To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the government of Guatemala on the level of violence against street children in that country.
Our embassy in Guatemala City, along with EU colleagues, regularly raises human rights issues with the Government of Guatemala. We continue to urge Guatemala to improve security and health provision for the most vulnerable sectors of society, including street children.
On 15 October the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) hosted a meeting between Guatemalan Vice President Eduardo Stein and Minister of Foreign Affairs Gert Rosenthal and several non-governmental organisations, including Christian Aid, Amnesty International and Casa Alianza.
The non-governmental organisations were able to put their concerns
directly to the delegation. Child rights and the problems faced by
street children including the alarming number of murders were
discussed. On 30 October,
FCO officials in London held a discussion forum with a number of
international child rights non-governmental organisations to identify
further opportunities for intervention.
On 25 September our Ambassador in Guatemala City, in partnership with EU ambassadors, met with Alvaro Colom (since elected as the next President of Guatemala).
They discussed a range of human rights issues. Our ambassador
emphasised the importance of improving the protection and rights of
children and undertook to develop this dialogue further with the new
administration. The FCO also sponsored a project earlier this year in
which 800 Guatemalan police officers were trained in the rights of
street children.
US based Democracy Now! ran the following reaction to recent elections:
In an upset victory, Alvaro Colom, who ran on an anti-poverty platform, beat the hard-line retired General Otto Perez Molina with close to 53 percent of the vote. We get reaction from Guatemalan American writer Francisco Goldman. His new book "The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed the Bishop?" implicates the defeated Perez Molina in the 1998 murder of beloved Guatemalan human rights activist Bishop Juan Gerardi.
Alvaro Colom "es un hombre moderado" by his own standards- here we see him getting just a little bit emotional. I came across this set of interesting photographs from Surizar on Flickr aka Jacob Solís Urízar. It's great to get more images from Guatemala other than from the usual and more conventional sources like the wire services. Thanks Jacob!
Preliminary results from Sunday's run off give the presidency to Álvaro Colom of the Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza (UNE), or National Unity of Hope, party more»
Guatemalans assess their country's political future in the wake of a general election on 9th September and await the second round of the Presidential election between Alvaro Colom from the National Unity of Hope party (UNE) and Otto Pérez Molina from the Patriot Party (PP). Here we give a flavour of the views represented in newspapers, blogs and other online media in Guatemala over the last month.
"The following factor which was very visible from the presidential election is the geographical spread of the vote. Colom obtained his victory [in the first round] from votes made by those in more socio-economic disadvantage, those living in rural areas and voters with low levels of education, along with a section of urbanites who fail to recognise a path for democracy in the military man Pérez Molina."
"In a way, members of the status quo are more comfortable with Colom because he's manageable; however Pérez Molina even though he's been known about since his involvement in the civil war in the 1980's, continues to be an unknown quantity: a military man and politician after power who, once dominated, may be manageable, all the more when he has the military under his control.
Despite this, there are divisions within those upholding the status quo. Some members of the business community are staying with Colom, but others like Multi-Inversiones [a large agro-industrial conglomerate] have already split their support. The [Juan Luis and Felipe] Bosch branch are still upset with the attack from Pérez Molina six months ago against one of their own, Carlos Vielman [ex-Interior Minister]... But the other side of the family represented by Dionisio Gutierrez [leading Guatemalan businessman and cousin of Juan Luis and Felipe Bosch] is with the PP. "
Editorial from Informe Guatemala – Fundacion DESC, edited by Edgar Gutierrez, journalist and ex-Foreign Minister, http://www.fundadesc.org/InformeG
"It was during Libre Encuentro [current affairs television programme] from yesterday evening that Anabella Giracca raised, albeit timidly, the question of the low inclusion of women and indigenous Guatemalans amongst the candidates up for election. Swiftly the gentlemen there, chaired by Dionisio Gutierrez who was happy to have the President of CACIF there on the programme, a Spanish guy who runs the political studies faculty at the Marro [Francisco Marroquin university] and Sholon Porras influenced by his participation in various right leaning governments, didn't give the subject the time of day."
