The following are mentions of Guatemala this
week (19th-25th
Feb) from around the world (nothing interesting has appeared in the
UK!)...
A Spanish court has given the green light to hearing the
Guatemala genocide case brought by Rigoberta Menchu. See
more...
Guatemalan filmmaker, Mario Rosales, has started screening his
latest 30-minute short film, Amorfo Te Busqué in the U.S. The film's
blog
describes it as an "audiovisual poem about the emotional
disenchantment
of a Guatemalan couple following end of the guerrilla uprising and the
subsequent genocide carried out by the national army". See more...
Object of conquest itself just a year past, Glamis Gold of
Vancouver
recently announced its take-over bid for Western Silver for a paltry
1.04 billion (US) dollars. So, how did the struggling mining company
turn its fortunes around? It starts with the World Bank, and the
sacrifice of Mayan villagers on the alter of corporate greed and
government malfeasance. (Source: PEJ News - C. L. Cook). See
more...
Jeremy Corbyn MP wrote in February's Noticias about his trip
to
Guatemala and Mexico in January. The trip gave the Islington North MP
food for thought as he reflected on the plight of Guatemalans
travelling north across the Mexican frontier. Corbyn expressed his
support for the campaign denouncing the building of a wall by the U.S.
across the U.S-Mexico frontier.
Human Rights Watch has written a letter to Guatemalan
President
Oscar Berger, calling the Guatemalan government to take
immediate
steps to stop a pattern of deadly attacks and possible police violence
against transgender women and gay men, and end impunity for these
crimes. See
more...
On Friday, February 24 several
organizations
gathered in front of the White House to protest the US-Dominican
Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) as the President
of El Salvador Antonio Saca met with President George W. Bush to
discuss the pending March 1st implementation of the accord. See
more...
February 24 (Prensa
Latina) Guatemalan humanitarian organizations Friday said that a legal
process was presented to the Supreme Court in support of the missing
children and adults during the internal armed conflict.
See
more...
Washington Post wrote an article
from Santiago Atitlan: "People here call it limpieza
social,
Spanish for "social cleansing." But the recent surge in armed
abductions and murders by self-appointed anti-crime squads throughout
Guatemala is leaving a messy trail of blood and tears". See
more...
25th Feb is the National Day for the Dignity of the Victims of
the
Armed Internal Conflict. There was an exhibition in Chiquimula to mark
the day, of exhumations that have been carried out around the country.
See
more...
Normally, you wouldn't catch us talking about the lofty crafts of 'marketing' and 'advertising' much on this blog. However, I'm going to pinch my nose and have a go. Why?
Well, according to a guy called Al Ries, whose knowledge it seems is not limited to market share and unique selling points, if Guatemala is to sell itself better to tourists around the world, it should change its name.
"How do you solve the country confusion problem? You change the name of the country from Guatemala to Guatemaya. Guatemaya would solve both problems. Guatemaya pre-empts the Maya position and it serves as a memory device to link the Mayas to the country which contains the most spectacular Maya artifacts. (It also solves a third problem. “Mala” is Spanish slang for “bad woman.”)" (see attachment)
What prompted Ries to conjure up such a masterstroke? It's INGUAT's latest choice of slogan for Guatemala: 'Soul of the Earth'. Ok, perhaps less said.
INGUAT hasn't generally been perceived as the country's most dynamic government agency- and tourist numbers are often assumed to be well below what could be achieved (around 500,000 tourists a year). That sounds like quite a lot to me- but hey, whatever the reality, does it give a foreigner the right to suggest another country changes its name? Can we reduce countries to brands? I think if we do, it says more about our ignorance and arrogance than anything else.
But before I continue ranting, there's a bit more to this than meets the eye. The name Guatemala is curiously often the object of biting Guatemalan wit. 'Guatelinda', 'Guatechula', 'Guatepreciosa' or even 'Guatebuenita' as artist and author, Marco Augusto Quiroa, used to say.
Whatever the nickname, the point always seemed to be about turning heads towards the positive and the possible, and get away from that unique flavour of Guate-humour that quips 'de Guatemala a Guatepeor'. So should that be as a poster retorted on Blog de mi Guatemala, 'de Guatemala a Guatemejor'?
