Project

Guatemala: Forgotten Trauma

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. It is a startling example of food scarcity in a country a mere four-hour flight away from the U.S.

Loewenberg also explores Guatemala's close economic ties with the U.S. as Guatemalan workers are being driven out due to immigration crackdowns and the reverberating economic crisis. Many Guatemalans are dependent on remittances sent from the U.S. and experts now worry that the country is facing a demographic time bomb as men return home from the U.S. without work or prospects.

October 08, 2009 | World Focus

Guatemala's Children Languish from Malnutrition

Samuel Loewenberg

More than two million Guatemalans live in extreme poverty, and nearly half of the children in Guatemala are malnourished. In some areas, nearly every child is affected.

Most suffer from chronic malnutrition, which means that while they are getting enough calories, the food they eat is severely lacking in vitamins and protein.

As Samuel Loewenberg reports, this poor nutrition affects not only their bodies, but their future.

October 07, 2009 | World Focus

Guatemala: Behind the Famine

Samuel Loewenberg

Last month, Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom declared a “state of calamity” as Guatemala experiences the worst drought in 70 years. Approximately half of the population lives below the poverty line and 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 the northern border with Mexico.