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• Cleary Discusses First Resolution of Criminal FCPA Case Since Enforcement Pause

  On November 10, 2025, Comunicaciones Celulares S.A. (“Comcel” d/b/a “TIGO Guatemala (“TIGO”)”), a subsidiary of Millicom International Cellular (“Millicom”), a Luxembourg company, entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (“DPA”) with the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) to resolve a criminal investigation related to conduct by employees and executives of TIGO Guatemala.  As part of the resolution,...

• About The Individuals Mentioned In The Comcel Enforcement Action

  This prior post went in-depth into the recent $118.2 million FCPA enforcement action against Comcel (doing business as TIGO Guatemala – a mobile and fixed telecommunications service provider with its principal place of business in Guatemala). There are two specific individuals mentioned in the DOJ charging documents: Acisclo Valladares Urruela (“Valladares” pictured) (a citizen of...

• Judge blocks the deportation of Guatemalan children already waiting on the tarmac to be sent back

  Judge blocks the deportation of Guatemalan children already waiting on the tarmac to be sent back Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons With migrant children waiting on tarmacs to be sent to their native Guatemala, a federal judge Sunday temporarily blocked the flights, siding with attorneys for the children who said the government was breaking laws...

• Lawsuit Filed After U.S. Embassy Presumes Innocent Man is a Gang Member and Separates Family Based on Tattoos

  A press release from the Consular Accountability Project: Lawsuit Filed After U.S. Embassy Presumes Innocent Man is a Gang Member and Separates Family Based on Tattoos Washington DC, April 29 Tuesday — The American Immigration Council and Consular Accountability Project filed a lawsuit today on behalf of a U.S. citizen whose husband was in the...

• Deportation American Style

    The Trump administration’s deportation flights are getting attention. Those on military aircraft come at high taxpayer expense — at least one flight, from El Paso, Texas, to Guatemala, “likely cost at least $4,675 per migrant,” reports Phil Stewart of Reuters. A publicly available first-class ticket was $853 at time. At least seven military flights...

• 11th Circuit Confirms International Arbitration Award in Guatemalan Hydropower Project Dispute

  Last week, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed an international arbitration award in a case involving a failed hydroelectric project in Guatemala. The project involved an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction agreement (EPC contract) to build a new hydroelectric power plant on the Ocbolay River in Guatemala. The owner terminated the EPC contract for convenience after...

• Officials find contaminated food played role in Guillain-Barré outbreak

  Consumption of poorly prepared food has been identified as a factor in a fatal Guillain-Barré outbreak in Guatemala. Findings come from the results of case control studies announced by the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance (MSPAS) and the Guatemalan Institute of Social Security (IGSS). Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a rare disorder where the...

• 3 More Leaders of Extremist Jewish Sect Convicted in 2018 Kidnappings

  In a March 27 announcement (full text), the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York said in part: Yoil Weingarten, Yakov Weingarten, and Shmiel Weingarten, leaders of Lev Tahor, an extremist Jewish sect based in Guatemala, have been found guilty of kidnapping a 12-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl and transporting the 14-year-old...

• Importer recalls pork rinds because Guatemala is not allowed to export to U.S.

  Distribuidora El Paisano Import LLC, a distributor and the importer of record located in Providence, RI, is recalling 1,715 pounds of imported ready-to-eat pork rind products they were illegally imported from Guatemala. Guatemala is ineligible to export meat products to the United States, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced...

• Florida company recalls more than 6 tons of illegally imported pork rinds

  DEKA Trading Corp., the importer of record in Miami, FL, is recalling 13,771 pounds of imported ready-to-eat pork rind products.  The products were imported from Guatemala, a country ineligible to export meat products to the United States, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today. The following products are subject...

Featured documents

• Industry Hopes Produce Importer Will Lift Border Barriers

  International produce businesses that move fruits and vegetables across borders are cheering for Del Monte Fresh Produce in its challenge to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) closure of the U.S. border to the supplier of Guatemala cantaloupes. Del Monte Fresh Produce gets cantaloupes in...

• Guatemala Now Eligible for U.S. Green Card “Lottery”

  The U.S. Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (also known as “green card lottery”) provides immigrant visas for persons from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. Applicants are subject to a computer-generated random selection process, and natives of countries that...

• BC Trial on Alleged Human Rights Violations by Canadian Mining Company in Guatemala Can Proceed

  A lawsuit brought by several Guatemalans for alleged damages suffered during a 2013 protest at the Escobal silver mine in San Rafael Las Flores has cleared a final hurdle and will now proceed to trial in British Columbia. Tahoe Resources, a BC-based mining company, had sought to have the claim...

• Sixth Circuit Preserves Extortion and Conspiracy Claims for Would-Be Parents

  On Tuesday, the Sixth Circuit revived a group of plaintiffs’ extortion and conspiracy claims under RICO related to alleged fraud in conjunction with their attempts to adopt children from Guatemala. Heinrich v. Waiting Angels Adoption Services, Inc., Case No.: 09-2470 (6th Cir. February 7, 2012) The ...

• Knox County Case Not Thought Related To Others Nearby

  4/29/2005 Knox County health officials say the hepatitis-A case at Powell High School isn’t connected to an outbreak of at least 18 other cases in surrounding counties. Officials suspect the student got the disease while on a mission trip to Guatemala. Knox County schools spokesman Russ Oaks says...

• FDA Lifts Import Alert on Guatemalan Cantaloupes

  Del Monte Fresh Produce announced Tuesday that it had reached “an amicable resolution” with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and an end to an import alert that prevented the company from shipping cantaloupes from a Guatemala farm into the United States. Cantaloupes from that farm had been...

• Supreme Court Declines Review of Decision Allowing Undocumented Workers to Recover Unpaid Wages Under FLSA

  An appeals court decision granting six undocumented workers standing to recover wages owed by their employer under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) will stand after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case on March 14. The FLSA prescribes standards for minimum wage and overtime pay and ...

• @LRToday Morning Round-Up: January 21, 2014

  Del Monte Pushes For Dismissal Of Torture Case: Nathan Hale of Law360 ($$) writes that last Friday, Fresh Del Monte Products argued that the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals should affirm the dismissal of a claim brought by union leaders claiming they were tortured in Guatemala.  In pertinent part,...

• Letter from the Editor: Epidemiology Still Rules

  Many a drive-by shooting is successful without anyone getting hit, so Del Monte Fresh Produce got to do a victory dance last week after FDA re-opened the U.S. border to cantaloupes from Asuncion Mita, Guatemala. In exchange, Del Monte Fresh Produce dropped its lawsuit  against FDA in federal court. ...

• Norwegian Cruise Line Passenger Murdered in Guatemala

  A 73-year-old cruise line tourist died after being shot by robbers in Santo Thomas de Castilla.  The Latin American Herald Tribune identified the victim as Paul Wolfgang Ritter.  There has been some confusion regarding his nationality, as different newspapers identified him as either a Dutch or...