Bottlenecks · Nº 14
The Port Is the Tax
Congestion at Puerto Quetzal now functions as a nine percent duty on everything Guatemala sells. Abolishing it requires neither a treaty nor a new tax — only a crane schedule.
By E. Castellanos11 Sep 20262 min
Ships wait. As of this morning, twenty-seven vessels ride at anchor off Puerto Quetzal, and every one of them is running a meter. The invoice arrives in pieces — demurrage, detention, missed sailing windows — but it arrives, and Guatemalan industry pays it before a single quetzal of profit is booked.
The Grid
Guatemala Does Not Lack Capital. It Lacks Conductors.
The country generates electricity it cannot move. The bottleneck is not megawatts but wire.
By R. Andrade09 Sep 20261 min
Remesas
Twenty-One Billion Dollars of Homesickness
Remittances now exceed all exports combined. The diaspora is Guatemala's largest industry — and its least examined.
By M. Búcaro07 Sep 20261 min
Opinion
All essays →FX
The Quetzal Is Innocent
By M. Búcaro04 Sep 2026
Aduanas
A Customs House in Amber
By S. Piñol02 Sep 2026
Permisos
The Cost of a Signature
By R. Andrade28 Aug 2026
Data Hub
Open the Data Hub →| Export | FOB US$M · YTD | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Coffee | 1,208 | ▲ +6.2% |
| Apparel | 1,102 | ▲ +3.5% |
| Bananas | 921 | ▲ +4% |
| Sugar | 864 | ▲ +2.4% |
| Cardamom | 391 | ▼ -3.1% |
The Ledger, Mondays
Evidence, before breakfast.
One email: the week's essays and the numbers that matter, in your hands before breakfast in Guatemala City.
Knowledge Hub
Open the Knowledge Hub →Nº 1 · Apparel Manufacturing Clusters
A Few Dozen Places Dress the World
How apparel clusters compete on cost, skills, and market access — and where Guatemala stands among its regional and Asian peers.
By Guatenomics Research Desk11 Sep 202622 min
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