Apparently years ago, Guatemala was Goathemala from the Spanish interpretation of the word in the Maya-Tolteca language for "land of the trees". Years ago in the 1840's, John L.Stephens called the land 'Guatimala' where he searched for Mayan archeological treasures. But hey, what's in a name?
If we're about to change countries' names, why not start with that complete misnoma the 'United States of America'. Wouldn't 'United States of North America' be more accurate? Heck, then there's that tongue twister (wait while I check my passport) the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland'. Couldn't we make that a bit snappier? What would our marketing guru say about that one?
How about the name a Guatemalan policeman used as he diligently typed out a report of theft for me once: 'instruido, estudiante, originario de la Republica de Inglaterra'.
We received this news from Bruce Clarke, Chair of the Swindon Ocotal Link, a member of the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign. Their group went out to Santiago Atitlan in Guatemala following Hurricane Stan in October 2005 as part of a group trip to Central America.
"We are a small group of friends living in Swindon, England, that has built up a very personal and close relationship with Santiago Atitlan in Guatemala over the past 3 or 4 years.
Our intention originally, was to spend eight days relaxing and enjoying the wonderful lake Atitlan and its community, after a two week working tour of our twin town of Ocotal, Nicaragua. However, the news of the Guatemalan disaster arrived over our comfortable evening mealtime. Soon telephones were ringing and we shared what news we had about Hurricane Stan.
Then we had urgent e-mails to and from Juan Ajtzip Alvarado, my friend in the town. With just 6 weeks to go before we were due to arrive, we knew that there was little immediate help we could offer apart from sending out some immediate funds for materials. Our experience of raising support for Nicaragua following Hurricane Mitch helped us concentrate on the long-term, despite the pleas and terrible pictures that were then arriving in the UK.
In the end, we raised $5,000 in 4 weeks. When we arrived, we found Asociaciòn Tikal Atitlan had been active in supporting the bereaved families and providing counselling for the surviving children. Some 100 adults and over 80 children had been lost. Immediately, two amazing women stood out, Dolores and Juanita. They had organised the children and mothers and set up play groups, meetings, crafts and were selling their wares in the market to help the families get back on their feet economically.
We had no hesitation in agreeing to fund these two amazing women for the next year and a half. From their work, we are planning to bring UK and German youth together with Nicaraguan youth in Santiago Atitlan to share experiences, culture and work together with these remarkable people.
It was good to see Oxfam water tanks had been set up, drains were being dug and workers being paid to maintain the refugee camp. The real issue is helping the families to regain some degree of economic autonomy. We visited the site and were shocked at how a strip of mountain had fallen away and created such devastation. They told us the rain just didn't stop and many other mudslides had occurred around the lake.
We were told they had turned away help from the Guatemalan army which, given recent history, was not surprising. They are fiercely independent.
Now, life goes on, the coffee was a good crop, tourism was getting coming back and normality, such as it is, is returning. Yet, we all felt that the town is under just as much threat in the long term from such things as land being bought up for weekend retreats, and a culture of drugs amongst the youth, as it is from future mudslides. More distressing is the slow loss of identity and values of their proud indigenous community.
We are going back soon, we all have day jobs, but collectively we know we can make a difference and in so doing, make a difference to ourselves as well."
Condi Rice, U.S. Secretary of State talks about US policy towards Latin America.
"Inoculation Strategy in Nicaragua", "When we were able to pass CAFTA it made a huge difference to the stabilization of Central America"."Trade assistance, caring about the poor, the message has sometimes been just about growth and not about the concerns of the poor." "Working with responsible governments [not Venezuela]."
At about 38 minute in, you can see Rios Montt's son-in-law, Congressman Jerry Weller take the floor with a question on narcotics.
The expanse of Peten attracts Guatemalans (and once upon a time the English) in search of land ownership PHOTO: Clare Rowland
In January, BBC father and son broadcasters, Peter and Dan Snow, in a television programme called Whose Britain Is It Anyway?, informed us that 90% of the UK's population lives in 10% of the UK's land. The programme which was largely based on a book by journalist Kevin Cahill called Who Owns Britain?, highlighted the anomaly of the many millions of acres of land in the UK owned by undisclosed people. It's a situation that persists to this day in the UK, because land that has never been sold or a mortgage raised against it, need never be legally registered.
In Guatemala, the land question and who owns it, remains a prominent issue in the political landscape, despite the best efforts of the country's elite (doubtless envious of the British aristocracy's uncanny ability to avoid the issue for literally centuries!).
