parks have also  fallen prey to illegal logging which has affected the Mayan Biosphere Reserve along with the Laguna del Tigre national park. Environmental groups are trying to develop community conservation projects that employ harvesting techniques that have less impact on the forests. Along with logging gold mining, construction of roads, and the clearing of land for grazing are also factors that attribute to deforestation. Deforestation has affected Guatemala with soil erosion which reduces agricultural efficiency along with making the hills more susceptible to landslides. In 2005 mudlsides which resulted from tropical storm Stan killed more than 1500 people [2]. Below is a video of a landslide that occurred in Guatemala 2009

Air Pollution

Guatemala city is heavily polluted by old school buses which were brought over from the United States, Guatemala's residents rely heavily on the buses for public transportation. Recently there has been an effort by the city to remove the old buses and introduce new ones. Smoke from trash burning in the dump as well as from factories also contribute to the thick haze present above Guatemala city. Below is an image of a bus in Guatemala city and the black smoke that it is expelling.

 source: http://farm1.staticflickr.com/53/148997041_ebc1b895b8_z.jpg

In other other parts of the country the smoke in ash from the occasional eruption of volcano can make the air somewhat hazy, but the worst pollution occurs during the dry season when there is agricultural burning and forest fires. Half of the energy consumption comes from burning firewood [3]. I remember while I was visiting Guatemala everywhere you went it smelled like something was burning whether it was trash or agricultural related fires, the air always smelled a little smoky.

[1] http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Americas/Guatemala-CLIMATE.html
[2] http://rainforests.mongabay.com/20guatemala.htm
[3] http://www.moon.com/destinations/guatemala/background/the-land/environmental-issues/air-quality

Cultural Coherence and Diversity

Ethnic Relations

 Rigoberta Menchu

source: http://cdn1.beeffco.com/files/poll-images/normal/rigoberta-menchu_2094.jpg

Guatemala with other Central American colonies declared their independence on September 15 1821, until 1839 it belonged to Mexico and then to the United Provinces of Central America, but it was not until 1945 that a constitution was adopted which guaranteed civil and political rights for all citizens including women and native Central Americans. However the native people continued to be exploited and treated unfairly until recently when international opinion forced the elites to change their way of thinking. This change was also helped along with the selection of Rigoberta Menchu for the Nobel Peace Prize .

Language

Indigenous languages of Guatemala tree

source: http://nimg.sulekha.com/others/original700/guatemala-religion-2010-6-29-18-39-7.jpg

Spanish is the official language of Guatemala, after the civil war ended in December 1996, 22 indigenous languages most of them dialects related to the Mayan language have been recognized. Many natives expecially women and those that live in the highlands do not speak Spanish , but many native families are beginning to abandon their own languages to ensure that their children learn Spanish which they see as essential to function in the world, Even more so when the many dialects are not ineligible with each other, the need for a common language is increasingly important. 

Religion

 

source: http://nimg.sulekha.com/others/original700/guatemala-religion-2010-6-29-18-39-7.jpg

 Catholicism which was brought over by the Spanish and then modified by the Mayan people was widespread throughout Guatemala until the early part of the 20th century when Protestantism began attracting the Mestizo elite and Maya people. It is estimated that around 40% of the populations follows the protestant church. Many Maya have beliefs that mix both Christian religion with indigenous beliefs and practices which have been inherited from ancestors.  Indigenous people still perform rituals for good harvest, easy child birth, and healing of illnesses. Many indigenous people believe in the spirits of nature which reside in caves, mountains and bodies of water and will perform rituals on site. The catholic church is more tolerant of indigenous beliefs than the protestant church which is very strict about non christian beliefs including Catholicism[1].

[1] http://www.everyculture.com/Ge-It/Guatemala.html

Geopolitical Framework

Conquest of Guatemala 

http://www.esri.com/news/arcuser/1009/storymap.html

 Lienzo de Quauhquechollan a map of Guatemala dated from 1530 to 1540 which tells the story of the conquest of Guatemala by the Spaniards as seen by the Quauhquecholteca people, who allied themselves with the Spaniards for the opportunity to over power their enemies and gain more power and eventually conquer Guatemala [1].