"The surprising irrelevance of Rigoberta Menchú in the past election confounds the idea that racism was the basis for the rejection of her policies. Surely racism was part of it, there's no doubt, but not the most important part. Menchú lost the election totally before an electorate where indigenous Guatemalans are in the majority. What is hardest for our famous Nobel prize winner is that she's not a prophet in her land. If the elections had been in the United Nations, I bet she would have won."
"Rigoberta doesn't have a mass organisation behind her, a social movement, like Evo Morales had and has in Bolivia. She doesn't have a party structure that includes many regions in Guatemala."
"See, not everything is fine and dandy in the paradisiac lands of Guatemala. Real democracy is still over a century behind. In Guatemala, a woman could not get elected as president, just yet, although it has happened several times in Latin America (even in Central America). In Guatemala, an indigenous person could not get elected as president, just yet, although it has happened twice in the American continent with Benito Juárez and Evo Morales. In Guatemala, a person from the left could not get elected as president, just yet, even though most countries in South America and even Nicaragua in Central America have elected people from the left."
"Both Menchú [Presidential candidate for Encuentro por Guatemala (EG)] and Nineth Montenegro [leader of EG and congresswoman] attribute the failure of their participation to racism; but this hypothesis lacks any substance from the moment you look at the facts. In Quiche, Menchú only got 2.83% of the votes. En Uspantan their votes reached 2.78%. In Alta Verapaz, Sololá and Totonicapan, that like in Quiche where indigenous Guatemalans are in the majority, got 3.22%, 5.05% and 7.95% of the votes. If racism was a factor of any kind of importance, are the indigenous Guatemalans who didn't vote for Menchú racist? Another doubt that's worth mentioning is: of the sad 2.83% how many of the votes are for Menchú and how many for Montenegro."
"The election on 9th September in Guatemala demonstrated the absolute hegemony of the local oligarchy over the doings of the political parties. Financing of the parties and having their people in position such as vicepresidential candidates, the oligarchy managed to get two right wing options through to compete in the second round.
Perhaps the good thing about all this is that, at last, the agony of the mummified left is accelerated, and Menchú has just shown herself to be what she's always been: an ideological con based on playing the victim for external consumption.
These thoughts hold to a conviction that it's better to tackle the problems as they are, and not offer solutions full of false hope and self-deception. It's not possible to go any lower. We on the left have to start to get up on our feet but without international cooperation, and with the full engagement of the grass roots and to be able to represent the Guatemalan people."
"For what Rigoberta has built, it's not strange that in a country as class riven that the right would reject or use her; that in a country so racist the left would attack her; that in a country so macho her brothers would question her legitimacy and that in a country with so little conscience her sisters would envy her. Despite it all, Rigoberta returned to break the mould."
"It fell on us like a bucket of cold water, the last opinion poll in Prensa Libre [national newspaper] that projected the triumph of Otto Pérez Molina in the second round. An ignorant people and without memory gets dangerously close to the killer again thanks to indolence, cowardice and mediocrity of those who could avoid it...
The consequences of the now inevitable conflict aren't limited to electoral skirmishing, they'll become much more palpable in four more years of poisoning of an already putrid [political] environment, four more years of confrontation should Pérez Molina win an imminent return to the past and consolidation of impunity. As much as he'd like to distance himself, Pérez Molina isn't really any different from Rios Montt. He's got his hands stained with the same blood."
"[The candidates] policies are stuck in a wider policy that perpetuates the status quo of Guatemalan politics for four more years and will continue corrupting the weak Government institutions that make up the young democracy in Guatemala. For this reason no candidate is worthy of my vote and much less will I be prepared to vote for the one "that's the least worst option"."
"These weeks before the second round can also be a chance to do something innovative, never before done in Guatemala, but common in other countries: [build] a coalition government. In exchange for support one of the candidates could concede places in their cabinet to the other party and form a coalition government...