However, who owns Guatemala will remain fundamental to the political reform agenda of the country, so long as one person's 'lawful' ownership can threaten so many other people's very survival, whether through denying access to work or access to essential food security. As has been seen recently in many fincas across Guatemala in Suchitepéquez, in and around Guatemala City, Escuintla, Izabal and Alta Verapaz.
Here in the UK, while the question of who owns the land has obvious and massive political consequences (heck, it may even hold our attention on the small screen for a moment), who owns the land has ceased to hold the key to our everyday survival as a society. Does this explain why we are so relaxed about not knowing who owns great swathes of our country?
In Guatemala though, land and who owns it, is the key to many people's everyday survival. That 2% of the population owns 65% of the productive land (according to a census in 1979), is more than simply a premise for an eye catching documentary. It is about life and death.
Prensa Libre (19-02-2006) today published a debate of the current crisis in land conflicts arising from this deeper land question. The piece features Daniel Pascual, coordinator of the Comité de Unidad Campesina and Carlos Zúñiga Fumagalli, president of the Cámara del Agro.
It is well worth a read as an illustration of the two sides' positions in this age old political struggle. A struggle between those who see land ownership in a narrow sense, as a way of ensuring the legal right of one group of people over another to create wealth, and those who see land ownership in a wider sense, as a means to resolve many of the basic problems of Guatemalan society in general.
Put that way, knowing who owns the land in Guatemala is incredibly important. But then for all the instability Guatemala might be currently exeriencing, I guess one thing is certain: they won't be looking to us for any answers.
Panimache, El Quiche, is in the highland region of Guatemala, acutely affected by Hurricane Stan IMAGE: Google Earth
St Margaret's Church in Richmond, London, has decided to raise £15,000 for rebuilding a village called Panimache in the Quiche department. The funds will go through CAFOD to Caritas Quiche.
If you have any goods you might want to donate for the Lenten Market which is held after every Mass during Lent.We want to feature goods and items from Guatemala for the Market on Sunday March 26th 2006. If you have any textiles or anything else from Guatemala that you want to donate to help, we would be very grateful. Other stuff such as unwanted gifts, china, jewellery, toiletries, plants, etc. would be useful too.
If you'd like to make a donation, you can get more information by contacting the Guatemala Solidarity Network - gsn_mail [at] yahoo.com.
I came across this photo and others that have been recently posted on Flickr about the local festival in Jacaltenango, Huehuetenango. They are taken by independent photographer Thomas Metzner and they are well worth a look- they are incredibly vivid photos that bring the festival to life. Thanks Thomas for letting us post this on our blog. You can see where Jacaltenango is on this online map.
For more information about traditional dances in Guatemala in Spanish: click here. I'm sure there are much better online sources of information that aren't overly touristy, but don't have any to hand right at the moment. Let us know if you know of anything better!
This is a one of a great series of documentaries on Guatemalan culture by Guatemalans on Tinaamit Te Ve. If you interested in traditional Guatemalan textiles this is well worth watching. It only has subtitles in Spanish though. Below is the introduction to this video:
"En San Pedro La Laguna, existe un grupo de mujeres cuyo nombre es Ixchel que significa dios del tejido que trabajan sobre la cultura del tejido. Estas mujeres ensenan como se pueden hacer cosas muy bonitas con productos tan simples que cualquier persona lo puede conseguir, como darle color a los productos usando frutas, verduras, etc. Estas mujeres ensenan como fabricar telas tipicas, guipiles, etc."
Anders Kompass, OACNUDH representative, presents first report PHOTO: OACNUDH
Two new reports, published this February, on the current human rights situation in Guatemala seem to concur that the situation has markedly deteriotated in 2005.
The first is a report written by the Unit for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders of the National Movement of Human Rights (MINDH). The Unit is staffed by Ruth del Valle, Maria Martin, Ana Gladis Ollas, Claudia Samayoa and Erenia Vanegas. MINDH has highlighted the situation of human rights defenders in 2005. The report reads like a wake up call to all about the new reality in Guatemala today: in the year 2000, there were 61 cases of attacks on human rights defenders, last year, 2005, that figure had climbed to 224.
In their call to action to the international community, they highlight the need and role of international accompaniment. Accompaniment, particularly of those defenders outside Guatemala City, needs to be ever more "dynamic and active".
