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This morning Guatemala is taking baby steps towards justice by having a historic public hearing of retired General Efraín Ríos Montt on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. The retired General Efraín Ríos Montt will be responding to charges of genocide and crimes against humanity done during his year in power between 1982-1983. This is just one more baby step to bring reconciliation and justice for the Guatemalan armed conflict which happened between 1960 and 1996 and was sparked by a coup orchestrated by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the 1954 Guatemalan coup d’état which produced over 250,000 victims, 45,0000 disappeared persons and over one million of displaced people. (more…)

On January 21, Under the name of Subida por la vida, there were over 8,000 people climbing Volcán de Agua (Water Volcano) to form the largest heart in the world at 12,335 feet as part of campaign to bring awareness and to reduce domestic violence. The event will also be a party with music and foot ball matches (the real McCoy) in different venues in Antigua Guatemala. Subida por la vida also stands as manifestation for Peace where Guatemalans want to demonstrate and let the world know that we want peace and we will not tolerate violence any longer. (more…)

I often report on the Club Fotográfico de Antigua Guatemala because I am of the funding members and because many people visiting Antigua Guatemala have interest in photography and many want to connect with other passionate photographers. Also, I report often because I am still amazed how an idea that formed back in 2009 with my dear friend Nelo and I have become such and impressive and important association. We talked about forming a club of photo enthusiasts here in Antigua Guatemala so we didn’t have to go to Guatemala City to meet with other people interested in photography. We decided that we wanted a club where novice and experienced photographers could share the knowledge, experience, anecdote and passion for this art. We felt the same way and simply declared:

Let’s do it pues!

This year Antigua’s Photo Club begins with so much energy, good vibes and passion at a new meeting location, at one of my favorite buildings in Antigua Guatemala, the former Compañía de Jesús building, where the Cooperación Española has open its door to host our monthly meetings; the first Thursday of the month for those who don’t know. If you’re interested in meeting a bunch of cool people who want to share a good laugh and their knowledge about photography and all things Antigua Guatemala, make sure you pay a visit. Below I share with you a slide show of some of the photos from the most recent meeting on Thursday 5 and if you want to see even more pictures of from this meeting you can visit the album made in Facebook.

Here’s a little background information I posted back in 2009 about the photo club:

Back in June, a few photography enthusiasts from La Antigua Guatemala, myself included, funded the Club Fotográfico de Antigua (Antigua’s Photo Club). With each passing month the Club Fotográfico de Antigua (CFA) receives new members and visitors interested in sharing a good time while admiring the photographs taken by the members, participating in the monthly competition, exchanging photography tips and workshops.

Today was a day full of news. First of all, I learned from my friend and ADP collaborator Guy Howard that Hector’s Restaurant made to the number one position at TripAdvisor for their restaurant listings of Antigua Guatemala. Of course, that’s no news to you guys since you have already since many of the dishes that Hector prepares. The first time I had sweet potato fries was at Hector’s and although I have had them a several places now, some in the U.S., I still believe Hector’s version to be the best.

Next, was the released of the behind the scenes at the making of the video clip of “Fuiste Tú” of Ricardo Arjona and Gaby Moreno in Guatemala a couple of weeks ago. You can watch the video below.

Last but not least was the 15th year anniversary of signage of the Peace Accords. As in every year since the signing, people argue that basically not peace was signed, but the accords have not been met. Or well, that’s how it is in Guatemala and it’s better not think too much of it. We just have to continue pushing for the accords to be upheld.

Enjoy!

Guatemala’s Channel 7 News, Noti7, was filming the year in news summary tonight at Parque Central and I was able to get a few shots. I also recorded a short video clip since some of you have asked to get sounds and moving pictures as well. For sure the video will give you a sense of the sounds and atmosphere that we’re experiencing in Antigua Guatemala.

Honestly, I don’t think anybody does more for the poor (yes, the poor and not the underprivileged, less fortunate nor any other euphemism one can come up with) of Antigua Guatemala and surrounding areas as Asociación Obras Sociales del Santo Hermano Pedro. From the permanent free or heavily discounted (symbolic price) medical consultations offered by the Obras Sociales del Hermano Pedro to simple things as symbolic renting of wheel chairs and crutches. The image above your can see people making a line to pick up free gifts given by the Obras Sociales del Hermano Pedro.

Now, if you feel like given a little this Christmas, then pay a visit to the web site of Asociación Obras Sociales del Santo Hermano Pedro and give them a small donation; surely they will make it go a long way!