We're ready to witness whether the political parties and politicians who lead them have reached a level of maturity, where on the one hand, they all opt for a respectful and honourable campaign, while on the other, they're preparing the conditions to govern the country, and hopefully reach agreements that lead to development."
María Guerra, journalist, Este Pais (online magazine), www.este-pais.com
Francisco Goldman, author of "The Art of Political Murder, who killed the bishop?" discusses his book with Amy Goldman of Democracy Now! The book alleges that presidential candidate Otto Perez Molina was involved in the murder of Bishop Gerardi more»
DOSES, a
Guatemalan NGO concerned with journalism, has published some analysis of
election coverage in all media. The September edition of Sala
de Redacción, DOSES’s
magazine, carries the result of a study it carried out and a
poll of eighteen journalists it interviewed.
Its study was critical of the coverage of the
election, finding it to be superficial and covering a largely limited range of
issues: electoral violence, candidates’ activities and electoral logistics such
as financing. Fundamental issues which might allow voters to make an informed
choice were not really covered and how each party’s offering might match up to
the demands of sectors of the population were not addressed. Women, young
people and the indigenous, for example, seemed to be only shown as passive voters;
what their opinions and aspirations for a new government might be were never
explored. Equally, other controversial issues such as free trade, mining and other
“mega-projects” such as dams and highways did not get discussed.
The
poll of journalists indicated that editorial policy often led to small parties,
the left and social organisations not being covered, though this was dressed up
as “covering the poll leaders”. Non-television media generally seemed to make more efforts to be inclusive
though. In this respect a comment by one journalist polled that “Todos los medios son empresas y todo se mueve por
intereses” is interesting when we consider that all four TV channels in Guatemala are private and are owned by the
Mexican Ángel González. Anecdotally one hears that at the start of an election
season the leaders of the main, and best financed, parties troop off to Miami to discuss access to television coverage
with Sr G. A discussion, produced in 2001, of the state of Guatemalan media can
be found here.
While pointing out that there was
not as much overt bias as in 2003 and that there are some encouraging signs,
nevertheless the analysts at DOSES conclude that “there is a long way to go to
get equitable and inclusive coverage”.
Current results in at the TSE confirm a second round now with Colom leading Perez Molina [Resultados preliminares a las 04:36:00 (-6GMT) 2007-09-10]:
At 6pm in Guatemala
The first results of exit polls seem to confirm that there will be a second round of voting between presidential candidates Otto Perez Molina and Alvaro Colom on 4th November. As this screen grab from El Periodico taken at 6pm local time shows:
This is the front page news on Prensa Libre today with Otto Perez Molina (Partido Patriota) taking the lead over Alvaro Colom (Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza), front runner since the start of the campaign. What's also in the article is that Rigoberta Menchu (Encuentro por Guatemala has slipped to sixth with both Eduardo Suger (Centro de Acción Social) and Luis Rabbe (Frente Republicano Guatemalteco) over taking her.
There's a really interesting discussion from a Guatemalan perspective about Menchu's candidacy (in Spanish) on Rudy Giron's blog Crónicas efímeras.
It was all so different five months ago- Alvaro Colom looked like he was going to walk it. Now with less than a month out from the first round of the Guatemalan elections, it's anyone's guess. Although Otto Pérez Molina is predicted to be at least 10 percentage points off the pace in the first round, it all changes with forecasts for a second round run off between Pérez Molina and Colom. The gap narrows to just 2 percentage points- Colom is first with 41.4 per cent, followed by Pérez Molina with 39.3 per cent.
This has been reported by Angus-Reid- their source is Demoscopía/Siglo XXI. The methodology: was interviews to 1,216 Guatemalan adults, conducted from Jul. 29 to Aug. 8, 2007. Margin of error is 2.8 per cent.
