LatinNews Daily Report - 13 November 2012

NATURAL DISASTER | More aftershocks after massive earthquake. On 11 November an earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale struck Guatemala, four days after a 7.4 magnitude quake had hit the country – the strongest since a 1976 earthquake measuring 7.5 that killed 23,000. The earthquakes have so far caused 42 deaths - 29 in the department of San Marcos, which borders Mexico; 11 in Quetzaltenango; and one in Sololá – and left 175 people injured, according to the latest update on 12 November by the national coordinator for disaster reduction (Conred). The earthquakes serve as the first test of the capacity of the right-wing government of President Otto Pérez Molina to respond to natural disasters. He has so far declared a 30-day national state of calamity in eight departments – San Marcos, Quetzaltenango, Quiché, Huehuetenango, Sololá, Totonicapán, Suchitepéquez and Retalhuleu. He has also called on the US to halt deportations and grant Guatemala Temporary Protected Status (TPS). This is granted to countries that have suffered natural disasters or civil wars and allows undocumented migrants to remain temporarily in the US with a work permit – a benefit so far only granted to El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.

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