On November 11, 2011 (11.11.11 for short) the Feria Nacional de Comercio Justo y Solidario Guatemala 2011 opened its kiosk on the arched hallway of Palacio de los Capitanes Generales to promote exchanges for a better world the brochure declares. The national fair trade fair will remain open until Sunday at 3pm, so if you’re in Antigua Guatemala stop by to get chance to talk to and buy directly from the artisans and small producers of honey, coffee, handicrafts, textiles, recycled crafts, shampoos, teas, cereals, etc.

I took other photos of some of the fair stands, so, stay tune for additional coverage.

The Guatemalan presidential elections are finally over and we can go back to building a better country and let the new President elect and his team do whatever it is that they do. Below, there’s a screen shot of the almost final results with 53.78% of the votes going to the Partido Patriota and 46.22% to the Partido Líder. You can visit the web page for Tribunal Supremo Electoral (Supreme Electoral Tribunal) for the final results.

Compared to the first voting round, today there was almost nobody there. Compare the photos from the September 11 election process and with today’s photos. Nevertheless, I wanted to experiment with a time-lapse video, so I shot 1,800 photos to create the time-lapse video of the voting center at the cultural center César Brañas. As you can see in some parts of the video, there’s almost nobody; that’s how efficient the voting process was this time. I hope you enjoy the time-lapse video, please, let me know either way.
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Guatemalans are complex people. We don’t like simple things; thus whenever we can make the simplest things complex, we do. I am sure that if one could combine Dante’s Inferno and Kafka’s The Trial as a possible scenario, Guatemalans would still think is too simple. Let me explain.

Tomorrow Guatemalans have a simple presidential election between the worse and worst or between the pest and cholera as stated in a recent article at the Guatemala Times:

Four years ago, a week before the second election round, I wrote a column titled Between pest and cholera to describe what happened to us Guatemalan voters having to choose between Alvaro Colom and Otto Perez Molina. This time it’s something similar, or no, worse. Pest versus cholera, reloaded…

…Let’s start by OPM [Otto Perez Molina]. He is a military with 33 years in the Army, an authoritarian institution par excellence. An army with a military victory based on disappearing 50 000 people and killing 200 thousand, mostly unarmed civilians. He is a military turned politician. One of his mayor accomplishments is to have sought decent terms for the Guatemalan peace accords. He opposed extrajudicial killings during the government of Oscar Berger. He prevented the coup d’état of ex-president Jorge Serrano Elías, although the reasons for his participation are less clear. Serrano’s coup was “anti-constitutional and anti-elite…”

…On with MB [Manuel Baldizón]. He is a populist who has been in politics for 8 years. He easily spend Q100 million, approximately $ 12.9 million, on his campaign also without transparency. Who financed him? Other businessmen? Other narcos? His biggest accomplishment in 8 years of public life was the approval of the Law for the Elderly, to re-pay a social debt; the elderly without social security receive a small pension… continue reading at The Guatemala Times.

So, basically it doesn’t matter who wins as Manuela Rosales put it on her Facebook wall, the real and enduring change can only come with the work of EVERYBODY, not just single government official even if this is El Señor Presidente.

Nevertheless, here’s the complex Guatemalan presidential election scenario for tomorrow:

• Some people will vote for Manuel Baldizón
• Some people will vote against Manuel Baldizón
• Some people will vote for Otto Perez Molina
• Some people will vote against Otto Perez Molina
• Some people will vote against Manuel Baldizón and Otto Perez Molina (null vote)
• Some people will not vote for neither Manuel Baldizón nor Otto Perez Molina (no vote)

Now, don’t you agree with me about the complexity of Guatemalans?

This morning two photo clubs, Antigua’s and Guatemala’s, got together at Casa Santo Domingo to pay homage to photographer Ricardo Mata who about 54 years ago called on 10 of his colleagues to form the first photo club of Guatemala.

It was a rare opportunity to see members of both photo clubs at one place to share our passion for photography and to pay a tribute to Guatemala’s most prolific photographer and world traveler. He shared with us this morning that he had travel and photographed 94 countries. I regret not procuring a copy of a thorough biographical sketch by writer and long-time friend Carmen Matute of Ricardo Mata. Heck, even Ricardo Mata declared he would love to have a copy of the biographical sketch since he said there were more information there than what he has available in his own archives. Talking about archive, Ricardo Mata’s photo archive is in the millions of images, most of them slides. See the video below to take a peek at his archives.

The Club Fotográfico de Guatemala also held its monthly photo contest and I had the honor to be one of the judges. All in all, it was awesome feel-good event; the kind that you never read about in the news, but happen very often in Guatemala.

Here’s a video of Ricardo Mata narrating how the funded Guatemala’s first photo club thanks Nelo Mijangos. (more…)

So, what’s up with the crazy and weird title I hear you asking… well, let me explain.