A previous opinion poll published by Prensa Libre 25-07-2007 showed much the same distribution of votes for first round and second round- but incredibly- included around 40% of people polled who said they didn't know, hadn't decided, didn't want to vote for any candidate or wanted to keep their vote secret. However, in this latest poll published by Siglo XXI the don't knows, not decideds, keep secrets is only 15.3%. Are more people deciding who to vote for? Or is this just reflecting a difference in the methodology of the pollsters?
Either way it points to a potential surprise on the real polling day.
Written by Kimberley Kern This month, the national genocide case against Rios Montt and his high command had an exciting move forward.
“Plan Sofia,” is an old military document that outlines the plans for the eradication of indigenous communities in the Quiché region of Guatemala in the years 1981-82. It reveals that Ríos Montt signed the orders for the massacres of the towns of El Quetzal, Huehuetenango and Chicamán, Quiché. More than 300 died in El Quetzal, and 92 people died in Chicamán. After these documents were leaked to the public in March, Rios Montt´s lawyers filed a motion in April arguing to keep them classified so they could not be used as evidence in the case.
"The documents detailing Plan Sofia clearly illustrate an explicit chain of command, with Rios Montt at its head, through which orders of mass extermination were communicated at the height of the conflict" said Catherine Norris, an organizer with the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) in Washington D.C.
On July 16th, many co-workers and I, attended a public hearing of the genocide case, solicited by the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR). Arguments were heard from the legal representatives of the AJR and the lawyer representing the Ministry of Defense, who argued that the 25-year old documents should be kept secret for national security purposes. During the hearing, the judge asked lawyer for the Ministry of Defense, "If the acts were committed in 1982, why do they continue to be classified as state secrets?”
On July 19th, the First Court of Appeals in Guatemala denied the motion filed by Ríos Montt and said that archived military documents must be submitted as evidence in the national genocide case against him. According to the judge, the argument that “Plan Sofia” is a state secret is invalid because releasing them would not compromise the current security of the state and the crimes have already been committed.
Honestly, this news came as a shock to many of us. The level of impunity in the government and disorganization in the judicial system is a sad reality in Guatemala. There are no legal limits to appeals filed against these cases, which makes the judicial process very slow and long. But, with these documents in the hands of the prosecution, the case is more likely to be successful in the end. With this turn of events, the members of the AJR have been re-inspired to keep fighting for justice.
THE COMMUNITIES OF SAN JOSE RIO NEGRO (SJRN)
In addition to living and working in Santa Maria Tzejá (SMT), every 3-4 weeks my partner and I embark on a hike to visit survivors and witnesses of the AJR who live in five different Q’eqchi’ communities. This excursion is an incredible opportunity to observe the spectacular rolling hills and extraordinary views of the Ixcán, full of trees and miles upon miles of cornfields, set on steep slopes. The rainy season is beginning here and traveling through the mud is also always an adventure. We have the good fortune to visit and spend time with families and communities whose lives and stories are so different from SMT. For example, in contrast to living with one hundred families in SMT, these tiny villages consist of 20-30 families each.
Since the communities of SJRN have little exposure to outsiders, they have fewer resources and their homes and lifestyles are much more humble. The survivors of the SJRN massacre and their communities did not flee to Mexico during the conflict; rather they were internally displaced. Community members hid in the mountains or were resettled in model villages. The homes are smaller, the communities less organized and education is not a priority like it is in SMT. Many young men and some of the younger children who have had the opportunity to attend elementary or middle school are able to speak Spanish, but most of the women only speak the native language, Q’eqchi’. This makes them very different from the returnee communities of the Ixcán, which are often multi-lingual with many Spanish-speaking members and an acceptance of the accompaniers’ presence as a fact of the Return Accords. This language barrier has been an enormous challenge and many daily interactions between the women and me are through broken Q’eqchiand sign language…. lots of smiling and nodding as well. When I first arrived, I studied two weeks of Q’eqchi’ and have since learned more from the families that we visit. It is interesting to compare this language with the one spoken in SMT, K’iche’, because many words are the same, or similar. I feel the most out of my element when we are visiting these communities, but I have also enjoyed the opportunity to step completely out of my comfort zone and challenge myself to try to communicate. Even though I mostly receive smirks and laughter when I struggle to speak Q’eqchi’, I know that the families also really appreciate that I try. They are among the warmest people I have ever encountered.
