New website for the campaign for Justice Nueva Linda who are seeking justice in the forced disappearance of Hector Reyes. You can find more about the case of Hector Reyes on this blog here.

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Justicia Nueva Linda: In their own words

 ¿Quien SOMOS?

El grupo campesino pro justicia en Nueva Linda es una expresión de lucha y resistencia contra la represión del Estado y la impunidad de los latifundistas, se origina por el secuestro del compañero Héctor René Reyes Pérez el día 5 de septiembre de 2003, hasta entonces administrador de la finca Nueva Linda de Retalhuleu.

En dicho acto resulta directamente involucrado el propietario de la finca, Carlos Vidal Fernández y su escolta de seguridad, quienes hasta la fecha, no solamente siguen en total libertad sino además se han incrementado los actos represivos en contra de la familia de Reyes y los campesinos que le apoyan.

¿Qué QUEREMOS?

Aspiramos la justicia y la paz para la familia de Héctor Reyes y las demás familias campesinas que le acompañan solidariamente en esta lucha, para que los autores materiales e intelectuales de la persecución, agresión, secuestro y asesinato de varios campesinos del Movimiento Pro Justicia Nueva Linda, tanto por parte de las fuerzas de seguridad del Estado, así como los terratenientes, sean juzgados y castigados con todo el peso de la Ley.

¿Qué HACEMOS?

A partir del secuestro del compañero Héctor Reyes hemos exigido justicia en todas las dependencias del Estado, sin embargo, lejos de obtenerla, hemos sido víctimas de agresiones de finqueros latifundistas en su mayoría de nacionalidad española y de la criminalización de nuestra lucha de parte del gobierno; por ello ocupamos pacíficamente la finca Nueva Linda durante varios meses, pero fuimos desalojados violentamente en dos ocasiones.

Desde el 21 de noviembre de 2004 instalamos nuestras viviendas a la orilla de la carretera, frente a la entrada principal de la finca, como medida de protesta por la falta de aplicación de justicia, habiendo sido desalojados en dos ocasiones y perseguidos por los latifundistas y la policía nacional civil. Además estamos dándole seguimiento a 4 procesos judiciales que comprenden:


Nuestra lucha se ha fortalecido gracias a la solidaridad de organizaciones nacionales e internacionales como: el Comité de Desarrollo Campesino, Bloque Anitimperialista, ACOGUATE, Collectif Guatemala y Action Rights.

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Documentary: Km207 Justicia por Nueva Linda


Part One



Part Two

Not everyday you see an English international footballer taking an interest in Guatemalan social issues. Good on Shaun Wright Phillips for supporting the work of Education for the Children, a UK charity set up in 2003.

January 31, 2008
 
OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF GUATEMALA,
THE HONORABLE ALVARO COLOM CABALLEROS
 
Dear Mr. President:
 
We, the undersigned individuals and organizations, on January 31 2008, would like to render a worthy tribute to the victims of the Spanish Embassy massacre, by working to clear their names and vowing to carry on with their just struggle for which they lost their lives.
 
As you know, January 31st has been declared International Day of Solidarity with the People of Guatemala.  This year we commemorate the 28th anniversary of the tragic events which culminated in the burning of the Spanish Embassy by members of the Guatemala security forces.
 
As a result of this act of repression, a total of 41 people perished in this Embassy and in the public events related to these acts of cowardice.  Many national and international organizations have demanded justice and punishment for those responsible.
 
Despite this, the response of successive Guatemalan governments these past 28 years has been one of concealment, allowing the perpetrators of these criminal acts to continue to enjoy protection, move with impunity across the national territory, hold public positions and even enjoy sanctuary and privileges in various countries in the region.
 
It is necessary, Mr. President, that firm and consistent steps be taken to move forward, in the spirit of the Peace Accords, and that conditions to reach a strong, authentic, and long lasting peace be created.  Full respect for human rights and the diversity of its people are necessary to enable the reconciliation of the Guatemalan people.

We believe that it is important to respond to the demands of the different organizations of the Guatemalan popular movement as well as the recommendations of the Commission for Historical Clarification.  It will also be of vital importance to fully support the work of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala.
 
We consider that your government has a historic opportunity to take effective and concrete actions for the implementation of the rule of law and the governability of the nation, and in so doing,  make real the hope of ending over half of a century of  impunity and human rights violations which have “cast shadow over” the country and which has turned it into a  refuge for those who committed genocide and a paradise for organized crime.
 
For these reasons, we request that your government:
 
First: Prosecute those who were intellectually and physically responsible for the massacre in the Spanish Embassy and the genocide in Guatemala, in accordance with national and international laws.
 
Second:  Ensure justice and respect for all the women and men who work in the construction of a tolerant, just, and dignified new Guatemala.
 
Sincerely,
 
Asociación de Estudiantes para el Bienestar Internacional, Lund, Suecia
Asociación Guatemalteca de Lund, Suecia
Asociación Guatemalteca Americana de los Angeles California -AGUA- USA
Asociación Salvadoreña Canadiense –ASALCA-
Atlantic Regional Solidarity Network – Canada
Café Justicia – Ottawa, Canada
Canada-El Salvador Action Network –CELSAN-
Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives –KAIROS-
Canadian Student Fair Trade Network
Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario Division International Solidarity Committee
Comité de Base del Frente Amplio-Uruguay "El Ceibo", Toronto, Canada
Comunidad Rutilio Grande – Toronto, Canada
Church of the Brethren Supporting Community for Guatemala Accompaniment Program, Eldora, IA, USA
Denver Justice & Peace Committee –CAMINOS- USA  
Francesca Lupo – Italia
Guatemala Community Network, (GCN) Canada
Guatemala Solidarität Österreich – Solidarity with Guatemala-Austria
Guatemalan Working Group of the Ontario Public Interest Research Group, Mcmaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
Jesuit Forum for Social Faith and Justice, Canada
Kickapoo/Guatemala Accompaniment Project, SW Wisconsin, USA  
Kitchener-Waterloo Mayan Project, Canada
Lakes Area Group Organizing in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala –LAGOS-  St Paul/Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Latin-American Canadian Solidarity Association –LACASA- Canada
London-Guatemala Solidarity Committee, Canada  
Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network, Canada
Mothers for Justice, Hamilton, Canada
Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala –NISGUA- USA
New Democratic Party (NDP) Latin-American Ethnic Committee (Ontario), Canada
No One is Illegal – Toronto, Canada
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty – OCAP – Canada
Organization of Latin American Students  -OLAS- Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada
Organización de Estudiantes para una Globalización Positiva, Lund, Suecia
Punto de Encuentro CKCU Universidad de Carleton, Ottawa, Canada
Rights Action – Canada
SALVAIDE, Canada
Shawna Greenberg,  World Literacy of Canada
Sisters of St. Joseph, Office for Systemic Justice, London, Ontario
Suzanne Rumsey, LA/C Program Coordinator, PWRDF/Anglican Church of Canada
The Social Justice Committee, Canada
Tzijolaj - Cross Cultural Communication, Ottawa, Canada
Unitarian Universalist Central America Network –UUCAN- Seattle, Washington  USA  

This is letter is attached in Spanish and English

Central America Report UK is a bi-annual magazine put together by journalists and activists working for social and economic justice in Central America. It has close ties with UK-based Central America solidarity organisations, including the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign, the Guatemala Solidarity Network and the El Salvador Network.

After many years in print, it's now online. It's hoped that this website will allow many more people to find out about, and get involved with, solidarity work in Central America and the UK.

I came across this interesting interview of a man called Abraham Ajiataz. His story reminded me of many other courageous Guatemalans I've met who've battled against the odds to get the education the deserve. Abraham now supports others to have the opportunity to do the same and have access to education. Here's more on the work of the Guatemala Friendship School Foundation:

We just received this information from our colleagues at the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign. We're cross posting it as it's a great opportunity to find out more about Fairtrade in Nicaragua:

Fair trade and community tourism study tour to Nicaragua (28 June-13 July 2008).


The trip will give you a unique opportunity to:

* Get to know the people who produce the coffee you drink every morning
* Gain an understanding of fair trade from the perspective of producers particularly women and the young people
* Learn about the coffee chain and how small producers confront the problems they face
* Enjoy the beautiful forested mountains of northern Nicaragua, where there are trails, waterfalls, rare birds, animals, and flowers
* Understand the importance of community based rural tourism as a means of diversifying the income of small scale farmers, protecting the environment and providing tourists with a unique opportunity for cultural exchange and interaction with a community.
* Learn how fair trade has empowered producers, opened up opportunities for community organisation and development and how tourism is part of that
* Use the experience to promote the Nicaraguan producers’ perspective on fair trade on your return

What will the programme include?

