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When cash is low, love goes up. The economic crisis might be painful but it has a positive side effect on society. Not focusing on the negative and now redundant and stressful economic considerations of the present financial situation, today I shift attention to the positive impact of scarce liquidity: Creativity, solidarity, understanding, self-confidence, leadership and faith, are just the aspects that I personally celebrate. A re-born keystone of humanity is cutting through the mist of uncertainty. We are rediscovering human values as a collective, and as individuals, we are also experiencing the realities of moral and social values for the first time, not as consumers but as creative beings, sociable and sensitive to things beyond our animal impulse. The lack of cash is forcing people to communicate more. The need to exchange goods and services leads us to have deeper discussions, trying to find common goals and collaborate on arrangements to help each other. For example, ”Service...

Preaching Respect, Equality, Balance of the Universe, understanding and development. Chavez meets Larry King with his specialty: Propaganda. King gets from Chavez the most populist of Latín American political repertoire. "The Bush administration knocked me down, (...) The White House sent people to kill me(...), but the soldiers were hurled back at the last moment" - Chavez. Chavez found a way to turn every question into an opportunity to spread legends, myths and some facts of anti-imperialist nature. The legendary host apeared to be informed, and his interview was strategic and founded on research and facts, Chavez on the other hand responded in a rapid, aggressive and inflamatory fashion. His discourse, polished after decades of propaganda, was not unlike a bully, or a ill reputed car salesman; 90% of everything he said was unverifiable and 100% of his actions, where, acording to him, heroic. Here a few snipets of the interview: Aquí unos extractos de la entrevista: In co...

* Please view the translators note on the comments section. If the opinion of an artist that has dedicated his life to writing novels and theater has any value in moments of political crisis, I raise my pen and voice to speak in the name of sanity, peace and dignity. The recent events that our country is undergoing has presented Honduras to the world as "A country of anarchy, that violates laws and international agreements". This inevitably requires us to take a coherent posture on the subject. Now more than ever, all of us who at some point preferred to keep silent and abstain from the politiac circus, must take action. What is occurring in the the streets of our cities will move into our homes and jobs. It is naive to think that this crisis will vanish by itself. Experience has demonstrated that those who disturb public order, are also tireless, and are willing to risk more than can be risked when seeking peace and common good. This is the very reason why our actions should...

"I don't like my job." "The cube walls are closing in." "I'm walking out of this job right now." "I need to get out of here!" You know you've thought it at one point or another, and suddenly, the life of a free-spirited, self-made freelancer sounds all the more appealing. Before you rush and type your resignation letter, there are a few things that you will have to consider. Pamela Slim, a former corporate manager turned entrepreneur and author of the book Escape From Cubicle Nation, weighs in with 10 important questions you need to ask yourself before you make the jump. I wish there were a secret formula to ensure that the freelance business you have been madly working on is going to generate enough income to compensate for your current salary as an employee, if not much more. Unfortunately, there are many, many factors that go into determining business success. To get some insight into your readiness to say goodbye to your day j...

Hondurans were right in rejecting Zelaya . Carlos Pineda Pinel is a former justice vice minister of Honduras In 1688, King James II rid himself of the laws of Parliament and was swiftly replaced by William III in a coup, which gave birth to England's modern parliamentary democracy and bill of rights. Military force was used to replace the lawful king, yet nobody would deny the legitimacy of England's "Glorious Revolution." The removal of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya last Sunday by the military under civilian orders is being called a coup all over the world, and it certainly bears its signs. Yet what took place is really a Honduran glorious revolution. Hondurans defended their liberty as best as they could and put all future presidents under the rule of law. Article 239 of the Honduran constitution forbids citizens from being president for more than one term. It warns, "Whoever breaks this disposition or proposes its reform, as well as his collaborators, will ...

More than a danger to the planet, humanity is a danger to itself. These words have been echoing in our groups of friends for quite some time. ¿Even if the planet does survive, will humans survive too? This is a video of Severn Suzuki 12 years old, 1992. It has 3.4 million views. (And that is only counting the Spanish version on a specific youtube channel).

The strongest evidence of the Rosemberg Case is the price he paid to break the silence. It is we, all Guatemalans, the true murderers of Mr. Rosemberg. It is due to our collective silence, that a man was forced to pay the ultimate price, to say what he had to say. Rosemberg has give us the opportunity of a particularly important freedom; Freedom of Speech. It is now our responsibility to ensure that the highest price for freedom of speech be the request to back up our opinions. The freedom to say what we believe is true, to ourselves, our community, our society. The opportunity of being confronted with that truth, not to be harassed by our opinion, but to be able to discern truth. Freedom of speech is necessary to really have positive change. It sounds like a cliche, but its not. Freedom of expression, (Freedom of speech) no matter how many dumb things we express, is necessary for everybody, because when someone says something of particular interest, others listen and echo his voice. ...