This is a brief summery of their story:
In 1982, the victims of the massacre of San José Rio Negro (SJRN) were working and living on two farms: El Remolíno and SJRN. In March of that year, members of the Guerilla Army of the Poor (EGP) arrived on the Romolíno farm and held a meeting in which they demanded that the workers collaborate with them. After the meeting they burned the farm’s cardamom dryer as well as supplies of rice and beans, and returned to the jungle. The workers were afraid that the army would blame them for the burning of the dryer and decided to flee to another farm, San Isidro. The men boarded canoes that they found by the river without noticing that “EPG” was painted on their sides. Shortly before arriving at San Isidro, they were apprehended by soldiers on the riverbank of the SJRN farm.
The workers on the SJRN farm were peasants who were already displaced by the internal conflict and who were assured by the owner that they would be safe there. However, in 1982 guerillas arrived to warn the workers that the army was coming to massacre them. Unfortunately, many workers were under the impression that only Catholics (often suspected of being guerillas or guerilla sympathizers) would be targeted and killed. Some workers fled but most decided to stay. Later, the army arrived by helicopter and stayed for a week. On the third day they began to kill the workers they had captured from El Romolíno and SJRN.
An ex-soldier who claims to have participated in the massacre says that some people were decapitated, some shot with bullets and others chopped to death. Survivors report to have heard machine guns, bombs and screams and seen smoke coming from the site of the massacre. When family members returned after the soldiers left, they found that their houses had been completely destroyed and discovered a freshly-dug grave, encircled by vultures and women’s clothes.
COMMEMORATION OF THE MASSACRE OF SAN JOSE RIO NEGRO
“It is important to continue remembering what happened to us in the past. Every year we gather so our children will know what happened here. If we choose to forget, they will never know our history”. -Mario-
In addition to accompanying witnesses of the AJR, we also accompany and visit community members engaged in their locally organized human rights organization. ADEREMCO stands for the Association of Development of the Uprooted and Re-established Communities of the Micro-regions of Q’iche and Alta Verapaz. Formed in 1999 during the exhumations of the victims of the massacre, its mandate is to seek justice for the victims of the massacre, exhume the bodies of the victims who have not yet been found, demand reparations, seek to restore their communities social fabric damaged by the civil war and promote development and land ownership in the affected communities.
Every year, these communities gather together to commemorate and remember the family members and friends who were killed during the conflict. As in SMT and the many other communities who suffered, this is an important occasion not only to remember the dead, but to reignite the ongoing fight for justice.
Mario, a member of the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) and a resident of SMT, spoke at the ceremony which consisted of a Catholic Mass, a community dinner and a dance featuring a live marimba band. “We cannot stay silent. We are not animals. We are human beings!” He was speaking about the fact that 200,000 Mayan people were killed in a bloody war in which the heads of State at that time have still not been punished.
ELECTIONS 2007
In September, the 2007 presidential and regional elections will take place in Guatemala. It’s an interesting time to be in the country because, although some people have written off the government as corrupt and not worth their time to vote, many people are still talking about politics.
There are about 16 major political parties running in the presidential and municipal elections. Each one is differentiated by a different symbol, and when arriving at the polling stations, the symbol is what the population will actually vote for. Of course, this means that most uniformed or illiterate voters will simply check the symbol they have seen the most… which are everywhere… on posters in stores, gigantic billboards and even painted on trees and rocks along the highways.
I have recently attended several talks about the current political situation in Guatemala in relation to the upcoming elections. One conversation that keeps resurfacing in discussions, and which I find very interesting, is the question: “Who funds the political parties?”
