The Constitutional Court provisionally suspended the agreement that allowed companies that currently do not have the economic capacity to comply with the payment of the Annual Bonus, to reconcile the amortization of the obligation with the employees.
The agreement of the Ministry of Labor (Mintrab) 250-2020, which was published in the Diario de Centroamérica on July 10, stipulates that in order to postpone the payment of the Bono 14, employers who are not in a position to do so due to the economic crisis resulting from the outbreak of covid-19, could make an application to the Ministry.
As a result of the operations carried out by the Superintendence of Tax Administration to stop smuggling, in recent days there have been two attacks on the customs area of Tecún Umán I, on the border between Guatemala and Mexico.
According to information provided by the Guatemalan authorities, on November 13 and 17, groups of alleged smugglers attacked the customs of Tecún Umán I in San Marcos, because in the operations deployed by the tax authority, merchandise was seized that was not declared upon entry into the country.
Arguing that the regulations contradict some articles of the Political Constitution, in Guatemala union groups brought an action against the agreement that allows companies to hire part-time personnel.
After years of discussion, on June 27th Governmental Agreement 89-2019 was published in the Official Gazette. This Agreement establishes the Regulations of Convention 175 of the International Labor Organization (ILO), which will regulate the hiring of part-time personnel in the country.
Because of the problems associated with the transmission of the results to the computer system, eleven days after the presidential elections were held in Guatemala, the manual revision of the 105,000 physical records has begun.
According to preliminary data from the presidential elections released by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), it was established that the National Unity of Hope, Sandra Torres, was the option that obtained the highest number of votes with 23.7%. Torres was followed by Alejandro Giammattei of the Vamos party with 13.9% of the vote, Edmond Mulet of the Humanist Party of Guatemala with 11.1% and Thelma Cabrera of the MLP with 10.4%.
Improving sanitary controls, reducing smuggling and accrediting laboratories for food analysis are some of the proposals made by Guatemalan businessmen to the future new government.
Two months before the General Elections, the Guatemalan Chamber of Food and Beverages (CGAB) presented its proposals to several presidential candidates, with the objective of working in different areas so that the growth of the sector goes from the current 5% to 9% in the coming years.
Because of the lack of progress in Congress and the fact that 2019 is an election year, there is a risk in Guatemala that the concession to rehabilitate and operate the Escuintla-Puerto Quetzal Highway will not be granted.
In July 2018, the Consorcio Autopistas de Guatemala was awarded the contract for the rehabilitation, maintenance and administration of the Escuintla-Puerto Quetzal highway, with toll collection.
Arguing that dumping practices exist by China and are not competing on an equal basis, businessmen from the sector in Guatemala request the intervention of the authorities.
Through a statement from the Chamber of Industry of Guatemala (CIG), explained that in recent years, China, through its improper business practices including dumping and subsidized prices, has affected local production.
In Guatemala, agricultural entrepreneurs insist that opportunities will be lost if the agreement is not signed, while industrialists propose analyzing the conditions in more detail.
The National Coffee Association believes that the Ministry of Economy has abandoned talks with the Korean government, which harms them since the Asian country is a growing market that recognizes the quality of the grain.
In the view of businessmen in Guatemala, the country has become a connection center for merchandise that is transported illegally from the Colon Free Zone, in Panama, to the Corozal Free Zone, in Belize.
Within the to and fro of contraband products moving from the south of Central America on the route to Mexico, a significant amount stays in Guatemala, where criminal structures are responsible for "marketing" these products throughout the territory.
In Guatemala, it is forecast that 25 contests will be held to acquire container ships, forklifts and platforms for the Santo Tomás de Castilla port terminal.
In the coming weeks, Empresa Portuaria Nacional Santo Tomás de Castilla (Empornac) plans to publish on the site of Guatecompras the specifications for the supply of machinery, which will total $34 million.
Industrialists are demanding that the Constitutional Court rule on the request for legal protection that was granted in favor of an environmental group and which is keeping the mine's operations in a state of paralysis.
The project has been paralyzed since an environmental organization filed an request for legal protection against the mine, arguing that the Ministry of Energy and Mines did not carry out the necessary community consultations before authorizing the licenses.
While agricultural companies in Guatemala insist on signing the agreement so as not to lose out to their competitors in the region, industrialists propose to renegote the agreement from scratch.
Each sector's position is very clear.The industrialists say that if the agreement is signed under the current conditions, some subsectors will be affected, and for that reason they want, if there is openness on the part of the Korean government, to go back to the negotiating table.
The union of Guatemalan industrialists will propose a development agenda, with the aim of improving economic conditions and recovering some of the investment lost in recent years.
The use of the Central American single invoice and declaration form will be mandatory from March 1, 2018 and not from January 1, as originally planned.
Authorities in Guatemala and Honduras have decided to postpone the mandatory use of the Central American single invoice and declaration (Fyduca) form, due to, among other things, ignorance about the use of the system on the part of some companies.
Guatemala's industrialists are demanding speed in the resolution of the case against the La Puya mine, property of Exmingua, whose operating permit was annulled a year ago by the Supreme Court of Justice.
At the end of June last year, the Supreme Court of Justice "definitively" revoked theoperating permitfor the mine La Puya, awarded to the company Progreso VII Derivatives. Now the mining union is asking the Constitutional Court to resolve the problem more quickly, consistent with and as a consequence of the ruling issued to OXEC and as a sign of equal rights and respect for the legal certainty of Guatemala.
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