JUAN CARLOS LLORCA

Associated Press Writer
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Guatemala reopening international adoptions

Guatemalan officials on Friday announced the resumption of international adoptions after a nearly two-year suspension prompted by the discovery that some babies were being sold.

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Honduran police: drug smuggling up since coup

Drug trafficking has increased in this Central American nation since the U.S. limited military cooperation to protest a June coup, Honduras' top anti-narcotics officer said Wednesday.

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Guatemala convicts paramilitary in disappearances

A Guatemalan court has convicted and sentenced a former paramilitary to 150 years in prison for the forced disappearance of six people who were abducted and presumably killed during the country's civil war — a landmark ruling hailed by human rights activists Tuesday.

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OAS: Any Honduran deal must restore ousted leader

The head of the Organization of American States closed the door Friday on a compromise offered by Honduras' interim leader because it would not restore the president ousted in a coup.

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AP IMPACT: Mexican drug cartels expand abroad

Guatemalan drug boss Juan Jose "Juancho" Leon was summoned by Mexican traffickers for what he was told was business. Instead, dozens of attackers ambushed his entourage with grenades and assault rifles, killing Leon and 10 others in a brazen demonstration of power.

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Guatemalan fears a tweet will make him a jailbird

Jean Anleu was so fed up with corruption in his country that he decided to vent on the Internet, sending a 96-character message on the social-networking site Twitter.

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Mexico drug cartel's grenades from Guatemalan army

Thousands of bullets and grenades that were part of a Mexican drug cartel's weapons cache belong to the Guatemalan army, Guatemala's anti-drug prosecutor said Thursday.

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Guatemalan murder mystery threatens government

A slain lawyer's taped accusations that the president wanted him dead threaten to topple Guatemala's first leftist government in more than 50 years and have sharpened the political divide between rich and poor.

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US priest killed in robbery in Guatemala

A U.S. priest who put an international spotlight on human rights abuses in Brazil in the 1970s has been killed by robbers in northern Guatemala.

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Foes petition to strip Guatemala leader's immunity

Government opponents submitted 35,000 signatures Monday to demand that Congress start procedures to strip Guatemala's president of immunity from prosecution over allegations that he ordered a lawyer killed.

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Biden listens to top Central American leaders

Vice President Joe Biden on Monday told Central American leaders pushing the United States to slow its record pace of deportations to be patient since it will not change in the short-term amid the U.S. economic downturn.

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Guatemala: Dirty war orphans put up for adoption

Guatemala's government said Monday it has uncovered evidence supporting a long-held belief: Children whose parents were killed during the country's 36-year civil war were put up for adoption.

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Group says files show US knew of Guatemala abuses

The U.S. government knew that top Guatemalan officials it supported with arms and cash were behind the disappearance of thousands of people during a 36-year civil war, declassified documents obtained by a U.S. research institute show.

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Guatemala team to release war-era military files

A new government commission will organize and declassify military documents that could shed light on torture, disappearances and other atrocities during Guatemala's 36-year civil war, President Alvaro Colom announced Tuesday.

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Guatemala files 3,350 human rights complaints

Guatemala's government on Friday filed 3,350 criminal complaints accusing former soldiers, paramilitaries and others of human rights violations against more than 5,000 civilians during the country's 1960-1996 civil war.

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In Guatemala, a steep, rutted road to peace

Guatemala's government is hoping the steep, rutted road to Cocop is a path to lasting peace.

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To save adopted girl, Calif. couple gives her up

Jennifer and Todd Hemsley had to give up their child to save her.

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Victims of Guatemalan bus fire were shot first

Fifteen charred bodies found in a burned-out bus in eastern Guatemala were shot before being set on fire, prosecutors said Monday.

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Mexico extradites ex-Guatemalan leader

Mexico extradited former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo on Tuesday to face corruption charges, and the ex-leader told a judge there is no evidence to support the allegations against him.

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United States beats Guatemala 1-0 in WC qualifier

Carlos Bocanegra scored on a header in the 69th minute, and the United States escaped from Guatemala with a chippy 1-0 victory Wednesday night in the Americans' opener in the semifinal round of World Cup qualifying.

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US tourist wants to leave Guatemala after attack

Nancy Dryden had hoped to use her experience as a physical therapist to help Guatemala's children. But after four machete-wielding men killed her 66-year-old husband, Daniel, and stabbed her, puncturing her lung, Dryden said Tuesday that all she wants to do is leave the Central American country.

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US couple almost adopted stolen Guatemalan baby

For 14 months, Ana Escobar studied the tiny fingers of every passing baby, searching for a girl with pinkies that curved gracefully outward, just like those of her missing daughter.

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AP IMPACT: Guatemalan moms face agonizing decision

The 24-year-old Guatemalan mother had already given up her baby once. Now, months later, the baby girl was back in her lap, smiling and playing with her mother's fingers.

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Guatemala paramilitaries sentenced

Five former paramilitary members have been sentenced to 780 years each in prison for massacring 26 people during one of the more horrifying incidents in Guatemala's long civil war, a court official said Thursday.

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Guatemalan held in illegal adoption case

The sister of a Guatemalan congressman was charged Wednesday with running an illegal adoption ring after police found nine children in her home.

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