After the Spanish conquistadors arrived to the New World, they began sending expeditions to Guatemala in 1519. Hernan Cortes who was the leader of the Spanish conquest of Mexico, permitted Captains Gonzalo Alvarado and brother Pedro Alvarado to start an expedition into Guatemala to conquer it. During the time that Guatemala was colonized it was an audiencia and a captaincy general of Spain ans was apart of New Spain which is now Mexico. On September 15, 1821 the captaincy general of Guatemala which also included Chiapas, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua, claimed their independence from Spain which was then dissolved within 2 years. The provinces of Guatemala came together to form the United Provinces of Central America which was then dissolved in the civil war from 1838 to 1840. Rafael Carrera was essential in leading the revolt against the government and breaking apart the union. During this time the highlands had declared independence from Guatemala but was regained by Rafael Carrera who controlled Guatemalan politics until 1865. Carrera was supported by the conservatives, large land owners and the church. Guatemala's so called "Liberal Revolution" came in 1871 and was led by a Justo Rufino Barrios who wanted to modernize the country, improve trading, try new crops for the country and start manufacturing plants, during this time is when coffee became a big cash crop for Guatemala. Barrios wanted to unify central america once more, so he went to war but was unsuccessful eventually meeting his end to Salvadorean forces 1885.

Cycle of Dictatorship Rule

https://team8-3.pbworks.com/w/page/20049719/Guatemala

from 1898 to 1920 Guatemala was under the rule of dictator Manuel Estrada Cabrera whose presidency was influenced by the United Fruit Company. During the time that Cabrera was in power the United Fruit Company gained alot of influence in the country. On July 4 1944 the  dictator at the time by the name of Jorge Ubico Castenada resigned from office due to large amount of protests from the public. General Juan Federico Ponce replaced Castenada but he too was ousted by a coup d'etat which was led Major Francisco Javier Arana and Captain Jacobo Arbenz Guzman. The country was then led by a military junta which consisted of Arana, Arbenz and Jorge Toriello Garrido. under the Junta Guatemala had its first free election which was won by Juam Jose Arevalo Bermejo who was a teacher and a writer who had been living in exile in Argentina. Bermejo had socialist ideas that were not appreciated by landowners and the upper class who claimed his ideas were communist. Arbenz was then ousted in a coup that was planned and executed by the CIA. After Arbenz implemented his land reform the CIA intervened fearing that his actions would Guatemela a communist stronghold. It has also been reported that the CIA intervened in order to protect the interests of the United Fruit Company which owned land in Guatemala. Continuing over the years the same pattern can be seen of dictators coming into power and then being ousted and then being replaced by another dictator. General Rios Montt was in power after 1982. He was responsible for the disappearance of many people. on January 12 2012 Efrain Rios Montt was in court for genocide charges, during his hearing the government presented a large amount of evidence for deaths rapes and the displacement of 30,000 Guatemalan citizens during the time he was in power from 1982 to 1983.[2]

Genocide in Guatemala

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB297/

 Starting in 1982 and ending around 1983 during the reign of Efrain Rios Montt there were more than 200,000 Mayan people that were murdered by the Guatemalan government. The killing was carried out by squads called the killing machines, people also dissppeared. The government had concerns that the indigenous Mayan people would start a revolt against the government and take over the country. Around 626 villages were attacked. A 1999 United Nations sponsorred report said: "The Army's perception of Mayan communities as natural allies of the guerrillas contributed to increasing and aggravating the human rights violations perpetrated against them, demonstrating an aggressive racist component of extreme cruelty that led to extermination en masse of defenseless Mayan communities, including children, women and the elderly, through methods whose cruelty has outraged the moral conscience of the civilized world." men , women and children were tortured and executed. Women and children were raped.

Trade Agreements

http://infosurhoy.com/cocoon/saii/xhtml/en_GB/features/saii/features/2009/09/28/feature-08

in an attempt to jump start the economy, Guatemala with El Salvador and Honduras signed a free trade agreement with Mexico in June 2000. In 2005 Guatemala confirmed a free trade agreement with the United states known as the Central American Free Trade Agreement or CAFTA. [3]



[1] http://www.esri.com/news/arcuser/1009/storymap.html
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guatemala#History 
[3] http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107596.html?pageno=4
[4] https://team8-3.pbworks.com/w/page/20049719/Guatemala