U.S.–MEXICO FUTURES FORUM: Fleeing the Storms

Abstract: 

Futures Forum participant Stephanie Leutert explains the link between climate change and the northward migration of certain Central American populations.

In October 2017, Macario Macz Tení pulled the husks off the corn in Raxruhá, Santo Pedro Carchá, Guatemala, as several of his small children looked on. The corn crop that he had tended for months, which was meant to feed his family of eight for the next year, was ruined. Three days of torrential downpour had destroyed not just the Macz Tení family’s crops, but also those of another 40 families who lived nearby. Wiping tears from his eyes, Macario told the news outlets that had come to document the flood that he had no choice now but to go find other work in order to provide his family with something to eat.

Author: 
Stephanie Leutert
Publication date: 
August 16, 2017
Publication type: 
Berkeley Review of Latin American Studies Article