Guatemala has a very high concentration of income and wealth in a few hands, which makes it one of the most unequal in the world. With no effective distribution mechanisms, and with low wages and low employment, the majority of Guatemala’s population lives in extreme poverty and exclusion from resources like education. This concentration of wealth has produced increasingly powerful economic groups that use their power to influence the political scene and exercise control over the State. These groups are owned and run by a few families; the two main families are Gutierrez and Bosch.
Together, these businessmen allied with foreign interests, own the 30 largest companies in Guatemala. The two front-running parties, Unidad Nacional de Esperanza (UNE), National Unity for Hope, and Partido Patriota (PP), Patriots Party, have each received around $5 million from these two families. Encuentro por Guatemala, (EG), Gathering for Guatemala, the party of Rigoberta Menchú, has also received a large sum of money from these two families. This very basic look at the financial foundation of the elections implies that no matter who wins, these parties continue to be controlled by the same big-business interests.
I hope that all of you are happy and healthy in your lives.
Peace, kimika
BECOME A HUMAN RIGHTS ACCOMPANIER
In the UK
You can find out more information here: http://www.guatemalasolidarity.org.uk
In the USA
NISGUA is one of many organizations around the world that employs accompaniment as a vital tool in the global struggle for the respect of human rights. In the Guatemalan context, accompaniment creates a non-violent response to the threats, harassment, and violence faced by survivors of Guatemala’s 36-year-long civil war and grassroots organizations working for justice and human rights. To this end, NISGUA’s Guatemala Accompaniment Project (G.A.P.) places long-term volunteer’s side-by-side with people in rural communities and with organizations in an effort to deter human rights violations. The dissuasive physical presence of accompaniers provides a measure of security and creates space for Guatemalan communities and groups to organize in defense of their rights. Accompaniers also monitor and report on the human rights situation and alert the international community to abuses.
If you yourself, or someone you know, may be interested in becoming a human rights accompanier for the AJR, please see this link for more information on the application process and details of G.A.P: http://www.nisgua.org/get_involved/join_gap/human_rights_accompanier/
The application deadline to attend the next training (October 14-21st) is August 17th.
In our continuing look at the candidates up for election in September in Guatemala, here's Rigoberta Menchú, Presidential candidate for Encuentro Por Guatemala (EPG), and her running mate as they say in the States, Luis Fernando Montenegro the Vice Presidential candidate for EPG. In this interview on Guatevision they spoke a lot about the diversity they represent and the fact that it's the first time a woman is standing for the Presidency. You can also see: [Part 2] and [Part 3] and [Guatevision's presentation of Rigoberta Menchú].
It's a far cry from the interview that Menchú did for the film 'When the Mountains Tremble' all those years ago (1983). Much has been written about who Menchú really is- as it says on her election website. I'll just say that I found it really interesting to listen to what Rigoberta's sister Anita Menchú Tum says on a podcast (second part [41]) in Mexico called "Más Allá De Las Fronteras" recorded several months before Rigoberta confirmed her candidacy. She talks about their family and their life growing up. It made me see a new side to Rigoberta that I hadn't felt as powerfully before.
As we get closer to the elections that are going to be taking place in Guatemala in September, we'll be taking a look at the information out there about the range of different candidates standing.
Here Nineth Montenegro (Encuentro Por Guatemala) explains her beliefs and formative experiences in an interview on Guatevision. She talks about her political partnership with Rigoberta Menchu (Winaq) and challenge for women in Guatemala as they stand together for elected office with Encuentro Por Guatemala.
Menchu has around 10% of the votes according to the most recent opinion polls- representing a significant growth in support since she formally confirmed her candidatura.
Welcome, Guatemala Solidarity Network (GSN) based in the United Kingdom supports the people of Guatemala who continue to struggle for change after centuries of oppression, violence, racism and exploitation.
You can keep in touch with all the news and views on Guatemala in many, many blogs and sources of information here via Pageflakes.
Mike Hancock (Portsmouth South, Liberal Democrat) | Hansard source
Meg Munn (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Foreign & Commonwealth Office) | Hansard source