First the sunshine part. After 11 days of continuos rains we were greeted with sunshine and chilly winds on October 20. If Twitter had hyper-local trending topics, then the #climaGT hash tag could had been the trending topic for Guatemalans on October 20, as almost everybody was tweeting about how good it was to have sunshine again.

The apology came next as President Alvaro Colom apologized to Mr. Arbenz’s son Juan Jacobo and asked for forgiveness on behalf of the state. This apology made to several major newspapers around the world.

Here a few fragments from the New York Times article:

More than a half-century after Guatemala’s elected president Jacobo Arbenz Guzman was overthrown in a coup planned by the C.I.A. and forced into a wandering exile, President Alvaro Colom apologized on Thursday for what he called a “great crime.”

The Eisenhower Administration painted the coup as an uprising that rid the hemisphere of a Communist government backed by Moscow. But Mr. Arbenz’s real offense was to confiscate unused land owned by the United Fruit Company to redistribute under a land reform plan and to pay compensation for the vastly understated value the company had claimed for its tax payments.

Mr. Arbenz “was not a dictator, he was was not a crypto-communist,” said Stephen Schlesinger, an adjunct fellow at the Century Foundation and co-author of “Bitter Fruit: The Story of the American Coup in Guatemala.”

The Arbenz family is seeking an apology from the United States for its role in the coup, he said…

Good luck with that!

Last but not least, the Revolution Day part. On October 20, Guatemala celebrates its Dí­a de la Revolución (Revolution’s Day) and everybody gets the day off as it is a national holiday. If you want to know more about Día de la Revolución, follow the white rabbit to last year post.

Every once in a while we all need a break. La Antigua Guatemala will be having such a break in a few hours since there will be a programmed power outage from 8am to 1pm on Wednesday 19 because the electric company will be doing some testing and maintenance of the power grid around Antigua Guatemala. So, don’t worry if for a few hours there are no updates in Twitter, Facebook and other social network from people living in Antigua Guatemala. I also will be disconnecting from the matrix as of now…

I know that to keep abundant richly verdant mountains in Guatemala we have to have a 6-month rainy season. But, enough is enough, ya basta; we don’t need to have a full week of constant rains. Too much rain is not good for Guatemala either since too much rain breaks the country’s infrastructure, people’s lives are at risk with so many landslides, overflowing rivers and the collapsing of some bridges.

Just take a look at the report about the state of roads in Guatemala by PROVIAL at 6am. PROVIAL, short for Protección y Seguridad Vial (Road Protection and Safety), is part of the Ministerio de Comunicaciones, Infraestructura y Vivienda (CIV) or Ministry of Communications, Infrastructure and Housing. You can request information about the state of any given road in Guatemala or follow the punctual updates by @Provial in Twitter or by dialing 1520. (more…)

The photo above was taken with an iPhone. The Mac belongs to Maf, a musician who was doing the sound for Ishto Jueves and Lady’s Night Show.

This is not the first time I show Apple stuff here, nor it will be the last. Let me explain.

Some of you know that this and all my projects are powered by Apple equipment. When I started AntiguaDailyPhoto I used to have a section on the sidebar with all the equipment that I was using to produce this humble blog about Antigua Guatemala and its people and their culture and traditions.

In a way, I have always been inspired by the passion of Steve Jobs. How can I not? Just listen to Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address below. (more…)

According to Efraín Enrique Recinos Valenzuela biography at his official website and at Wikipedia, he was born in 1928 in Xela, the informal name of Quetzaltenango City, Guatemala’s second largest city. Later on, he moved to Guatemala City to continue his studies and pretty much stayed for the remainder of his life. Efraín Recinos also worked extensively in Antigua Guatemala where you can find some his work at Santo Domingo del Cerro and at Casa Santo Domingo.

On Sunday, October 2, 2011, we said our goodbyes to Efraín Recinos, Guatemala’s most extraordinary and prolific artist. A Google search throws so much about Efraín Recinos that one may need a few days to get a glimpse of this prolific Guatemalan Picasso as described in the quoted text below.

Efrain Recinos, Guatemalan muralist, sculptor, engineer and architect, who among many other buildings designed the National Theatre in Guatemala City. On one of my first trips into the city, I saw, experienced and fell in love with his work, as it proudly embellished the many of the national buildings in Guatemala City. This was my first exposure to his work, but after much exploration throughout the city, I was surprise every time my friend Juan Pablo said, “that’s designed by Efrain Recinos too”.

To take a look at some of Efraín Recinos work and colorful anecdote, continue reading at Raising Mimo.

Here I share with you a slide show of some of his works found in Santo Domingo del Cerro. Click the four departing arrows icon inside the presentation to get a full screen slide show.

Below there’s a guided tour through the history of art in 89 portraits by Efraín Recinos who explains why he decided to realized such portraits. This tour goes by the name of Difusores Acústicos. (more…)