Talk:Guatemala

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== == Culture == ==

The culture section of this article is weak. Guatemalan culture is similar to the culture of other Latin American countries. "Much of the clothing and food is still made in the traditional Maya way." Not true. Perhaps in scattered rural areas, but the vast majority of people in Guatemala dress in the manner of Europeans and North Americans, and they buy their clothes in clothing stores. "Food is still made in the traditional Mayan way". Meaning what, exactly? Most Guatemalans shop for their food in markets or supermarkets, and cook it up on electric stoves.

I was checking out the BBC and I have not found any reference to support the claim that 'The abundance of sites has led the BBC to name Guatemala as the first cultural destination in the world'. There are some fairly positive quotations concerning Guatemala on this page though: Guatemala BBC . I would suggest that this reference be removed unless or until it can be substantiated. Markleci 12:22, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

I just lived in Guatemala for two years and I can't believe the stuff on here. Guatemala is mostly indigenous and only in the several large cities do the majority of people wear western style clothing. There are 24 indigenous languages spoken, mostly versions of Maya. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.21.38.42 (talk • contribs)

I think perhaps most people living in urban Guatemala shop for clothes and food in market and supermarkets and maybe cook on electric or gas stoves and it is clear that once folks are working in an urban setting they no longer have time to make the traditional clothing (traje). However most Guatemalans Mayan or Ladino, live in rural areas, shop in weekly outdoor markets, cook with wood--often on open fires inside the homes. World Bank 2007 data says only 48% of the population is urban so "scattered rural" is not well applied to Guatemala. While urbanization is accelerating still the majority of the population is rural (cf US at over 80%.) I am not however restoring the text about "clothing and food" above to the main text because I don't have a citation & don't feel ready to make any major wikip. edits. Wikikd (talk) 17:39, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

Motto

Is anyone able to provide a reference showing that El País de la Eterna Primavera really is the official motto? A Google search [1] hardly yields any results. Could it ust be a catchphrase to describe the country to foreigners? Pruneau^talk 18:22, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

Try this: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=%22land+of+eternal+spring%22&btnG=Search - 24,700 results;

or this: Template:Es icon http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=%22pais+de+la+eterna+primavera%22&btnG=Search - 25,500 results. --ChaChaFut 02:29, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

Those links only show that the phrase is used, they do not prove that it is the motto. Actually, if you add the word motto or lema, the number of results falls down to 55 and 42. Furthermore, the number of hits on Google is by no means a reliable source. I was actually looking for a government page talking about the motto, or perhaps a coin or note with the motto on it, for example, but I haven't found anything. Pruneau^talk 17:50, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

"Pais de la eterna primavera" (The ever lasting spring country) motto is very popular amongst Guatemalans, not so sure in other places. I googled it in spanish an there's more than 21,000 results for it I think this should give some credibility to it.

But, the official motto used to promote Guatemala internationally, by the Guatemalan Turism Institute (INGUAT) is "Guatemala, soul of the earth".

I'd like to know what's the connotation of the motto required in this field. If it refers the motto used by Guatemalan people should be "Guatemala, the eternal spring country", but if it refers to internaltional promotion (marketing) should be "Guatemala, soul of the earth".

Cuete 05:25, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

"Guatemala, Alma de la Tierra" WTF is that?!! no one ever uses that in Guatemala, and it sounds stupid too. INGUAT uses the "Guatemala, soul of the earth" for English ONLY. Gtrojan 00:57, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

I'm not convinced that the motto of the tourism bureau is the same as the national motto. The fact that they want the world to know the country as "the soul of the world" looks like advertising, not an official motto. I can't get a clear answer on the official motto. Some sites say there is none , some say it's "Land of the Eternal Spring" , and a number say that it's "Libertad!"/"Freedom!" Maybe this is just a mistake made because "Libertad" is on the flag? If so, it's a very common mistake. I'm starting to think that there is no official motto, just several commonly used ones. Feeeshboy 07:45, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

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I'm a Guatemalan, and even that I've edited in Spanish I have no "rigths" to edit in english version (not even a username yet. It's true that Guatemala has not a Motto as for law. The one "Pais de la eterna primavera" (http://es.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Guatemala&diff=prev&oldid=19821271). I setted this. It is the motto that is used to identify my country. To answer some comments:

• Yes "Pais de la eterna primavera" (Everspring Country) is our motto.
• Maybe it proves that saying that I'm a Guatemalan living heres for all my 26 years :)
• The mottos that Inguat uses are more like slogans; "Guatemala, soul of the earth", "Guatemala country of magic and color" are two examples and yes. They are used only to promote Guatemala over the world, but those are just that, slogans.
• Those slogans are just that
• "Guatemala, Alma de la tierra" does not sound stupid!! Guatemala has a very antique religious tradition (mayan and Catholic later and today).
• The so called motto that appears in here is in a 5 cent coin (http://img1.mlapps.com/jm/img?s=MLM&f=22307755_8137.jpg&v=T), but it's just used for the national tree (Ceiba Pentandra) that for the mayans was the communication with the underworld (Xibalba) and this earth. They where so mistique that this motto is used for the tree only.
• No one thought that the motto could be "Dios Unión Libertad" that are inscripted over the Directive board at the Sessions Room of the Guatemalan Congress (http://www.congreso.gob.gt/uploadimg/fotos/n3014.jpg and http://dca.gob.gt:85/archivo/070913/NACION1PAG2.jpg). But no. That was the motto for the Centralamerican Federation.

Please!! SOMEONE CHANGE IT!! Thanks!! :) --Cancuen (talk) 06:50, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

For "Pais de la eterna primavera" I've seen English translations "Land of eternal spring" or "Land of eternal springtime" (also the variation "Maya land of eternal spring"). The question, I think, is not if the phrase is used, but if it is officially the national motto by government decree. Cheers, Infrogmation (talk) 16:48, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Independence day

Why does the independence day for Guatemala (and all Central America) is 15 september 1821? Central America was part of the New Spain and then part of the First Mexican Empire until it seceeded in 1823. Shouldn't the independence date be 1823 and from Mexico? Or in any case, shouldn't indepence be set until after the dissolution of the United Provinces of Central America, since Guatemala wasn't an independent country until then? --Alonso 19:31, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

Guatemalan independence is celebrated in September 15th (1821). The independence from Spain. In June 1st, 1823 was the date that the Federal Congress agreed to declare that Independence was from Spain, Mexico and any other territories (note still referencing Sept 15th). On March 21th 1847, Guatemala officially separtes from the Federation. Was the last country to do it. No one celebrates that we are now appart. All the countries that belonged to the federation (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica) celebrates our Independency Day on September 15th. --Cancuen (talk) 06:50, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

Vandalism Again

C'mon , at least partial lock, almost 2 minutes i saw another vandalism.

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—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Tian2992 (talk • contribs) 20:55, August 23, 2007 (UTC).

Bias

Like many of the articles on Central American countries, the History section is pure PC bull. - U.S. aid to the Guate government is emphasized, but no mention of Sandinista and Cuban aid to the guerillas, leading the reader to believe that they were a sort of spontaneous peasant uprising. - no mention of URNGs atrocities and forced conscription, as detailed in UN truth commission report. -No mention of Arbenz nationalizing private property and being surrounded by avowed communists. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3711379.Arbenz_y_yo - The contention that the U.S. backed "genocide" is pretty fringe. The genocide label itself to describe what the guatemalan military did is controversial, given that there is no evidence people were targeted because they belonged to a certain ethnic group. Menchu's account has been thoroughly discredited. See David Stoll's work. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Stoll

The narrative of the Spanish embassy presented in this article is the leftist version. There should be a reference to the locally accepted history which is that the protestors accidentally lit the fire that killed them. They were the ones that brought in the Molotov cocktails in the first place, and kidnapped the embassy workers. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ironchuck (talk • contribs) 17:30, 22 August 2009 (UTC)

Oil production

This country is also a small producer of oil. See this site: [Oil] to read about the level of production in Guatemala.Agre22 (talk) 11:01, 28 November 2009 (UTC)agre22

Consistency/Basic Standards

This article claims, "El Mirador was by far the most populated city in pre-Columbian America." There is no source given for this information. The Wikipedia article on El Mirador says it had a population of perhaps 100,000. The Wikipedia article on Tenochtitlan, the Aztec city, says it had a population of more than 200,000. The population claim for El Mirador needs proper sourcing and must be made consistent with the rest of Wikipedia.