The second report is the first contribution from the newly formed (September 2005) Office of the U.N. High Commission on Human Rights in Guatemala (OACNUDH). Set up as an advisory body to the Guatemalan state, the tone of OACNUDH's first report is essentially extremely guarded in its criticisms and cautious in its recommendations. The ground covered by the report will be familiar to many observers of Guatemalan politics: violence, impunity, poverty, inequality and discrimination are highlighted as key areas for the Guatemalan government to address.
In terms of the violence, 2005 was one of the worse years in recent memory, with 5,338 murders, 518 of which were of women. To paraphrase, the report underlines the police's need to earn the respect of the public, the public ministry's (public prosecution service) need to gets its priorities in order and the judiciary's need to assert its independence for impunity to addressed.
In what it terms as transitional justice, the report is noticeably more upbeat about the possible creation of a National Institute of Forensic Science and an official framework to begin investigations into the recently discovered National Police files, which date back to the time of the civil war. Likewise, there is not even a shred of sceptism about the government's management of the National Programme of Reparations for the victims of the civil war, or COPREDEH's moves to establish a National Plan for Finding Missing Persons.
Interestlingly, although there is a whole section of the report dedicated to overcoming poverty, no reference is made to CAFTA and its implications, by OACNUDH. No appetite for this particular hot potato or simply beyond its remit?
This was the week that columnists in the UK press found themselves refering to Guatemala for various reasons. Mary Ann Sieghart in the Times (08-02-06) thought we ought to know about her exciting holiday. Perhaps Mary Ann got off on the wrong foot with Guatemala by starting with the Foreign Office's not very welcoming advice (where they point out the level of crime in Guatemala and not much else). Whatever the reason, it seemed the most salient lesson she took from her time in Guatemala- and that she wanted to share with Times readers- was that with Guatemala's dodgy signal, it was just great to escape her ringing mobile phone. No entendemos Mary Ann... isn't that something you can learn just about anywhere you choose to switch the thing off?
Picking up on an article that had appeared in the Guardian earlier in the week, Zoe Williams told us in her column (11-02-06) about how Guatemala was offering a "radical new departure in the lounge of reality television". Suffice to say, the jury will probably still be out about the 'social benefit' to Guatemala of this latest US Aid-funded televisual experiment, long after the ratings data is in the hands of the broadcasting companies.
Last up was Niall Ferguson in the Sunday Telegraph (12-02-06) who penned a critique of Bush for, essentially, 'losing' Latin America. Is it more important for the U.S. to have good relations with Latin America than the Middle East? I'm sure most people would actually say it's important to have good relations with both- since when was that impossible? But, Ferguson does attempt to shine the light on what's happening in Latin America- which actually starts to sound more like a critique of the UK media than of simply el Presidente Jorge Arbusto.
Guatemalan Justice
Apart from these opinion pieces, there were articles on the suspected gang violence in Reuters and the BBC. Reuters AlertNet also covered the news that the first payments have been made to victims of the civil war in Plan de Sanchez following the historic ruling last year by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Costa Rica, which awarded 317 family members close to $25,000 each to be paid by the Guatemalan government. For a more in depth look at Plan de Sanchez's plight, take a look at Grahame Russell's recent blog entry in Upside Down World.
The Photos That Changed Lives In More Ways Than One
Finally, Reuters also had an interview with Nancy McGirr talking about her work as a photographer with children and families living around the municiple rubbish dump in Guatemala City. Originally known as the 'Out of the Dump' project, Fotokids has provided hundreds of opportunities for children and young people to access art and express their lives in a unique, diginified and inspirational way. Founded in 1991, Fotokids celebrates its 15th anniversary this year with a series of exhibitions around the world- including London- more on that in this blog at a later date.
Following the Guatemalan government's confirmation of the licence A7-2005
in January 2006, Taghmen has just announced that it has met its
£15,000,000 fundraising target to begin the preparatory work, before
extracting oil from Tortugas and Atzam in Alta Verapaz. This concession
is in addition to the 6-93 licence which was granted in October 1993
for a 25 year period in Las Casas, also located in the South Peten
basin. A press release from Taghmen (10-02-06) stated:
"The funds raised will be used to finance an active 2006 work programme,
concentrating on drilling to achieve production and prove up existing
reserves. This will include four new wells, three work-over wells and
one sidetrack well on the Company's Guatemalan assets."