* Visits and talks to enable you to gain an understanding of the impact of globalisation on Nicaragua and the effects of trade injustice and global warming on small scale farmers particularly women
* A six day stay with the families of fair trade producers an opportunity to participate in the daily life of the community and a community based tourism project
* Visits to other rural development projects, part of the Sandinista government zero hunger program.
* Trips to some of Nicaragua’s historic towns and the spectacularly beautiful coast and countryside
* Other visits and talks will be organised depending on the particular interests of the group.


How much will it cost?

Ground and admin costs: £640 including UK/Nicaragua preparation and all costs in Nicaragua except insurance and airport taxes. Flight costs approximately £650. It is advisable to book as early as possible. Maximum size of group: 10

Further information: NSC, campaigns@nicaraguasc.org.uk tel: 020 7272 9619
Registered office: NSC, 129 Seven Sisters Rd, London N7 7QG
020 7272 9619   nsc@nicaraguasc.org.uk   www.nicaraguasc.org.uk

We received this press release from CUC:


You can see more photos of the occupation and protest organised by CUC and CNOC at FONTIERRAS here.

Thanks Mikkel Moldrup-Lakjer for this information. The copy of the Act that was signed by FONTIERRAS, CNOC and CUC is attached.

INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS WANTED in Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Indonesia and Nepal.

Peace Brigades International is a human rights organisation which was created in 1981. It's aim is to help create a breathing space in conflict zones so that the civilian population may organise to defend its rights without fear of reprisals and violence. PBI is an independent organisation not affiliated to any religious or political institutions.

It's recruiting International Observers to work in Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Indonesia and Nepal to protect organisations and individuals who have requested our involvement. You must be fluent in Spanish for Latin America, for Indonesian and Nepal you will have time to learn before joining the team. You must be able to make a minimum time commitment of 12 months.

The next PBI orientation weekends in the UK for potential volunteers are:

Friday         28th – 30th September 2007      London
Friday         2-4th November 2007     Peak District

The Orientation Weekend is the first step in the preparation and training of potential volunteers and provides an opportunity for those interested to explore the possibility of joining a field team.

The orientation weekend is designed as an informative and enjoyable weekend for anyone wanting to learn more about the work of PBI, both in Britain and abroad. as a general introduction to PBI’s philosophy, aims and work & explore issues such as non-violence, consensus decision-making and conflict resolution through discussions, role-plays, team exercises, workshops and games.

The weekend runs from Friday evening until Sunday afternoon and has a cost of £65 waged, £55 low-waged and £45 un-waged.

Information pack, application & booking form is on the PBI website or you can email: Lani Parker: outreach [at] peacebrigades.org.uk

We've just received the following information for our friends in the USA- we know a lot of readers of this blog are based in the USA and just wanted to do our bit to make sure the word gets out- volunteer accompaniers are needed now. You can also volunteer as accompaniers if you're based in the UK- contact us for more information.


The Guatemala Accompaniment Project (G.A.P.) of the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) is always looking for qualified candidates to be human rights accompaniers.  

Next training:  October 14-21, 2007
Application deadline:  August 17, 2007
Training will take place in San Francisco, CA

• Accompaniers act as human rights observers, providing a constant international presence to Guatemalan witnesses involved in precedent-setting genocide cases.
 
• NISGUA trains volunteers and matches them with U.S. sponsoring communities that support (financially and personally) the accompanier’s stay.

• Accompaniers share in everyday rural life, observe and report on conditions, and monitor the human rights situation.

***

Training includes the following:
• Workshops focused on anti-oppression themes and accompaniment philosophy
• Role-plays that train participants to live and work as accompaniers in rural Guatemalan communities
• Background on Guatemala and updates on the current political situation.

***
A candidate for G.A.P. should have:


Benefits include: accommodation and food in community, a small stipend, health insurance, a re-entry stipend, and a contribution toward international travel.


For more information, contact:

202-265-8713; gap@nisgua.org; www.nisgua.org
NISGUA; 1830 Connecticut Avenue, NW; Washington, DC 20009

Background

What is human rights accompaniment?

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 places long-term volunteers side-by-side with people in rural communities and with organizations in an effort to deter human rights violations.  The dissuasive physical presence of these volunteers, known as 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.  In the U.S., twelve G.A.P. Sponsoring Communities are committed to immediately responding to abuses and providing ongoing support to accompaniers.   

Why is accompaniment necessary?

In the early 1980s, the Guatemalan military swept through rural communities in a counter-insurgency campaign that uprooted more than a million people – many of whom fled to neighboring Mexico – and led to an estimated 200,000 dead and disappeared. According to the independent Historical Clarification Commission, these actions constituted acts of genocide against Guatemala’s indigenous population.

In 1993, organized groups of refugees began returning home and internally displaced groups started to come out of hiding.  Two years later, G.A.P. formed in response to requests from these returnees for trained international observers to accompany communities as they rebuilt after 36 years of violent civil war, which formally ended with the signing of peace accords in 1996.

As the returned communities grew stronger, their need for accompaniment diminished.  At the same time, more individuals and organizations began stepping forward to denounce the atrocities of the past.  In a deteriorating human rights climate, their actions, along with ongoing impunity in Guatemala, put them at a high level of risk for human rights violations.  Recognizing this, members of communities and organizations involved in such efforts requested accompaniment, and G.A.P. responded by gradually shifting our mandate to accompany them.  

Who does NISGUA accompany?

Association for Justice and Reconciliation: In 2000 and 2001, a courageous group of war survivors brought legal cases to a Guatemalan court against former military dictators Efraín Ríos Montt and Romeo Lucas García, as well as their military high commands, on charges of genocide against the indigenous population.  The witnesses in these cases formed the Association for Justice and Reconciliation and requested international accompaniment.  G.A.P. has responded to this request with accompaniers in the Ixcán, Ixil, and Rabinal regions.

Grassroots Organizations: Since the beginning of 2000, threats and direct attacks have increased against Guatemalan labor unions, indigenous groups, exhumation teams, and other organizations working for justice and human rights.  In response to this situation, NISGUA initiated its Organization Accompaniment Program.  A team based in Guatemala City responds to short-term requests for accompaniment for organizations and individuals. 

Abby Weil is currently working through a fellowship with the Advocacy Project at ADIVIMA. She's blogging about her experiences in Rabinal, Baja Verapaz. She kindly contacted us and it's great to have the opportunity to flag up the great work of the Association for the Integral Development of the Victims of the Violence in the Verapaces, Maya Achi. From their website:


ADVIMA is a non-profit organization that seeks to find solutions to the social, economic, educational, and cultural problems caused by the internal conflict. We'll continue to read Abby's blog about living and working in Rabinal with interest.

Written by Kimberly Kern

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Dear friends and family,

These last four months living in Guatemala and working as a human rights accompanier with the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) has already been an amazing experience. The relationships I have formed, with other accompaniers from around the world and especially the families of Santa Maria Tzejá (SMT) have opened my eyes and my heart. I hope that the stories, history and current political information that I send in these letters inspires y’all to action in the fight for justice, not just globally, but in your own communities where you see blatant injustice.

The Story of Marta

A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with Marta about children and childbirth. The average age for a woman to become a mother here is 15, so obviously, a 27 year-old woman with no husband or children is very strange. Nine times she has experienced the excruciating pain of giving life, but today she only has seven children. When I asked what happened to them she told me her story…one of many similar stories:

“When the army came that day in 1982, we ran for our lives though the jungle… some people had no shoes… we couldn’t see anything in the dark… the branches tore our skin… but we couldn’t stop, it was life or death so we kept moving,” she remembers.

For months and months, Marta and the group she travelled with roamed blindly through the mountains of northern Guatemala, escaping many close encounters with the army which was constantly hunting them. Most of the time, they had no idea which direction they were going.

After wandering for weeks and months, she remembers being at an encampment of people who saw the army coming and they decided to move the group, yet again. She was so weak, she couldn’t go.

“I decided that I wouldn’t walk anymore… I couldn’t walk anymore… I was starving. I sat down on the ground with my two babies and said this is where I’m going to die, me and my babies.”

She doesn’t know exactly what it was that made her lift herself up and keep moving, but she suddenly found the strength to keep going. The decision to flee to Mexico was a point of conflict among the wandering group. Many people thought the war would end soon or the army would give up searching for them. Many people suffered terribly and two of Marta’s children died in the mountains of malnutrition during those months of indecision.

Her strength to move forward, not just that day in the mountains, but her constant positive activity in her community, is an inspiration to me. She is a woman who was never given the opportunity to receive an education, so she cannot read or write. But she broke away from her expected role as a soft-spoken woman and mother and became a leader in her community. She says, “I have a lot of opinions and think they should be heard.” She is inspiring to other women in the community as well because she isn’t afraid to stand up and speak, something which she, as in indigenous woman, has worked to overcome her whole life.

