The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "Guatemala" ...
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Finding Fernanda
The book sheds a light on the extremely politicized landscape of Guatemala's adoption industry, a multi-million dollar trade that was highly profitable and barely regulated. In this corrupt system, children have been stolen, sold, and placed as orphans in well-intentioned Western families since international adoption began there in the 1980s. Yet the governments of Guatemala and the US proved to be unwilling to regulate the illegal baby trade.
Tags: adoption; Guatemala; baby trade
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Outsourcing Safety: Boeing Jets Repairs in El Salvador
KIRO Team 7 investigators travel to El Salvador, uncovering a series of safety lapses at a Boeing jet maintenance facility. We found unqualified $2 an hour mechanics, the use of broken parts, failures to properly connect electrical wiring inside aircraft and the hiring of a work force that had trouble reading English-only Boeing jet repair manuals. This team of reporters also uncovered the locations of where major U.S. carriers take their jets out of the country for repair (Guadalajara, Taipei, Hong Kong, El Salvador, Beijing, Mexico City and Guatemala).
Tags: Boeing; jets; broken parts; U.S. carriers
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"Chapin Narco-connection from Guatemala to New York"
Drug trafficking is on the rise in Guatemala. About "200 tons of cocaine" passes through the country annually on its way to New York. Drug-violence in the country is spreading, reaching levels comparable to that of Mexico. Authorities are only catching a small percentage of the drugs being smuggled, as well as the people who are doing the trafficking.
Tags: drug trafficking; drug violence; Jorge Paredes; cocaine; DEA; Stephen McFarland; Carlos Castresana
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"Beyond the Verdict"
After a minivan struck a school bus causing a wreck that killed four children, Olga Franco was accused of driving the van, convicted and sentenced to prison. Franco, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, maintains her innocence and says her then-boyfriend was operating the vehicle; however, he was not found in the vehicle when authorities arrived to the scene. The KMSP team investigates her claims to determine if the wrong person is in prison for the terrible tragedy.
Tags: Cottonwood MN; Olga Franco; Shakopee; Francisco Mendoza; DNA; illegal immigration
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To Catch a Baby Broker
The 18-month investigation looked into complaints about international adoption and the people who take advantage of unsuspecting, emotional adoptive parents. It focused on Guatemala's then-private adoption system, which was compared to a baby farm with allegations of fraud, extortion and baby selling.
Tags: adoption; Guatemala; baby; undercover; abduction; children; fraud; extortion
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A County Divided
The series documented the effects of an Latino immigrants to Ellijay - a small, predominantly white town in north Georgia. It specifically covers the impact immigrants have had on the workforce and local businesses.
Tags: illegal immigration; Latino; Georgia; business; Mexico; poultry; Pilgrim's Pride; Guatemala
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Cactus, Texas
"In a three-part series The Dallas Morning News and Al Dia examined Cactus, Texas: A town where three out of four residents were thought to be illegal immigrants; the slaughterhouse where they worked; and the local officials who walk a politcal tight wire with the biggest employer in town."
Tags: immigration; mexico; mexican; quiche; citizen; Swift; Guatemala
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Series on Congressman Jerry Weller
Congressman Jerry Weller (R-Ill.) is married to a foreign government official, Zury Rios Sosa, daughter of former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt. Weller is a member of a committee "whose main focus is Latin America," and "has been silent about Guatemalan problems that affect the U.S., particularly drug smuggling." The investigation also found that Weller failed to report on his congressional disclosure form the amount of beachfront property he owns in Nicaragua, putting him in "violation of house ethics rules and U.S. law."
Tags: Jerry Weller; Zury Rios Sosa; Efrain Rios Montt; Guatemala; political conflicts of interest; politicians' financial disclosure forms
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The Untouchable Narco-State: Guatemala's military defies the DEA
This investigation shows the extent of the role that the Guatemalan military plays in the country's drug trafficking industry. The author found that the military is highly involved in the drug trade, and that pressure from the US Drug Enforcement Administration is not enough to curtail their involvement.
Tags: FOIA; corruption; drugs; narcotics; DEA; cocaine; foreign relations; Guatemala; military corruption
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Children Left Behind
The reporters set out to assess the problems children in Cleveland face. They managed to uncover hazards that even the public officials and community activists who had dedicated their careers to these issues. for example, they found that half a million Ohio Children live next door to a toxic waste site. Another finding was that nearly 1 million children live in poor housing, putting them at greater risk for fires, accidents, and environmental health hazards such as lead poisoning and asthma. They also discovered that babies born to teenage mothers are much more likely to be premature, and these babies had cost the state roughly $161 million dollars in five year. Another finding was that children of color were in most danger, they account for about a quarter of all child deaths.
Tags: toxic waste; poor housing; fires; accidents; environmental health; teenage mothers; teen pregnancy; premature babies; inner-city neighborhoods; Guatemala; African American children; child deaths; Ohio Environmental Protection Agency; Planned Parenthood; Federation for Community Planning; Ohio Department of Health; lead poisoning; poor housing; asthma; Child deaths; food banks; poverty; Rocking Horse Center; birth rate; child mortality rate; hazardous waste sites; Sherwin-Williams; Benjamin Moore; Environmental Health Watch in Cleveland; pollution; youth prison; Youth Health Empowerment Project; STD's; birth control