GUATEMALA CITY — Central America’s most populous nation, Guatemala is scarred by civil war, gang violence and poverty, its people among the streams of migrants headed for the United States. ADVERTISEMENTTroubled pastOnce a center of the Mayan civilization, Guatemala was ruled by Spain from 1524 until its independence in 1821. Spanish remains its official language, but there are also 24 native languages, all but two of Mayan origin. Guatemala’s homicide rate, among the highest in the world, was 17.3 per 100,000 in 2022, according to the UN — about three times the global average. Crime and poverty push thousands to undertake the dangerous migrant journey each to the United States, passing through Mexico.