Before the massacre, she was married to a man who was physically abusive and never let her get involved outside of their house. He was killed the day of the massacre and as a refugee in Mexico, Marta was introduced to a woman’s organization called Mama Maquin. From this experience, she brought back a wealth of knowledge to SMT and is a strong force in the woman’s union there. In Mexico, she also found a man who is extremely supportive of her community activity and she created a new life and a new family with him.

Rios Montt runs for Congress…again

Unfortunately Rios Montt, a man who currently has an international genocide case against him in the Spanish Courts, registered to run for the Guatemalan Congress on May 18th. This, of course, is major news here on the ground and work will continue around the national cases against Rios Montt and his military high command. If you have not signed this letter to move the case forward, please take a moment of your time and sign it here.

If you have already signed, it would be helpful to send this link to five people that you think would like to support the people who suffered terribly during a brutal civil war and are fighting for justice.

Another interesting piece of news came out in the national newspaper, “Prensa Libre,” which undeniably links Rios Montt to several massacres that took place in 1982. This link, called “Plan Sofia,” is a military document that outlines the plans for the eradication of indigenous communities in the Quiché region of Guatemala. "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.

"Since the demands for justice from survivors have yet to compel the Guatemalan judicial system to prosecute those responsible for genocide, we hope such brazen documentation of planning and responsibility for atrocities will prove impossible to ignore and bolster the survivors' case," Norris told Upside Down World. Another accompanier wrote a detailed article about this plan and the effects of this news on the case.

Consulta Comunitaria (Community Referendum)

On April 20th, a very interesting and exciting action took place here in the Ixcan region of Guatemala: a vote concerning the construction of new hydro-electric dams (namely the Xalala Dam) and the exploration and exploitation of oil by foreign interests. Since a majority of land is owned and utilized by indigenous communities in the Ixcan, a popular vote was taken to see if the people that would be most directly affected by these projects were in favor of them or not. After many information sessions and talk throughout the region, a vote was taken and 91% of the region said “NO” to the projects.

The day of the Consulta was an inspiring day for SMT. Everyone was very excited to be part of this historical process and have their voice heard. In Guatemala, the government never asks their opinion on anything, so this vote made them feel very empowered.  I felt privileged to be present as an observer.

Semana Santa (Holy Week)

Semana Santa is extremely important here in Guatemala. In SMT, the students that are usually away studying high school or college all return for this one week festival extraordinaire. At first, when everyone was talking about Semana Santa, I thought it was going to be more of a party, but with religion so deeply intertwined in the local culture, I should have known better. I went to Catholic mass more times in the last month than in the last ten years. Other than going to mass and participating in processions of the Stations of the Cross, the two main traditions here in SMT are making bread and spending a day at the river. These two traditions also mirror the traditions of the church. Bread is made early in the week to eat during the time between Good Friday and Easter (many people in the states fast during this time). On Thursday (the Last Supper), everyone goes to the Tzeja River all day with their families and cooks enormous amounts of food.

On the Tuesday of Semana Santa, I was invited to make bread with a family. The bread is prepared in small portions with unique swirls or other decorations. At 7am we stared a fire inside a huge cob oven. It is about 10 feet high with a diameter of about 6 feet. While the oven heated, we mixed large amounts of flour and sugar in a wooden box about 8 feet long. The process, as many of you know, is a long one… the dough rises and gets kneaded again and again.

At 8am we started making little balls of dough that eventually turned into little decorative creations with the help of many women. By 10am the wood had become ash and coals inside the oven which was swept to the side to keep the heat in. The bread was put on metal pans and placed into the oven for about ten minutes. From the batch, we produced about 200 portions. The smell of fresh bread is only slightly beat by the taste. While we were outside baking the bread, another family had come to mix their own batch. Only three families have cob ovens, so they are shared with the neighbors.

The tradition is to eat the bread with honey, but there is also another topping called panela which is derived from sugar cane. I prefer the honey, myself.

On Thursday, we packed three horses with pots, pans, watermelons, food and hammocks and headed to the river to relax. When we got there around 8am, we gathered firewood and started making soup which cooked slowly all day. Until then, people ate bread and watermelon, fished in the river, swam and bathed, played games, listened to music and caught up with family member’s home for the holiday. I definitely missed my family a lot during this week, seeing all the smiling, laughing families together. But I am feeling more and more comfortable in SMT and have found people I consider friends to talk to about anything. I miss you all very much and talk about home considerably more than I should. Everyone just loves to hear about Texas… which they say, “casi es Mexico”(“it’s basically Mexico.”)

Peace,
Kimika

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Background information

-Listen to Central America After The Wars - "Tale of One Village - Santa Maria Tzeja"
-Read more about the history of Santa Maria Tzeja in the book by Beatriz Manz, "Paradise in Ashes: A Guatemalan Journey of Courage, Terror and Hope", published by Berkeley 2004.

FEMICIDE – so much pain in just one little word,” says Jorge Velásquez, father of Claudina Velázquez Paíz, a 19-year-old lawstudent murdered in Guatemala in August 2005. Jorge visited Britain in May to share his experiences of the impunity still enjoyed in Guatemala by perpetrators of violence against women. It was incredibly moving to hear the courageous story of his family’s struggle to come to terms with Claudina’s brutal murder and to ensure her killers are brought to justice.

Claudina’s case was brought to prominence around the world by Amnesty International and the BBC documentary ‘Killer's Paradise’. In November 2005, the head of the Special Prosecutor's Office on Crimes against Life recognised the inadequacies of the murder investigation and reopened the case. Blood samples of five suspects were sent to Spain for DNA analysis. While this was a positive step, it is likely that critical forensic evidence has been lost because of alleged errors during the autopsy, negligent conduct at the crime scene and failure to interrogate potential witnesses. So far no significant progress has been made.

In London, Jorge spoke of how his daughter had been drawn to study law because she saw it as an important means of redressing injustice. It is a bitter irony that Claudina’s death has so effectively demonstrated how the current criminal justice system falls far short of the ideal she sought to pursue. Her father’s words brought home the humanity that so often gets lost when the fight against such human rights abuses is discussed in public. In many cases, the cloak of darkness surrounding the perpetrators and the state’s opportune inaction combine to obscure the true impact on those involved.

Jorge evoked the horror of Claudina’s death with a resolute dignity, recounting the shot to her head that ended her life and initiated the pain that has never left him. He described the contempt endured by his family at the hands of a plodding and insensitive police investigation. Officers even insisted on taking Claudina’s fingerprints during her funeral service.

Between 2001 and 2005, 2,200 women and girls were murdered in Guatemala, an average of 10 per week. Yet hardly any of the perpetrators have been brought to justice. According to police reports from 2005, the year of Claudina’s death, formal charges were presented in only 3.8 percent of these cases and only 1 percent came to trial. This poor record has convinced Jorge that the Guatemalan government cares little about the thousands of women who have been killed. With so many murders languishing in obscurity, Jorge hopes that Claudina’s death, which has attracted national and international attention, will not be seen as one terrible injustice but as representative of thousands of similarly tragic cases. He appealed for people in Britain to join him in denouncing the authorities’ failure to pursue the perpetrators.

Jorge doesn’t expect much from the crop of candidates for September’s upcoming presidential election, but believes the Guatemalan authorities cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the femicide that is causing so much pain. “I hope one day there will be politicians who truly love their country and tackle the issue of violence against women as a matter of substance.”

Send an appeal, by post or fax, to the Guatemalan authorities calling on them to ensure that the investigation into the murder of Claudina Velásquez is conducted in a coordinated, full and effective manner. Further information: www.amnesty.org.uk

James Rodriguez has just posted a really interesting photo essay of the recent events and demonstrations against mining activities in Guatemala. In James' words:

In conversation with Guillermo Chen, Director of Fundación Nueva Esperanza (Foundation New Hope). [Translated by Jorge Sanchez-Chiara]

Guillermo Chen: Fundación Nueva Esperanza initially developed with the objective of supporting young Maya Achí people and their families that were the victims of the armed conflict. We work with young people from the age of 12. The reason why the logo depicts a young man and woman is because we see gender equality as a fundamental part of our work. The logo also reflects the opportunities and hope given by Rio Negro, represented by the two green strips. The previous generation in the community was decimated by the Chixoy dam, and there's hope represented by the seed. This represents the bilingual and intercultural education provided for all young people in Rabinal.

GSN: What work is most commonly available in Rabinal?

Guillermo Chen: Sources of labour in Rabinal are all about the nature of survival. Many in Rabinal are rural labourers. Work is often informal, with many only finding paid labour for two or three days a week, earning on average 25 quetzals per day (approx £2).

Often families are surviving on 75 quetzales a week. There are other sources such as crafts and the production of woven mats and hats from palm. In Rabinal many crafts use the morro fruit. It's used to create all sorts of everyday objects such as cups, little basins or guacales to wash with and shakers or chinchines. It's also typical in Rabinal to work harvesting local produce such as hibiscus tea.

