Caribbean & Central America - April 2013 (ISSN 1741-4458)

Puerto Quetzal concession: President Pérez Molina is facing resistance over a usufruct agreement, announced on 27 March, over the Puerto Quetzal (EPQ), Guatemala's largest Pacific Ocean port, with container terminal operator, Terminal de Contenedores Quetzal (TCQ), a subsidiary of Spain’s Terminal de Contenedores de Barcelona (TCB). Two of the port’s unions, Sindicato de Trabajadores de Empresa Portuaria Quetzal (STEPQ) and Sindicato de Trabajadores Organizados de la Portuaria Quetzal (STOPQ), have said that they will appeal the move before the constitutional court on the grounds that it could be damaging to the State and signifies an attempt to privatise the port. Speculation regarding the concession has been mounting for months; in August last, STEPQ went on strike after discovering that secret talks had been taking place between the government and TCQ, prompting the government to deploy 500 troops to recover control of the port.

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