By Barbara Borst — Guatemala is one of the world’s most violent countries. Over the past half century, it has endured a 36-year civil war, a genocide and a huge, ongoing wave […]
Guatemala: The Quest for Justice
Guatemala: Fighting for the Future
By Barbara Borst — Justice in Guatemala faces a new challenge as a dynamic attorney general is told to step down in May. Claudia Paz y Paz sits at the center of […]
Guatemala: Digging Up the Past
By Barbara Borst — Fredy Peccerelli considers himself lucky. His family was able to leave Guatemala during its long internal conflict. He grew up mostly in New York City, planning to become […]
Guatemala: Calling on the International Community
By Barbara Borst — Guatemalans paid a terrible price for decades of conflict: 200,000 people dead or forcibly disappeared, the vast majority of them Maya civilians killed by members and allies of […]
Ghanaians gain ground on oil wealth accountability
By Barbara Borst — Sudden oil wealth sounds like a winning lottery ticket, but too often, it breeds corruption, economic dislocation and conflict. In Ghana, citizen groups began pushing for accountability soon […]
US: Is this the best way to finance elections?
By Barbara Borst — Money has swaggered through U.S. elections for decades – buying television ads, robo-calls and bumper stickers. But this year, it has been up to new tricks. The 2010 […]
Corruption vs. Free Speech: What does money do in US elections?
By Barbara Borst — Measuring the exact impact of money on voters has proved hard to do. More often the focus is on how money alters the behavior of politicians or affects […]
Ghana strives to beat the resource curse and turn oil into a blessing
By Barbara Borst — Nigeria lies less than 200 miles from Ghana along the western bulge of Africa – close enough to show Ghanaians how dangerous oil wealth can be for a […]
CIVIC IDEAS 