This leads me onto the huge problem of Rabinal's large migrating labour force. Many sources of labour do not generate much income, so many young people and adults are obliged to migrate as seasonal workers to the big cotton, coffee and banana plantations. Other look for work in huge factories dotted around the country. Here the pay is still low. It doesn't really allow workers to even pay for much needed medicines or medical treatment.

GSN: Where do people have to go to sell their produce?

Guillermo Chen: People from our communities are forced to walk many hours, sometimes two hours every day, and in extreme cases (in the most remote settlements in Rio Negro) for as long as seven hours to reach cities where they can sell their produce. Often buyers are able to negotiate low prices from labourers who depend on a quick sale to survive. This means that the huge effort to achieve a yield for these labourers is rarely reflected in the price they can sell their produce at.

GSN: What do you do to help people with their nutritional intake?

Guillermo Chen: The basic foodstuff of the Maya people living in Guatemala has been maize for centuries. It's used to make our staple food tortillas that we eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Even though maize is not particularly rich in vitamins, it has allowed us to survive all the hard work, against all odds, and to have hope in the future.

Fundación Nueva Esperanza provides people with information on basic nutrition, explaining the benefits of various foods and the vitamins and minerals that they contain, focusing especially on vegetables.  

We also have talks about the use of food staples and preparation of meals, and the importance of eating fruits that should be part of the basic diet of young people in Rabinal.

Fundación Nueva Esperanza seeks comprehensive solutions for local issues such as community access to food and work. Fundación Nueva Esperanza created its own intercultural and bilingual education centre that looks at spiritual issues and community work. Our aim is to provide culturally pertinent education that, instead of equipping local youth just as receivers of knowledge, equips them for life with their families and in their communities.

Studying seated in the round is a traditional way of transmiting knowledge in Maya Achi culture. Its significance lies in the fact that does not make anyone feel superior or inferior, an approach to learning that students can then replicate in their communities. Students break conventional forms of schooling based on individualism, which, far from encouraging students to support one another, reinforce each student's isolation or sense of hierarchy by placing them in rows.

GSN: How do you teach Maya Achi culture?

Guillermo Chen: We explain the Maya calendar to the students. We also explore other important concepts in Maya Achi culture such as nahuales, which have a great influence on the students lives. They also help to explain the way we all act according to the Maya universe. This is one reason why Fundación Nueva Esperanza has made the teaching of Maya spirituality a formal part of the curriculum. Young students learn the key points of the cosmovision of Maya thought, they learn about the relationship of the human being with his/her environment: as human beings we must hold nature in the utmost respect. Nature is key in Maya thought, as the relationship with it is a way of keeping a balance between positive and negative energies.

GSN: What is a nahual? Is it a spirit?

Guillermo Chen: The nahual is a way of finding out your date of birth and the fact that part of nature goes with you all your life. The nahual is an animal that protects each person from negative energies, orientating everyone and indicating the state of your character in a wider social context.

In Fundación Nueva Esperanza's curriculum there is also space for celebration. Students take part in exchange trips, especially with other young people from bilingual and intercultural education centres in and beyond Guatemala. It is not only Guatemala that has indigenous people, there are many other people across the world who have a similar cultural identity.

GSN: What about practical work?

Guillermo Chen: Fundación Nueva Esperanza is trying, as much as possible, not to depend on funds provided by international organisations. All too often those funds come to an end as donors change their priorities. As an organisation we have decided to start running projects with young people that in small ways help to generate income in their own right. For example, we're working on planting vegetables and cultivating hibiscus tea (rosa de jamaica). We're also implementing other projects, including raising cattle which allows us to sell milk to the community in Rabinal. In the future, we are thinking about planting fruit trees, which in Guatemala is typical, and other projects that grow produce that fall within our strategic plan.

GSN: How did Fundación Nueva Esperanza come to own this land?

Guillermo Chen: The land that Fundación Nueva Esperanza has come to own has a very special history behind it. It was purchased from twelve families from the Rio Negro community, who lived next to the Chixoy dam until it displaced them and many other inhabitants of Rio Negro. The construction of the dam in the 1980's dates back to the time of the massacres that occurred during the civil war. After a long struggle, some of the people who were displaced by the dam's construction received land in compensation by the state. The families sold the land to Fundación Nueva Esperanza knowing it would be used to build an education centre for the community. Now their children and grandchildren benefit from this resource. Unfortunately the land is muddy and is not incredibly fertile, so we have to work very hard to enrich it with organic fertiliser to make it productive.  

GSN: It's very interesting to look at how rapidly Fundación Nueva Esperanza has grown...

Guillermo Chen: Fundación Nueva Esperanza started in 2003 with 30 students, and now after four years we have grown to 55 students. This represents a very strong rate of growth. This is due, in no small way, to the fact that we offer scholarships. But even more important is the fact that the community of Rabinal really believe passionately in this project. There's a strong bond of trust that grown between the families and Fundación Nueva Esperanza. Our initiatives have demonstrated very positive tangible changes to the families.

GSN: Could you talk about your approach to gender equality?

Guillermo Chen: Women in the whole of Latin America have had to face a prevailing 'macho' culture that starts from the assumption that women should look after their families, cook and devote their lives to bringing children into the world. In Fundación Nueva Esperanza we have a differente view. We have a gender equality programme with parents, teachers and students in order to maximise the girls' educational prospects.

It is a key policy of ours to encourage access to scholarships for girls. For example, if we promote 40 scholarships, we ensure an equal number go to girls and boys. This is a very practical way of tackling the exclusion of women from education in Guatemala. We believe that exclusion in education can lead to other problems, such as early marriage of girls aged as young as 13 or 14. This phenomenon is not a matter of Maya tradition, as it is all too often understood. It is actually the result of poverty of many large Maya families. The sooner girls in the family are married, the less strain is placed on often stretched family resources.

For Fundación Nueva Esperanza working with parents is essential. Mothers in particular tell us that they do not want their daughters to go through the same difficulties they suffered. Guatemalan mothers are very proactive in supporting their daughters to access education. They often know firsthand the suffering that's involved in being an illiterate mother. Typically life is full working hard in the fields, and also having to cook and look after their families. Once you speak to parents, it's clear they're more and more reluctant to allow their daughters to work without an education.

GSN: What vision does Fundación Nueva Esperanza have for the future?

Guillermo Chen: Our vision is ambitious. We are currently working with children from secondary school level (12-15 years old). However, we aim to extend our education service provision service in Rabinal. We are planning, probably this year or next, to teach health professionals which would allow young people to graduate with a professional qualification at the age of 18. But our vision goes further.  

We are also exploring the possibility of establishing a Maya Achí University, which would be able to offer an education grounded in Maya Achi principles for  young people from the age of 12 until graduation. We are thinking of undergraduate courses in subjects such as maya spirituality, natural, traditional and modern medicine. Our plan is to open the university by 2010. This is our hope but we believe it really is realistic. We have put a lot of work in developing our educational resources and there is an awful lot of support in the local community to bring this about.

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If you would like to support Fundación Nueva Esperanza either by donating money or your own time contact GSN via gsn_mail [at] yahoo.com

Background

You can find out more information about Fundación Nueva Esperanza from their website
We also blogged about Guillermo Chen's visit to the UK back in December 2006 here
You can find more information and articles about Rabinal here...

This salsa evening Saturday 5th May at 8pm in Theatr Clwyd organised by the Clwyd Latin America Human Rights Group is to raise funds for the Movimiento Nacional por los Derechos Humanos (MNDH) in Guatemala. In February the MNDH suffered a number of intimidations reported by Amnesty International, including a break in at their offices (picture below).

If you`re interested in finding out more information about this fundraiser event, you can phone 01352 740 642 or 01244 531 702.

Post by Jordan Buckley

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Hello Friends, Family and Allies,

This is my next-to-last report from Guatemala about accompanying witnesses in the national genocide case.

Since my last bi-monthly dispatch, activists with whom we work have been threatened, followed home, received alarming anonymous phone calls, had their offices raided and one organizer was even briefly kidnapped. Perhaps because the Ixil - the region where I live - has become the main focus of the genocide case, we have also had our share of local intimidations in the last weeks (see further down).

A GLIMPSE OF GENOCIDE: PLAYING SOCCER, BUT NOT WITH MY PEERS

Recently, friends in Ilom - the resplendent highlands village believed by the Ixil Maya to be the birthplace of their people – invited me to join their soccer team Sociedad Juvenil (Juvenile Society) in a regional tournament about an hour and a half hike away. (I’ve played off-and-on with them for the last 8 months).