Apparently, well according to Taghmen's website, they are going to carry out an
environmental study over the next three months. Going on the past
record of these company-led environmental studies would suggest that you shouldn't hold your breath.
In an article in Prensa Libre
(11-02-06) by Eduardo Smith, environmental concerns were brushed aside citing the past
record of another oil company Perenco working in Rubelsanto, Alta
Verapaz. But it doesn't take long to find reports of the environmental
damage in Rubelsanto by French company Perenco, who bought out the
infamous Basic Resources in 2001 for $120.5 million. El Periodico ran stories alleging that the cleaning at Rubelsanto hadn't been as thorough as it should have been, while La Hora had more reports.
They also quoted conservative US academic Walter Williams, who just
happens to be Chairman of the Foundation of Free Markets at the
Francisco Marroquin university. Unsurprisingly Williams also brushed
aside environmental considerations, according to Prensa Libre's paraphrasing,
as long as cash income is more than the cash cost. In fact, I added in
the word cash. But there in lies the problem with Williams' neat
cost-benefit analysis: how do you put an price tag on the environment?
Talk of money raises another interesting issue: according to the Ministry of Energy and Mines, the government received $79 million
from oil extraction in 2005. So what is the Guatemalan government doing
with the revenues from oil extraction? Are they going to support
local communities most negatively affected by the oil exploration?
In fact, these are questions that Magali Rey Rosa, of Colectivo Madreselva, (an Oxfam partner) writing in her column in none other than Prensa Libre, herself posed in August 2005. And the answer she finds? Have a guess.
Carlos Chen Osorio looks out over the Chixoy River Photo Credit: WOLA
Following our theme of recent posts on this blog, the democratic
right to peaceful protest is being undermined in
Guatemala. Amnesty International have just put out the following
press release: 'Guatemala: Politically motivated charges get in the way of justice for massacre survivors'. This refers
to the peaceful occupation of the Chixoy dam by protestors
(7-8-09-04) representing the Maya Achi communities that suffered
due the building of the dam.
"In Guatemala, human rights violations
appear to be addressed by pressing criminal charges against the
victims, said Amnesty International as charges are due to be formally
presented against nine activists and community leaders from Río Negro.
The charges, presented by the State
Electricity Institute (INDE), include “activity against the internal
security of the nation” and come after leaders from 18 communities
participated in peaceful protests in September 2004.
“The charges against the activists are
disproportionate, unfounded and clearly politically motivated. They
send a strong message that mobilising against the government's agenda
will not be tolerated,” said Sebastian Elgueta, Amnesty International’s
researcher on Guatemala.
“If the activists are detained and
prosecuted, Amnesty International would consider them political
prisoners,” said Sebastian Elgueta.
Amnesty International is calling for the charges to be dropped.
The protests were related to the loss of
lives, homes and land incurred during the construction of the Chixoy
dam in the 1980s, as well as the current lack of free running water and
electricity in many communities, which they were promised. Protesters
also complained about the impunity surrounding a series of massacres
that took place in the area between 1980 and 1982 where thousands of
people were killed.
The peaceful character of the protests was confirmed by a police report.
The communities agreed to withdraw from
the demonstrations after the State Electricity (INDE) Institute agreed
to initiate a negotiation process. Days later, the INDE presented
criminal charges against the community leaders."
You can read the whole press release with background information here.
Background
The Guatemalan press have been highly negative against the
protestors and incredibly unsympathetic to the campesinos' calls for
compensation after losing their land, homes and loved ones in the
massacres that occured prior to the construction of the Chixoy dam.
In September 2004, el Periodico wrote an article
after the protest occupying the dam accusing the protestors of acting
on behalf of a political party (URNG) and of one the community leaders
having criminal convictions. In July 2005, el Periodico was forced to offer a fullsome apology.
In August 2005 the Guatemalan Human Rights Ombudsman's (PDH) drafted
a declaration signed by representatives of the communities affected by
Chixoy; Carlos Chen Osorio, Félix Alfonso Raymundo, Juan de Dios
García, Santiago Hernández, Julio Santiago, Víctor Lem Xitumul, Antonio
Vásquez Xitumul and Domingo Sic Rafael in an attempt to negotiate an
agreement with the dam's managers from INDE. Ironically INDE
used this document as the basis of its case against these individuals
who have now been charged with 'endangering the security of the nation'.