Guatemala: I will never abandon you. I WILL NO LONGER BE AFRAID OF GOING OUT ON TO THE STREETS OF DEFENDING MY FREDOM OF UPHOLDING THE LAW OF DEMANDING JUSTICE I WILL NO LONGER BE AFRAID OF LIVING IN MY LAND AND CHANGING MY FUTURE This past Sunday 17th , 2009, in the "Plaza Italia". (Italian Pláza), in front of Guatemala City's Municipal Offices, some 40,000 Guatemalans got toguether to demand justice for the more than 7,000 violent deaths that have ocured in the last year and a half; Lawyer Rodrigo Rosemberg, murdered near his house while riding his bike, on may 10th, 2009, was the last straw. What makes the Rosemberg Case the last straw , is his post mortum video, acusing Alvaro Colom (Guatemalan President) and other government authorities, including guatemalan presidential private secretary, Gregorio Valdéz, of his (Rosemberg´s) murder. Almost immidiatly after his video was posted on the YouTube network, this exeptionally complex and nation wide situation has has trig...

More so than a conspiracy fiction, like the novels associated with Dan Brown or Tom Clancy, what Guatemalans are living today is making us confront a hard to believe and frightening reality. Waking up today to a media frenzy of intrigue, corruption and indignation, makes the world feel scary. We feel anger and fear. ¿Can this case be resolved? It is our opinion that it can be resolved and it should be resolved, for the peace and credibility of the Guatemalan Community. Rodrigo Rosenberg's published post mortun video creates commotion everywhere. The video, that has been seen throughout the country and the world, implicates the intervention of President Alvaro Colóm, his wife and his secretary of state in the murder of beloved businesman Khalil Musa, his daughter Marjorie and Rosenberg´s very own murder. Rosenberg was murdered while riding his bicycle on the morning of Sunday 10th, 2009. Roberto Rosenberg´s accusation is not verifiable by Guatemalaglobal.com and thus we limit our...

Today, I want to talk about the aproval of new taxes from a legislative point of view. These taxes are being created to cover "social investment" costs that have been leadered by Alvaro Colom, and have been called "Social Cohesion". On February 24, the presence of Finance Minister Juan Alberto Fuentes, the head of the Superintendency of Tax Administration, Rudy Villeda, and the president of Banco de Guatemala, Maria Antonieta de Bonilla, was announced in the the benches of the Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG), banking Guatemala (BG), Nationalist Change Union (UCN) and the Partido de Avanzada Nacional (PAN), in order to ensure their vote on new taxes. It seems they have failed to convay a good case, not being able to proove how this new investment will compensate or justify the pressure and weight this new tax law will put on Guatemala´s already challenged economy. I agree with the political parties´s skeptisism. I am not convinced that the outcome of this "S...

It was more than a year and a half ago, between august and september 2007, that I wrote an article about the Plan for Hope . The plan was the promise that took Ing. Álvaro Colom, to the presidency in January 14th, 2008. The article was published in the "Siglo XXI" Newspaper, and is proof of both the acuracy of my predictions in the last few months and a warning for the next few. This is part of what I wrote: "... The plan (The document) is 274 pages long, and seems to be structured and supported in the ´Social Democratic´ Theory. The strategic programs that are proposed are: Solidarity Governability Productivity Regionalization. (...) The enphasis made on decentralization through the empowerment of municpalities, being a key policy for the country´s sustainable development, is very positive. (...) (...) I was not confortable reading the governments stand point on free market, specially when it states the following: "Markets when posible and state when necessary...

Officient is an innovative enterprise that multiplies its advantages as it faces one of the country's most common and less understood problems in the business world of Guatemala. They are focused on two important values: Clear & Simple. Officient is specialized in recruiting for one of the countries newest growing industry: BPO Services. (Business Outsourcing Services). Greatly reducing operational costs for large firms in developed countries, and aiding highly qualified Guatemalan work force to find employment in these times of crisis. Officient stays clear and simple. Everybody knows what their role is, no confusion, no fear, no hidden or unplanned tasks, the whole office enjoys an assertive, simple and clear environment. This, believe it or not, is very rare in Latin America. Why is this so great?. Central America in general has had a long history of micromanagement. Low levels of literacy and multicultural background make it a very complex society, where most young people ...

To our readers, I thank you for your valuable support on 2008. We hope to meet you with varied opinions in 2009. What is left after 2008 A global crisis: The world is changing; Prices in fuel and commodities increased more in 2008 than in 30 years, and they also plummeted. The world´s reaction to this was to change its consumption habits and products. They preferred to live a significant change in demand. This has forced big companies to reinvent themselvs or suffer the consequences. This has also given way to many opportunities for small and medium enterprises. A bad decision in the U.S. policy in the nineties blew up in 2008, leading to the bankruptcy of several banks, including Lehman Brothers, and uncertainty in the global financial system. In Guatemala, a government of poor results: This year was marked by a very difficult economic and social situation due to insecurity, unemployment and poverty. However, the national guideline was marked by a lack of guidelines. Between ...