While I certainly prefer our squad’s name to that of Ilom’s other team, Los Chiqueros (The Pig Sty Boys), I have always been intrigued by their choice; we range broadly in ages – mostly either teens or late twenties and up - and I often joke with my friend Mu’s that since he’s already a grandfather and pushing 40, perhaps they should contemplate renaming the crew.

As our tiresome, uphill trek to the soccer match snaked past the Santa Delfina plantation, my pal Chato broke the silence by shyly pointing out that he was born there. Chato will soon share something in common with me that is truly rare among Ilom residents, a community of some 450 families: he will be 25 years old.

Last Friday not only marked the 25th anniversary of the military coup that put Efraìn Rìos Montt - the deadliest dictator in Latin America’s modern times – into power. It also marked a short quarter-century since the Guatemalan army rounded up 96 of Ilom`s men into the plaza and gorily ended their lives. The army then set fire to the entire village (as they would do to at least another 625 Mayan villages before their genocidal campaign ended), forcing survivors to flee to nearby Santa Delfina.

In an interview (see link below), Antonio Caba - president of the Association for Justice and Reconciliation, the coalition of witnesses that we accompany – related that refugees from Ilom were virtually enslaved on the Santa Delfina plantation following the massacre of March 23, 1982, and, given the extreme circumstances, children that had fled from Ilom died there on the plantation, every day for months and months.

Chato, our midfielder for Sociedad Juvenil, was one of the lucky ones.

A LITTLE BOMB NAMED SOFÌA

Sunday before last, a shocking three-page cover story in Guatemala’s leading daily newspaper directly linked Ríos Montt to massacres perpetrated in the Ixil region during 1982 and 1983! The article reports that in August the Attorney General acquired a copy of secret military documents outlining Plan Sofìa - an extensive army campaign ordered by then president and commander-in-chief Rios Montt against "subversives" in the area - but he has still refused to formally initiate the genocide case proceedings.

In February, I had the opportunity to switch spots with another accompanier and visit 5 villages in a different area of the Ixil. Apparently while I was visiting witnesses in those communities, Guatemala’s Minister of Defense was claiming to the presiding judge in the genocide case that Plan Sofia does not exist. However, the exposé article from March 18 asserts that not only does Plan Sofìa exist, two of the communities I had been accompanying were likely massacred as a result of Plan Sofia in the summer of 1982.

RÌOS MONTT’S ESCAPE ROUTE: CONGRESS

The next five weeks will determine if Ríos Montt - who ruled over the estimated murder of 70,000 predominantly Mayan people - will evade justice for at least another four years (or feasibly forever, given that he is 81 years old).

If Ríos Montt is able to register as a candidate on May 3 for this year’s congressional elections, his possible win will provide him parliamentary immunity from prosecution. However, if the Attorney General takes an initial declaration from Ríos Montt regarding the accusations cited against him in the genocide case, it would disqualify his candidacy.

Accordingly, please e-mail the Attorney General to urge him to move the case along!

If only half of you reading this e-mail were to devote the 10 seconds required to click a box to send him an e-mail, the Attorney General would have to wade through some 150 e-mails from foreigners upset with his stalling on the
genocide case.

LOCAL INTIMIDATIONS IN THE IXIL

Last month, my accompaniment partner received a phone call from an unknown person who creepily asked her how she was doing, and, when asked to identify himself, only told her that he was "a man." She hung up. The Caller ID indicated that another fellow accompanier had called her but we knew that he was in a village where there is no service. He later confirmed that, of course, he had not called her, signifying that someone seems to be showing us that they are watching us and able to infiltrate the phone system.

Twice since December, unidentified men have approached my accompaniment partner and me and, without a word, taken our picture on a digital camera, then quickly walked off. And just a few weeks ago, as fellow accompaniers and I met up in a public park (as arranged by phone), a woman maybe 50 meters away stood quietly filming us for minutes on end until we confronted her.

This is by no means all of the suspicious behavior or incidents we’ve been encountering recently, just a sampling to provide some idea.

PRESIDENT BUSH IN GUATEMALA: HE KILLS ?

Lastly, President Bush came to Guatemala a few weeks ago. While he managed to devote a large chunk of time pitching neo-liberal reforms to Guatemalan officials, and other measures that would benefit the U.S. economy, it appears he never once mentioned the recent, unpunished state-led military campaign which claimed upwards of 200,000 lives.

(Makes one wonder what consequences might have sprung from Bush having expressed even one sentence’s worth of concern over the absence of prosecution for the bloodiest genocide in our hemisphere’s recent history.)

After the Guatemalan government strong-armed Bush’s way into Iximchè - a sacred site to indigenous Kaqchikel people - to entertain him for the day (despite the massive protests of local community members kept behind the Secret Service and police blockades), Mayan priests returned en masse, performing rituals to cleanse the area of the evil spirits they say Bush brought in.

Many expressed pain and anger over Bush - a man whose war in Iraq has resulted in a staggering number of innocent deaths (the British government recently conceded that a study pegging the death toll around 655,000 is credible) - desecrating such a special, holy place to them, and their powerlessness, in the face of state repression, to prevent it.

It might be worth observing that the word for "bush" in Spanish is "mata," which curiously also translates as "he kills" or functions as the command form of the order "to kill."

HOMEWARD BOUND

In 7 weeks I will be back home in Austin. Many thanks again for all the support you all have provided me during my time here – from e-mails to music to homemade cookies to literature to money to art and so on. You have enabled me to feel a sustained sense of loving community despite living tucked away in the western highlands of Guatemala, and I really appreciate that.

Again, if you haven’t already, please send an e-mail to the Attorney General calling on him to let the survivors testify, thereby also preventing Ríos Montt from retaking Congress.

With love and solidarity,

Jordan

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New articles detailing the battle against impunity for genocide in Guatemala:

A Dictator’s Reprise in Guatemala, The Daily Texan (by me)

Guatemala’s Anti-Genocide Activists Under Threat (by Elias Lawless)

The Maya Survivors vs Los Genocidios: interview with Antonio of the AJR (by E.Lawless)

We just received the following press release about the new English translation of Oswaldo Salazar's book "Por el lado Oscuro". Salazar was recently in London to take part in launches of the book that included an event in Canning House and then the Instituto Cervantes. Having read the book - it is certainly a compelling read. And pre-revolutionary Guatemala is certainly an interesting time to look at.

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Guatemala has a new master of narrative in the form of Oswaldo Salazar, whose compelling first novel From the Darkness is one of the few works of Central American literature to explore the region's criminal history.

In From the Darkness - the English translation of the prize-winning Por el lado oscuro - Salazar explores the bitterly unhappy circumstances that can make a woman kill, and the unforgiving quality of male justice.

From the Darkness is a captivating story of a murder and the ensuing investigation that became known as "The Gourd Poisoning" in a traditional society unprepared for a crime that lay outside its powers of reasoning. It begins in the spring of 1939 when a man dies in agony at the San Juan de Dios de Amatitlán Hospital outside Guatemala City. His wife and children are accused of poisoning him, shattering the calm of a land kept in fearful order by the cold and tempestuous dictator General Jorge Ubico (1931-44).

Salazar's work touches a raw Latin nerve, giving the reader a unique insight into lost Central American worlds: that of the Guatemalan peasant woman - ignored, abused and constantly judged by her unforgiving male superiors; that of the small, rural Latin American town, where a handful of strongmen oversee all life; and that of the era of military caudillos, dictators whose quest for order and progress shapes all official culture.

The winner of the prestigious 2003 Mario Monteforte Toledo Prize, Por el lado oscuro was translated by Gavin O'Toole and will be published by Aflame Books in March 2007.

The Mexican writer Carlos Montemayor said of this book: "Por el lado oscuro has a magnificent narrative quality, exposition and style as well as a forceful central character, delivering the unexpected features of a species of crime novel within a work of historical reconstruction."

Oswaldo Salazar was born in Guatemala City in 1959 and has had a distinguished academic career. He took his first degree in philosophy and literature at Rafael Landívar University in Guatemala then studied as a Fulbright Scholar at Boston College in the United States. He currently teaches at Guatemala's Francisco Marroquín University.

Aflame Books is a small, independent UK publisher committed to publishing in English translation works from Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.

Democracy Now! interviewed veteran anti-sweatshop activist Charles Kernaghan of the National Labor Committee about the report they've recently produced on the conditions at the Legumex factory. It is titled "Harvest of Shame."

According to the NLC though Legumex may have turned the corner. You can see various video testimony of child labour by the NLC on a recent trip to Guatemala.

Democracy Now! also interviewed a Guatemalan migrant worker and featured another report looking at the abuses under the Guestworker programme. Mary Bauer explained the report to Democracy Now!'s Juan Gonzalez. Mary is director of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Immigrant Justice Project. She is author of the new report "Close to Slavery: Guestworker Programs in the United States."

