Guatemala to move embassy to Jerusalem

[brooklynite]

Source: BBC

Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales has ordered to move the country's embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

In a Facebook post, Mr Morales said the decision was taken after he had spoken with Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

Last week, Guatemala was one of only seven nations to vote against a UN resolution urging America to reverse its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Donald Trump threatened to cut aid to nations that voted against the US.


Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-42475253?ocid=socialflow_twitter

[Turbineguy]

1. Trump now has a talking point for a debate!

"You forgot Guatemala!"

[Chipper Chat]

2. it's all a plot to wreck the economy of Tel Aviv.

And also to give a jump-start for Ivanka's proposed new upscale kosher eatery "The Little Shoppe of Horrors Deuvres" near the Wailing Wall.

[awesomerwb1]

3. So what is Guatemala getting in return?

[sandensea]

4. His golfing buddy Macri (Argentina) is probably next.

Those two grifters are working hand-in-glove with Bibi to create a pretext for an attack on Iran.

[Rollo]

5. Not sure about its current government, but Guatemala has a history of mostly....

Fascist governments... which in concert with European ancestry wealthy ruling class, oppress the native Mayan population, which lives in abject poverty...

I saw this in person in 1978...

[GatoGordo]

6. Its a relatively centrist government right now. The civil war ended in 1996

Guatemalans are attempting to make a run at an economy based on eco-tourism right now, ala Costa Rica. I was in Guatemala (Lago Peten Itza and Tikal) last winter.

Unfortunately, they have a high percentage of people living in poverty, illiteracy, and I would estimate that about 20% struggle to put food on the table.

I'm not sure its fair to compare the standard of living of a very rural, very diverse and very uneducated population with what we are accustomed. While most Guatemalans are very poor, they don't know it.

[Rollo]

8. As I understand it, the problem in Guatemala is that it is a highly segregated and unequal nation...

As I recall, over 1/2 of the population is of native Mayan ancestry. This is unlike Mexico where most of the population is mixed, or "Mestizo". From what I saw in Guatemala in '78, but Mayans live very basic existences - straw and mud huts, no electricity, while the European population lords it over them socially, culturally, economically, and militarily. In '78 a civil war was just starting up... but we could hear the sounds of it at night in various locations.

One afternoon I was standing in a little town center - really, just a dirt road with a bank nearby. Suddenly the native population evaporated. I was the stupid gringo who just stood there at the side of the road, gaping. Then a gray open Jeep pulled up, with men in gray uniforms. None of them bore any insignia, nor did the Jeep. The men got out, and the fattest and oldest one stood there and circled his gaze around the square. He didn't give me a second look, but it was sort of chilling anyway. I figured later this was some sort of right wing militia group, or secret police, searching for commies or rebels or maybe a revolutionary who was running for his life through the mountains.

Meanwhile in a hotel nearby I found a Spanish language newspaper, and a prominent part of it was a society section, where pretty young euro Guatemalan women were showing off their gowns. It was all very surreal.

I can't say I blamed the Mayan rebels for fighting back. And I think most of them know they are poor, at least compared to the Euro Guatemalans, the ruling class. They just can't do much about it.

[oberliner]

7. Guatemala just elected a comedian with zero political experience to be president

This Sunday, Guatemala held the final round of its presidential election. Jimmy Morales, a television comedian with no political experience and no real policy platform, won with 70 percent. Just six months ago, Morales was commanding less than 1 percent in polls.

Morales's simple campaign slogan — "not corrupt, not a thief" — really cuts to the heart of his victory. The election was in large part a backlash to Guatemala's deeply entrenched corruption and crime problem, issues brought to the fore after President Otto Pérez Molina was indicted on corruption charges in early September. Morales represented, as one Guatemalan citizen put it, "the least worst option" in a country whose political class is terminally corrupted.

The big question now is whether Guatemala's Stephen Colbert, as he's been called, actually has what it takes to be president.

https://www.vox.com/2015/10/26/9616984/guatemala-election-jimmy-morales

From 2015, when Morales was elected.

[GatoGordo]

10. We elected an inexperienced clown too!

Small world...

[GaryCnf]

11. Not a surprise

Jimmy Morales is a right wing Christian dominionist who wants to take Guatemala back the "glory days" of the globalist butchery of the early 70s.

[GatoGordo]

12. I didn't get that vibe

The guy honestly wants to move his country forward. It's a struggle when you are a poor country and lack resources. Naturally, the world powers would love to offer them aid... as long as there are strings attached.

Guatemalans are tired of fighting everyone's else's wars of proxy. They would like very much to have enough help to themselves. They see the mess in El Salvador and Nicaragua between the reactionary Right and the radical Left and they want no part of that disaster.

Have you been there? They are a delightful, intelligent and hard working people

[GaryCnf]

13. As a matter of fact, I have

Two years '73-"74.

They are a beautiful people with a history that pre-dates European exploitation. They didn't strike me as being tired of being pawns. They struck me as being tired of having their fathers and brothers murdered.

[GatoGordo]

14. A lot has changed in 44 years

The civil war was pretty horrific. It is still fresh in their minds and they are very tired of the bloodletting.

We have been going back to Guatamala every other year. My wife (anesthesiologist) donates two weeks in a medical mission and I (general contractor/builder) help build clinics and schools. Honduras the alternate years.

[GaryCnf]

15. That is very appreciated