The issues on which the community of Rio Negro are campaigning have
been brought together in a study by the Dr. Barbara Rose Johnston and
the Centre for Political Ecology. You can read this authoritative study
online that has helped bring the issue back on to the agenda in July
2005 and renewed the hope of compensation for the victims. You can also
hear interviews with Carlos Chen Osorio from Nizkor (in Spanish).
The Chixoy Dam was constructed between 1975 and 1983 with financing
from the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank. The project
displaced some 3,445 Mayan people and negatively affected another 6,000
households in surrounding communities.
Police and military evict families from San José Moccá and La Cabaña, Senahu PHOTO: indy media
The bias of Oscar Berger's government in favour of prominent
business interests has been a feature of the Guatemalan government's
policy since its inception in 2004. Examples
of this bias include many key appointments within the Berger
administration, such Guillermo Castillo, as Guatemala's top ambassador
in Washington. Castillo is a member of the powerful Castillo family
that owns the Cervecería Centroamericana.
Berger's bias to big business whatever it's justification has created
numerous conflicts of interest. In Guillermo Castillo's case this was
being seen to use his public position in the U.S. to get a better
deal for Cerveceria Centroamericana's products (including Gallo
beer) within the CAFTA arrangement with the U.S.
These conflicts
of interest are repeated right across the Guatemalan government's
policy initiatives. From economic development, such as mining
concessions and other exploitation of Guatemala's natural resources by
foreign investors such as Glamis (Canada) and Taghmen
(UK), through to reconstruction efforts in the wake of Stan,
which critics have remarked was speedier in the economically
more important South, in stark contrast to the less
economically important highlands in the West.
In recent days,
the issue of unpaid labourers being ejected by state forces from farms
they have worked and lived on for many years has reared its ugly head
again. Of course, these evictions through up a key conflict of interest
for the Berger government, which counts many of the
landowners calling for evictions as key supporters.
In the Finca Moca and the Finca Cabañas from the municipality of
Senahú, in Alta Verapaz (01-02-06), more than 400 women and children
saw their homes, sources of security and food destroyed by armed police
and soldiers. While the landowners in this case reportedly owe the
evicted workers millions of quetzales (hundreds of thousands of
pounds), the state has spent a reported Q150,000 (£11,290.67) quetzales
in enforcing these evictions.
Comité de Unidad Campesina (CUC)
and Coordinadora Nacional of Organizaciones Campesinas (CNOC) have both
been quick to express solidarity with these evicted farm labourers. CUC
has been occupying the Central Square in Guatemala City. The national press has not picked the story up very sympathetically. In Prensa Libre- "El CUC anuncia bloqueo de rutas" was there slant on the news of these evictions.
As of (08-02-06) the Guatemalan government has continued to refuse to negotiate
on Finca Moca and Finca Cabanas- while attempting to resolve numerous
other land conflicts in a further 53 locations across Guatemala.
This week demonstrated, if ever it was necessary, that justice is a relative concept. While the international press widely covered Rios Montt's exoneration for organising violent protests in Guatemala, the prison convictions for 32 peaceful protestors against the U.S.-based School of the Americas (SOA) received very little coverage internationally. Certainly nothing in the UK, apart from a website called Ekklesia which would probably agree it still has a way to go before becoming a part of mainstream UK media.
It's ironic that both these contradictory judgements were passed within hours of each other (30-01-06). It speaks volumes about modern 'justice' systems that an ex-dictator Gen. Efrain Rios Montt, himself a graduate from the School of the Americas was cleared in Guatemala for his part in violent protests, while in the U.S. campaigners (some over 80 years old) were condemned to up to 6 months in prison for their part in a peaceful protest - trespassing in Fort Benning, Georgia, the home of SOA in the U.S.
SOA, (in 2001 renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation) officially a combat training school for Latin American military soldiers, has been dubbed by critics as the "school of assassins" and the "school of coups". It has provided, over 59 years, instruction in counterinsurgency strategies and tactics, psychological warfare, torture and assassination for over 60,000 soldiers including Rios Montt and six members of his military junta while Guatemalan dictator in 1982-3.
In a further twist to these seemingly contradictory expressions of justice across the American continent, U.S. Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld, likened Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to Adolf Hitler.