Here's recent news via Casa Alianza UK from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Street Children:


Background

You can read a full report on the meeting on Casa Alianza UK's website. There's also more background information here from the Consortium for Street Children.

There's an interesting 15 minute interview with Dawn Paley on the Rabble Podcast Network reporting on the violent evictions that took place on land controversially owned by Canadian mining company Skye Resources. The interview gives a good overview of the current situation in Izabal, Guatemala at present.

In a recent open letter (posted on Upside Down World) to Ian Austin, Skye Resources CEO, Dawn Paley made the following two points:


As yet no response has been posted on the Skye Resources website to these latest open letters from Dawn Paley and Victoria Henderson.

Background

Dawn Paley, an independent journalist was in Izabal, with the photographer James Rodriguez and film maker Steven Schnoor during the forced evictions in early January. You can read more on Dawn's blog 'Reporter Zero', James' blog 'Mi Mundo' and watch Steven Schnoor's video of the evictions.

Cerigua have just (22-02-07) posted a report: "Campesinos/tierras: Narran historia de desalojo"


You can find other related links on the mining issue in Guatemala here. Mining is an issue that we've covered on a regular basis on this blog.

We've just received this news about the decision by Concepción Tutuapa, San Marcos, to deny the granting of a license for exploration with a view to developing a mine for metals in the area:


The Comité Medio Ambiente of the municipality of Concepción Tutuapa, San Marcos, put together the following press release:

Living and writing now in London, I guess I'm more keenly aware than ever that when you mention Guatemala here to my fellow Londinenses, the image they hold is either one of dazzling touristic colour or of chilling darkness*. In short, the image of Guatemala here in the UK is too simplistic. Guatemala's portrayal by the media is generally to shock or to enchant. And that, all too often leaves too little room for the real Guatemala to shine through and reach us outsiders so far removed from the Guatemalan reality.

When I stumbled upon this article in Albedrio, 'Un documental sobre Guatemala nominado al Oscar', I was struck by how rarely this issue of how Guatemala is portrayed abroad is discussed by us outsiders. This article was part of a call to action by the Frente Nacional de Lucha por la Defensa de los Servicios Públicos y los Recursos Naturales. It remarks on the fact that many films (La Hija del Puma, El Silencio de Neto, Las Estrellas de la Línea, Las Cruces, Poblado Próximo and Vida Reciclada) that have had a certain amount of critical success outside of Guatemala, share one thing in common: their exposure of the sad, tragic and bitter side of Guatemala.

There was one line in particular though that took me back to an experience I had several years ago during a presentation about Guatemala I was part of in Paris.

Those words, 'brillamos afuera por nuestras desgracias adentro' ('we shine abroad as a result of our misfortune at home'), took me straight back in time to a moment of insight into this issue. The team I was part of that worked in Guatemala had been asked to do a presentation of our work (in the field of education) in Guatemala at an international conference in Paris. In particular, we'd been asked to explain and introduce the Guatemalan context of that work.

My colleagues were a mixture of Guatemalans and Europeans and as soon as we'd embarked on writing this presentation we realised what different approaches we had. What I found hard to understand was the reluctance on the part of my Guatemalan colleagues to enter into any detail about the civil conflict. The plight of many of the families we worked with to gain access to education had in some way been affected by the civil conflict, and rooted in my outsiders' logic it seemed imperative to explain this link in our presentation. My Guatemalan colleagues disagreed and thought that the civil war did not need to be explained in any depth.

It wasn't until the day of the presentation in Paris that I finally understood. When the talk turned to the reasons why some families found themselves excluded from the world of education, my Guatemalan colleague slowed. As she spoke the carefully thought out words that explained the legacy of those days of violence and insecurity, her whole manner changed, her voice slowed and became charged the emotion. The room hang on every word my colleague said. But the most important thing I learnt that day was that when it comes to the rawest of human experiences, the power and the importance is not in what you say, it is in what you don't say.

Sometimes so raw is the experience, so dramatic the misfortune, so grave the injustice that it can blind the outsider to the actual people who've had the experience, misfortune and injustice happen to them. We see only the misfortune, not the people living with the misfortune.

This brings me back to the simplistic image many of us outsiders have of Guatemala. If we want to break this bi-focal vision of Guatemala (of shock or enchantment) on the outside, it's time that we understood that silence is not always a space to be filled- it's a space that, given a chance to grow, can develop our mutual respect and understanding.

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Examples

To demonstrate this bi-focal vision of Guatemala- it's sufficient to do a Google Image search to find the 'enchanting'. While for the images offering 'shock', the photo on feminicide by Argentinian, Walter Astrada, that's just won first prize in 'Contemporary Issues' in this year's World Press Photo competition is a good example.

This is a massive topic and will surely be an expanding post of the coming days. It's that topic of globalisation- that phenomenon that means someone in London can write about Guatemala and be read by people in Singapore, etc. When reports surfaced in January of a sharp rise in the price of maize in Guatemala, some were connecting this to the increase in ethanol production in the US.

El Siglo XXI wrote on (11-01-2007):


Inforpress also picked up on the story about, "the rising grain prices resulting from America's growing appetite for ethanol as an alternative to fossil fuel. Of course, this was a massive story across the border in Mexico where, exacerbated by a lack of a competitive domestic market in maize products, prices in corn rose steeply. The price of tortillas rose by nearly a third in three weeks".
But how has this price rise happened in Guatemala? And how do things bode for the future? Well, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's Food Outlook:
















The recent trend is for the price of maize to rise. And what does the FAO put this down to?

The FAO continues:


This story of the rising price of Guatemala's most important foodstuff, kept coming back to oil. Oil before food, surely not?

The Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) summarised the situation as follows: "The price of white maize is increasing due to the international price increase of yellow maize caused by the increased demand for the grain for ethanol production in the U.S.A.  It is expected that this increase will be for a limited time, and that prices for February and March national harvests will be lower." They conclude that generally the food security situation in the short term remains stable.

But what's the context here? According to a recent report on the maize problem in Guatemala, Propuesta para la Reactivación de la Cadena Agroalimentaria del Maíz Blanco y Amarillo by Mario Roberto Fuentes López, Jacob van Etten, José Luis Vivero Pol and Álvaro Ortega Aparicio, the situation is critical. Maize production in Guatemala is increasing but demand has steadily outstripped demand in the last decade and a half- a gap which has been bridged increasingly by importing maize from abroad (particularly from the US). 

For some this policy of importation threatens Guatemala's ability to produce the food it requires so that none go hungry and go back to being self-sufficient as it was in the 1970s. Less reliance on imports would take the pressure off to devalue and cushion Guatemalans (remember we're talking about a vital foodstuff) from the vagaries of the global markets subject to speculation.

It's also impossible to ignore the fact that a huge amount of Guatemalans produce maize for their own consumption. So while maize production only comes in as 1% of Guatemala's GDP, economists tempted to belittle maize's economic importance should also consider the social significance of the statistic that two thirds of the agricultural land in Guatemala is used for maize production. As Susana Gauster of CONGECOOP, puts it we should be:


Gauster makes the point that this trend to use more and more maize in the production of ethanol is putting pressure on food prices in countries like Guatemala. But what has this got to do with chickens? Well, this brings us to the supporters of maize importation in Guatemala. Who are they? Amongst others they are pork and particularly chicken producers who depend on a ready supply of yellow maize (they can't use white maize as it lacks the necessary carotenoides). For these producers it's more convenient to import yellow maize- it's a stable supply so why bother in investing in boosting a comparitively riskier domestic supply?

When the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that it would donate 18,000 metric tons of yellow corn to the Guatemalan Government in September 2006, this dumping undoubtedly favoured the chicken producers of Guatemala. According to Susana Gauster:


Politically it's easy to see why a unified enormously powerful chicken producer has more influence over the Guatemalan Government than the unorganised small and numerous maize sector. This lack of sectoral organisation for maize producers is in no small way down to the bitter civil war fought in many of the high maize producing areas of Guatemala.

This is of course an incredibly complex situation- way beyond this short post. But the challenge for Guatemala is to start investing in its many domestic producers of maize. With CAFTA-DR gradually lowering the barrier to imports over the next nine years- this investment imperative will only become more and more vital.

We've just received the following sad news from the Latin America Bureau:

Post by Victoria L. Henderson

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Ian Austin, President and CEO
Skye Resources
Suite 1203-700 West Pender Street
Vancouver, BC
Canada, V6C 1G8

25 January 2007

Dear Mr. Austin,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my letter of 28 September 2006 regarding the activities of Skye Resources/CGN in El Estor, Guatemala. I appreciate your attempt to address my concerns and trust that you share my belief that Q'eqchi Maya peoples in El Estor deserve a reasonable and just resolution to the issues at hand.

