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2021: Net outflow over 4 years
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2023: Ex-Guatemala chief's son wins country's presidential election
On August 20, 2023, Bernardo Arevalo, a representative of the center-left Semilla movement, won the second round of presidential elections in Guatemala. The inauguration will take place on January 14, 2024. Read more here.
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2022: GDP size - $0.09 trillion
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2020: R&D costs - $48M
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2022: US is the biggest export destination
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Agriculture
2019: Average use of pesticides in agriculture
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2023: Minimum wage - $383
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2020:38% of urban population lives in slums
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2023: Poultry meat is the most consumed type of meat
Health care
2021: Maternity leave
in
2020
Duration of guaranteed paid sick leave 6 months or more
Part of the population defecates on the street
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2019: Minimum age for children to be jailed
2018: Number of prisoners per 100 thousand citizens
History
1976
1948: US scientists deliberately infect syphilis and gonorrhea of Guatemalan citizens
In 2010, US President Barack Obama deeply apologized over the phone to the President of Guatemala for the fact that in the 1940s, American scientists deliberately infected syphilis and gonorrhea of Guatemalan prisoners, mentally ill and military personnel - in order to study ways to treat sexually transmitted diseases with penicillin. As a result, about one and a half thousand people were injured - including prostitutes used in the experiment (and not knowing about it).
5 thousand years BC: The most accurate astronomical map in the ancient world
In 2023, researchers from the Russian State University of the Humanities found an explanation for a complex of mysterious cave paintings near the former capital of Guatemala - the city of Antigua.
It turned out that these images are the most accurate astronomical map in the ancient world, which was created in 5 − 6 millennium BC.
The Yu. V. Knorozov Mesoamerican Center of the Russian State Humanitarian University has been conducting research on ancient cultures in Guatemala since 2017. Russian specialists under the guidance of Professor Galina Yershova of study the history of the region, the epigraphy of the Maya Indians who once lived on these lands, rock paintings, anthropology, the history of religions and science, including archaeoastronomy (as the study of astronomical representations of ancient people is called).
One of the main areas of research is associated with the archaeological site "La Casa de Las Golondrinas," which means "House of Swallows" in Spanish. It is the largest rock art monument in Guatemala. And one of the richest complexes of cave paintings not only in this country, but throughout Latin America.
Scientists have long known that long before the beginning of our era (and before the same Maya), ancient tribes lived in these territories, which left mysterious cave paintings. In total, more than 400 images were found on a 600-meter-long site. But when Russian scientists got to work, they discovered many new drawings that had not been noticed by previous researchers.
"We have already decided that all the work has been completed, but then we analyzed one photo where I stand against the background of a sheer rock," says Galina Yershova, head of the Mesoamerican Center of the Russian State Humanitarian University. - And it turned out that when changing the spectrum of lighting, many hand prints appear on the rock. It looked like I was standing among the souls of long dead people! After that, we redesigned all of our shots to reveal hidden images.'
There were many such images (subject to erosion, and therefore practically invisible). Yershova employees developed a special method for processing photographs - it made it possible to both find new and refine already known cave paintings. In total, 14 thousand photos had to be recycled.
It turned out that the ancient inhabitants of these places were skilled artists: analysis revealed images of people and animals, as well as astronomical symbols. However, scientists did not immediately guess that these symbols were related to astronomy. As well as the fact that there is an ancient observatory.
"We noticed that there is a protruding figure on top of the rock," continues Yershova. - This is either a feathered snake, or a person, but the main thing is that she has an eye - a round hole about 10 centimeters in diameter. And through this eye, the rising Sun throws rays on the rock. There are only four positions of the Sun, and all of them are displayed on the rock by his images. "
When scientists determined that the rock figure was looking strictly east, it became clear to them that it was associated with astronomical observations. In addition, they found a cross over the images of the Sun pointing south. And it was assumed that this is the constellation of the Southern Cross. But most of the drawings remained incomprehensible, and the local population could not help in recognizing them. For example, there was a mysterious pot-bellied man with a tail that went underground.
Surprisingly, the starry sky of Donbass helped Galina Yershova to make the discovery.
"At the end of December 2022, I went to Mariupol - to establish contacts with colleagues from the local university," she says. "I went out into the street in the evening and looked at the clear starry sky, not illuminated by city lighting. I began to consider the constellations and suddenly realized that I had seen the same clusters of points on the rock in Guatemala. "
Further analysis of the photographs showed that the rock in "La Casa de las Golondrinas" depicts the Pleiades (asterism in the constellation Taurus), Orion and other constellations. And the mysterious pot-bellied man with a tail corresponds to the cluster we know as Ursa Minor with adjacent stars. The tail, obviously, pointed to the North Pole of the world.
According to Galina Yershova, the most shocking thing about this cave painting is the accuracy of the image. In addition to the North Pole of the world, the South was on the map! Moreover, it was no longer remote from the pole, but the clearly visible constellation of the Southern Cross, but the Small Magellanic cloud and several stars of the Southern Hydra, which accurately indicates the place where it was at that time. This makes the find of Russian scientists unique: there is no longer an ancient map in the world where both poles would be displayed.
"Neither the Sumerians, nor the Egyptians, nor the Indians, nor the Chinese - none of the ancient civilizations left images of the South Pole. Not because they were so stupid, but because they could not see it: from the northern hemisphere it is possible to observe it only up to 15 ° north latitude, and ancient cultures were located much to the north. European astronomers learned about the South Pole only in the 18th century, - explains Yershova. 'A 'La Casa de las Golondrinas' is at 14.5 ° N, so the ancient people who lived there had the South Pole available. And they accurately displayed it on their rock map. "
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