"I mean, we've got Chavez in Venezuela with a lot of oil money," Rumsfeld added. "He's a person who was elected legally - just as Adolf Hitler was elected legally - and then consolidated power and now is, of course, working closely with Fidel Castro and Mr. Morales and others."
But perhaps this lack of enthusiasm for democracy and peaceful protest is not new on the part of the U.S. After all, almost 25 years ago in Dec. 4, 1982, after meeting with Rios Montt as Guatemala's dictator, as he then was, President Reagan hailed the general as "totally dedicated to democracy." Reagan declared that Rios Montt's government had been "getting a bum rap." Although declassified CIA documents now in the US National Archive, show that the U.S. Government knew Rios Montt was 'wavering in his support for democracy'.
Rumsfeld was, of course, a leading member of Defence during this period in the Reagan Administration. In fact, in 1983 Rumsfeld met up with that other guy totally dedicated to democracy and getting a bum rap- Saddam Hussein- and we know how that tale of American justice ended up.
In other news
Other news from Guatemala, to be covered by the UK media was a story of a new television reality show for reformed gang members financed by USAID which appeared in the Guardian.
While the BBC went with the story about the controversial family planning bill in the Guatemalan Congress: "Family Planning Row in Guatemala".
There was also a story in Reuters' AlertNet about a top U.S. military commander, Gen. Bantz Craddock's visit to Guatemala. The head of U.S. Southern Command was said to be "startled" by the level of the drug trade in the north of Guatemala. According to the article, the U.S. government estimates some 75 percent of cocaine bound for the United States is smuggled through Guatemala. In his speech (hilariously in block capitals- did he shout?) the U.S. General plucks two examples of great 'security' work on drugs from Latin America which just happen to be Colombia and Guatemala. Is this a sign of the U.S. military intending to start flexing muscles in Guatemala in 'Uribe-Colombia' style?
Should have mentioned these guys before, though they didn't seem to get much coverage in the UK media. Andrew Barnett (UK) and Juan Carlos Sagastume (Guatemala) completed the Atlantic rowing race yesterday (03-02-06) crossing the Atlantic in 64 days. Juan Carlos is the first Guatemalan to cross the Atlantic rowing which earned him plaudits from many of the Guatemalan blogging community.
On January 21, 2006, Adilio Darinel Domingo Montejo told his family
he was going out with some friends and later phoned to say he would be
home the following day. His family never heard from him again, and five
days later identified his corpse at a local morgue. The 21-year-old's
body showed signs of torture and was brutally mutilated. One of his
limbs was found afterwards with his identification card nearby,
suggesting that those responsible wanted to make sure his body would be
identified.
Darinel Domingo Montejo was a law student at San Carlos University,
living with his parents in a marginal area of Villa Nueva just outside
0 of Guatemala City. So far, there has been no indication of the motive
behind his killing. Several of Darinel's brothers are involved in
political activity that challenges the status quo, the most prominent
of whom is Mario Gonzalo Domingo Montejo. Mario is the coordinator of
the Defense of Dignity department in the Guatemalan Archbishop's Human
Rights Office (ODHAG), and is the lead lawyer representing the Catholic
Church in the legal case against the murderers of Monsignor Juan José
Gerardi. Mario is also married to Jessica Yarrow, who was NISGUA's
Field Coordinator in Guatemala from 2001 until November 2005.
For more information about this urgent action and where to send your appeals: click here. If you would like to join GSN's urgent action network: click here. Prensa Libre wrote an article on the assassination of Darinel Domingo Montejo.
Various UK news agencies carried the dismissal of the manslaughter case against Gen Efrain Rios Montt for the death of journalist Hector Ramirez. The Guatemalan reporter died after running from protesters on 'Jueves Negro' in 2003. Rios Montt denied responsibility for the actions of protesters despite many holding positions of power within Rios Montt's political party- Frente Republicano de Guatemala (FRG).
According to Reuters, Walter Robles, prosecution lawyer for the Ramirez family, says that Raul Manchame Leiva, who was Guatemala's chief of police at the time of the street clashes, will have to stand trial, while the other 15 supporters were charged with minor crimes (and will only face a fine).
In the Guatemalan press, there was speculation as to whether the decision reflected some kind of political pact between President Oscar Berger and Rios Montt's political power base, the FRG. However, this was not mentioned in the UK media reports and has been rigorously denied by Berger.
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AFP