When I visited Chichipate last August, community elders spent several hours explaining to me and my colleagues why they are opposed to your company's plans to mine in El Estor. The list runs long and includes not only concerns over property rights and environmental damage, but also fears about a resurgence of the deplorable violence that marked Canada's last mining experiment in the region. I refer here to the complicity of INCO/EXMIBAL in human rights abuses carried out during the 1970s and 1980s. As I am sure you are aware, Guatemala's Comisión de Esclarecimiento Histórico or Truth Commission has documented EXMIBAL's involvement in abductions, political killings, and multiple executions in Guatemala. Given that EXMIBAL was a majority owned subsidiary of INCO and that INCO is a key stakeholder in Skye Resources it is not difficult to understand why Q'eqchi peoples are concerned. The active participation of CGN employees in the most recent spate of land evictions in El Estor can only deepen this fear.

Having spoken with colleagues returning from El Estor and having watched video footage of the "squatter" displacement, I must question your company's description of the evictions as unfolding in a "peaceful atmosphere". It would seem to me that there could be few things less peaceful than having one's home torn down — or worse, burned down — by callous strangers, while a barrage of armed police officers watch on from the sidelines. The angry screams of a mother desperate to know where her now homeless children will sleep; the hopelessness of a man who can do nothing but bury his head in his hands and sob: these images provide a less than fitting testament to the "peaceful atmosphere" of which you speak. If you have not already seen video footage of the evictions, I encourage you to view it by visiting the following site.

The absence of gunfire should not be confused with peace. At its most basic level, peace requires the security of self and home — two things Maya peoples in Guatemala have historically and systematically been denied. In the interest of both corporate transparency and personal integrity, I respectfully request that you rescind your comments about the "peaceful atmosphere" of the evictions. Further, in place of using your company website to give thanks to the Guatemalan National Police for the "professional manner" in which it carried out the evictions, I urge you to join the international community and indigenous organizations such as CONIC (National Campesino and Indigenous Coordination) in demanding that the Guatemalan government make reasonable and just reparations to the affected communities. Despite your website's statement to the contrary, the situation in El Estor has in no way been "resolved".

Resolution in this case requires that outstanding issues be addressed. I ask for your consideration of the following six points of discussion, raised in your letter of 9 October 2006:

1 - WOOD COLLECTION
You have indicated that Skye/CGN allows those with "legal permits" to transport wood through company property. I would like to take you up on the offer of learning more about how this program works. As you know, I was told by the elders of several communities that Skye/CGN prohibits wood collection from traditional Q'eqchi lands. If nothing more than a formality separates indigenous communities in El Estor from collecting the wood they need, then this issue should be relatively easy to resolve.

2 - PROPERTY RIGHTS
According to your website, Skye Resources has entered into an agreement with the Guatemalan government to survey and document land holdings in El Estor in order to determine "exact property lines and tenure." This strikes me as a serious conflict of interest on the part of Skye Resources. Further, it sends a combative message to indigenous peoples whose lands are in dispute. Not only should Skye Resources remove itself fully from the surveying process, but it should also cease exploratory activity until such time as "exact" property lines and tenure have been determined.

3 - LAND "DONATION"
I was told by the CGN Community Relations Team that "we" (meaning Skye/CGN) donated lands to Chichipate. I accept that you are not claiming credit for such a gift and that you are not prepared to comment on any land transactions that might have occurred during the INCO/EXMIBAL operation. Given that INCO is a key stakeholder in your company, however, I would ask your assistance in directing me to an appropriate contact at INCO in order that I may follow up on the land "donation" to Chichipate.

4 - RAXCHE'
It would be difficult to argue with the vision of Raxche' that you outline in your letter. Improvements to the health and education of those living in the municipality of El Estor are of paramount concern. The problem, as I understand it from speaking with Q'eqchi elders, is that there is a significant breach between the Raxche' vision and the Raxche' reality. If there is one issue on which members of different local communities seem to agree, it is that Raxche' is dividing indigenous people in the region. One hopes that this is not what Skye/CGN intended and that you will investigate in order to determine why this view seems so widely held. Your letter states that Raxche' has five projects in Chichipate. Aside from painting the local basketball courts, which community elders acknowledge, I would appreciate if you could describe the nature of the other four Raxche' projects in Chichipate.

5 - MAYA COSMOVISION
I respectfully submit that your understanding of Maya cosmovisión fails to appreciate the deep spirituality that links Maya peoples to the Earth. I have visited Cerro 400 and you are correct in stating that, had I not been told, I would never have known that the area had been mined and reforested. I, however, am not Maya. The idea that the earth can be gutted and covered over "as if nothing had happened" is wholly inconsistent with Maya cosmovisión. Pointing out how "natural" a site may look after it has been mined is to confound the deeply spiritual with the highly superficial. Moreover, it is to disrespect the history of Maya peoples. As one Q'eqchi gentleman explained at a public meeting on mining held this summer in El Estor: "They (foreigners) come and bulldoze our land. It hurts us a lot, because we have dedicated many hours and much sweat in working that land." I understand that you have a job to do, Mr. Austin. However, I urge you, in carrying out your job, to remember this gentleman's words. He was speaking as much to you as he was to me and to the others in El Estor.

6 - "COURTESY VISITS"
You have noted that it is the policy of the CGN Community Relations Team to pay "courtesy visits" to communities in the municipality of El Estor. It seems to me, however, that it is the communities themselves that extend the true courtesy by allowing foreigners onto community property and by consenting to dialogue about a project that threatens both a way of life and a means of survival.

In conclusion, let me say again that I appreciate your having taken the time to address my original letter. Your last correspondence indicates that Skye Resources seeks "to learn how to improve (its) consultation processes and to better understand how (it) is perceived" in Guatemala. To that end, it is my sincere hope that you take the opportunity to reflect on issues presented above; that you address each of the six points of discussion; that you rescind your comments on the "peaceful atmosphere" of the recent land evictions; and that you join those who demand that the Guatemalan government make reasonable and just reparations to the affected communities in El Estor.

I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Victoria L. Henderson
MA Candidate
Department of Geography
Queen's University
Mackintosh-Corry Hall, D324
Kingston, ON (Canada)
K7L 3N6

Tel: +001 613 533 6000, x 75936
Fax: +001 866 876 8348
Email: 2dtvh [at] qlink.queensu.ca

PLEASE NOTE:

In fairness to both Mr. Austin and myself I would like to encourage those interested in this case to review my initial letter of 28 September 2006 and Mr. Austin's response of 9 October 2006, both of which Mr. Austin has posted to the Skye Resources website

It's great to see and read Suttonhoo's (Dayna Bateman) blog on Guatemala (amongst many other things). It's a great compliment to the photos that she takes. I've been a fan of her photos on Flickr for a good while which are always incredibly informative and deliciously subtle. It's the kind of photography with depth that tells you more about the subject, than the camera if you get what I mean. The photographical artefacts that Suttonhoo uncovers get across a side and quality to Guatemala that is relatively rarely upped on Flickr. But hey, you don't have to take it from me- just take a look and see for yourself :-)

Post by Jordan Buckley

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Hello friends, families and allies,

This is my third update from Guatemala: I am working as a human rights accompanier with the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR), a coalition of Maya genocide survivors organizing to charge ex-military and political leaders for the state-led violence that wiped out more than 200,000, largely indigenous, people in the 1980s.

A few weeks ago, a boy who lived near us in Ilom suddenly passed away one morning. His mother and neighbors calmly explained that he had died of sadness. His father had left the day before to the United States out of economic desperation, and his departure had been absolutely devastating for the boy – to the extent that he never woke up.

Death by emotion is not uncommon here. In listening to friends` recounting of the genocide, "susto" - fright - is often given as an explanation of loved ones' deaths following the actual army-led massacres: when they either lived enslaved on a nearby plantation or in their village under violent military occupation (as in the case of those from Ilom), and when they fled into the wilderness for the next 14 years, foraging for food, struggling to elude army search squads and taking cover from aerial bombardments (as in the case of those from Xix).

Last month marked the ten-year anniversary of the Peace Accords, the ceasefire agreement which ended army attacks on Maya villages - supposedly to hunt down guerrilla fighters - as official state policy.

A decade later and still none of the major players (photo: low prophyle)  responsible for the 626 army-led massacres have been charged with anything. That status has not changed since my last update, and most certainly will not change until a formidable popular movement – both nationally and globally – compels Guatemalan officials to take seriously the AJR's willingness to risk their lives by serving as witnesses in the stalled genocide cases here against these men who still retain substantial influence.

A small but important way to support the AJR is by e-mailing Guatemalan officials and urging them to advance the genocide case.

ANOTHER FRONT OF MAYAN RESISTANCE: THE ZAPTISTAS

I was in Chiapas, Mexico for the New Year - and incidentally my 25th birthday - at the Encounter of the Zapatista Peoples with the Peoples of the World. (As many of you know, the Zapatistas first made headlines on January 1, 1994 when an armed uprising enabled them to liberate indigenous communities from the rule of Mexican authorities. Across Chiapas, signs marking the entrance to Zapatista territory inform passersby that "Here the people give the orders and the government obeys.")

Having lived and worked intimately with folks from the AJR since July, it was fascinating to learn from other Maya communities, situated just a little northwest (across that militarized invisible line which only shows up on maps), of how they are likewise rebelling against the government's wishes – although clearly with different tactics and aims; embracing women's rights and participation; amplifying indigenous voices and decision-making, all the while cultivating a huge, dynamic base of international support (something the AJR comparatively does not possess).

The revolutionary fervor and cultural pride of our Zapatista hosts there in autonomously-governed Oventic stand in stark contrast to much of the evangelical fanaticism which has enveloped the villages where I live in the Guatemalan highlands.

Many, if not most, Zapatistas wore traditional clothing, spoke only in their indigenous languages, shared their customary music and dance with us out-of-towners during several of the planned cultural events, and spoke spiritedly about their commitment to preserving their culture. Back in Guatemala, a friend in Ilom (who is evangelical) recently lamented that evangelical Christianity crushed his people's indigenous practices and beliefs, which, I am told, strikingly swept through in concert with the genocide.

EVANGELISM, GENOCIDE & RIOS MONTT

Efraín Ríos Montt, the evangelical minister/military general who rose to power in 1982 from a military coup, remains the veritable face of the genocide. According to a UN-led commission, Ríos Montt's short-lived regime was responsible for the deaths of some 70,000 (overwhelmingly Maya) people. He is credited with crafting the following domestic policy: "If you are with us, we'll feed you. If not, we'll kill you."

Even before Ríos Montt's reign, evangelical Christianity had begun to take root in Guatemala. Ruling elites favored evangelism to the liberation theology-inspired brand of Catholicism which was offering impoverished Guatemalans more than charity and sympathy, but indeed solidarity in organizing against the structural causes of their poverty.

By the 1980s, televangelist Pat Robertson's show "The 700 Club" (Photo: holtocw) enjoyed more than 3 million viewers here. Within a week of the military overthrowing the government and Ríos Montt seizing the nation's helm, Robertson had hopped a plane to Guatemala City to meet with and exalt the new leader to his enormous TV audience. Robertson soon wrote of the man whose immediate capture is now demanded by Spanish courts on charges of genocide, "I found [Ríos Montt] to be a man of humility, impeccable personal integrity, and a deep faith in Jesus Christ."

While Ríos Montt was attempting to effectively exterminate the Maya, Robertson was raising funds for the Guatemalan military through a telethon; he convinced numerous U.S. Christians to donate to International Love Lift – revealingly abbreviated "ILL" - Rios Montt's so-called relief program: funding and supplies used to support the army in its genocidal campaign.

The Christian Broadcasting Network also reportedly provided agricultural and medical technicians as well as money to aid in the design of Rios Montt's first "model villages": barbed wire-enclosed, military-controlled townships, often rebuilt upon the same land as the original Maya villages scorched to the ground by the army, where massacre survivors were forcibly "re-educated." Theological re-education was routinely administered by evangelical missionaries.

EVANGELISM TODAY, IMPUNITY & MY GRINGO BEWILDERMENT

Nowadays, dancing in the highlands is pervasively a sin; our radio is clogged with evangelical rock; I dined at God with Us Emmanuel Pizzeria last week, and the gas station where our ride to Ilom usually fills up at is coated in the slogan "To God be the Glory." We are engrossed in evangelism, and its political consequences can be bewildering: on Jan. 17, for instance, one of the nation's most famous evangelicals – Rìos Montt (photo: Wrath of god)– announced that he is running for the presidency of the National Congress in September's elections – a post that he has a considerable shot at winning and which he previously held as recently as
November 2003.

A few hours after the boy in Ilom died of sadness, the 10-year-old son of one of the witnesses we accompany there also passed away. A couple days later we visited him to express our condolences. He soon asked us if it were true that in the U.S. some people cremate their loved ones. We told him it is indeed common. He remarked that given the absence of rule of law in Guatemala, if a community wills it they will often capture a local criminal and burn him alive to set an example for others…but to burn a corpse  (i.e. a person who is already dead) is simply a sin against God.

Perhaps needless to say, making sense of the reality of the highlands continues to be complicated for me. One revelation that has kept me somewhat grounded is that while I admire and am inspired by the radical resistance of the Zapatistas, for my fellow evangelical colleagues who outlived a horrific genocide targeted at them, basic survival was, and remains, its own form of radical resistance.

And acting in a way that shuns the often evangelical expectation that they quietly endure their extreme poverty and suffering (and instead wait indifferently for afterlife), by demanding justice and publicly naming those responsible for the genocide despite the terrifying consequences, reflects remarkable bravery and commitment.

I know I have a lot to learn from the AJR before I leave in May, and I am extremely grateful to be working with them. Again, I would ask you to honor their courage by e-mailing Guatemalan officials to urge them to advance the genocide case and finally allow the AJR to testify, to speak their truth to power.

Lastly, thanks to everyone who has been e-mailing me, writing me letters, donating to the struggle and sending me food, art and literature. Your kindness, friendship and solidarity has been wonderful and deeply appreciated.

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To receive updates every two months and for more information, you can contact Jordan at: jordan [at] sfalliance [dot] org

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Background: Ways You Can Support the Struggle

Join the NISGUA list or GSN Blog for updates on notable news in Guatemala:

Contact the Guatemala Govt- tell them to move on the genocide case! Great activity for church groups, human rights groups, or alone (English is fine):


Become an Accompanier in the Genocide Case 

You can hear interviews with people who have worked as accompaniers (broadcast by Democracy Now! and the BBC) and read articles and more information from a variety of sources here.

If you're in the US you can support Jordan financially- write a tax-deductible check to "DJPC Education Fund" and add "Jordan Buckley-CAMINOS" to the memo line. They can be mailed to: Denver Justice & Peace Committee, 901 W. 14th Avenue Suite 7, Denver, CO  80204. If you are in the UK you can support GSN by contacting us on gsn_mail [at] yahoo [dot] com

The Guatemalan Maya Centre has revamped its website- it's an incredible resource and recommend you take a look.

"The Centre operates as a small cultural and educational centre dedicated to the Maya of Guatemala. We run a varied programme of topical films and lectures to compliment the free exhibitions and there are more specialised facilities for students and academics: the textile collection (showing the development of Guatemalan Maya costume from the turn of the century to the present day) is one of the largest of its kind with 7000 textiles."

The centre manages a massive archive of film, video, photos, books and magazines documenting Guatemalan Mayan culture. In particular though is the enormous collection of thousands of textiles from 115 communities all over Guatemala. They are regular exhibitions and talks which you can check there website for from February when they reopen.

Krystyna Deuss, who founded the centre in 1990 has just written the book, "Shamans, Witches, and Maya Priests: Native Religion & Ritual in Highland Guatemala". It's available now, this summary is from the new website:

"Shamans, Witches, and Maya Priests is a study of the “old ways” that still prevail in the Q’anjob’al, Akatek, and Chuj communities of the remote northwestern Cuchumatán mountains. With the help of 102 photographs and 49 illustrations, Deuss paints a vivid picture of the traditional rites and rituals she witnessed over a period of 15 years. These include blood sacrifices for the good of the community and private shamanic rituals as well as black magic. Deuss has also included a selection of the prayers she recorded."

Finally, but by no means least, are the photos that the centre holds. Krystyna and Jamie Marshall, the centre's curator, have taken some incredible photos of Guatemala and are well worth exploring on the site.

I just heard the sad news about the death of Hanley Denning, founder of Camino Seguro (Safe Passage) that runs a large number of projects with communities in and around the municipal rubbish dump in Guatemala City. According to Camino Seguro's website Hanley was killed in a traffic accident on 18th January. You can read more about Hanley's life story here and more information about the work of Camino Seguro.

I first got to know Hanley in 1998 when I worked in the community of San Francisco de Asís, one of the many small neighbourhoods in and around the municipal rubbish dump in Guatemala City. Over the years, I was struck by her complete dedication and energy which was instrumental in transforming Camino Seguro into a project that has supported hundreds of Guatemalan families in zone three and seven. Camino Seguro is responsible for a large number of very successful educational and other initiatives working with families, and in particular children and young people of all ages.

In 2002, Rita María Roesch in Prensa Libre wrote a piece about Hanley and her work with Camino Seguro. In 2003, Noel C. Paul in the Christian Science Monitor wrote this piece about Hanley. Both are fitting tributes.

Update 21-01-2007

Pieces have been written in El Periodico and Prensa Libre. Both are based on this news report from Associated Press in English- here published by the International Herald Tribune.