It is
always said that people can remember where they were when they heard that John
F Kennedy was murdered, or John Lennon, or when they first heard of the
September 11 or July 7 atrocities. I suppose fewer of us will remember where we
were when we heard that Monseñor Gerardi had been murdered, but I do. I
happened to be having lunch with some friends from the Guatemala team at Amnesty International on 28
April 1998. It was rather a subdued affair, as they seemed still shell-shocked from the news
that had rippled out from the San Sebastian parish house in the early hours of
27 April.
At the
time, a little more than a year after the final peace had been signed, there was
a mood of optimism that things could change for the better. People had started
talking much more openly about the past, and about capital letter abstract
nouns like Truth, Reconciliation and Justice.
Nowhere was
this better exemplified than in the project that Monseñor Gerardi had helped
create: the Recuperation of Historical Memory, (REMHI), which collected the
testimonies of survivors of the civil war, aiming to understand the how, why,
when, to know the truth of the past so that they might be set free. I first
learned of the REMHI project on my first visit to Guatemala in August 1995, on a trip organised
by the now defunct Central America Human Rights Committee. One of the many
visits we made was to the Archbishopric’s Human Rights Office (ODHAG), where we
met with a lady called Carmen who discussed with us the various tasks the
office carried out, including its human rights work and the recently initiated
REMHI project. We discussed the difficulties for staff working on this and I
have in my notes “Thankfully no-one in
the office has had physical threats, receive threats by ‘phone all the time.
Historical position of church does give some protection”. How wrong we were
to be.
The four
volume REMHI report was presented by Gerardi on 24 April in the Metropolitan
cathedral and blamed the armed forces for over eighty percent of the atrocities
visited on their fellow citizens. On 26 April 1998, at about ten o’clock, persons
unknown confronted the 75 year old Monseñor Gerardi in his garage and
bludgeoned him to death with a lump of concrete. Suddenly, at our little lunch
party, it seemed we were being sent right back to the time of silence and fear,
when the truth may not be known and freedom may not ring.
What was to
happen next would be a test of whether our fears were justified: could justice
be made to work, could the real perpetrators of the murder of a high profile
personage be tracked down, tried and put away. Francisco Goldman’s enthralling recent
book “The Art of Political Murder” tells the story of Guatemala’s trial of the century. Goldman is
perhaps better known to us as a novelist, especially for the excellent “The
Long Night of White Chickens”. The outstanding feature of that book for me was
depiction of a particularly Guatemalan
paranoia and distrust which afflicted the main character as he tried to find
out why Flor de Mayo, his family’s former maid and his own childhood companion,
had been murdered. “Chickens” was published the month before Gerardi was
murdered, and almost seems to foreshadow Goldman’s writing of this story, which tries to get to the bottom of a real
Guatemalan murder mystery. There is plenty of paranoia and distrust here too, and the story itself often
seems so fantastical that it ought to have come from the pen of a crime
novelist.
Goldman has
followed the case closely since it started and tells it strictly
chronologically, as he learns something, then so will you, but if he merely has
a suspicion of something he may plant it in your mind and then come back to it
later when his story leads back to that character, or circumstance allows the
suspicion to be better addressed. This creates an interesting dramatic tension
that a straightforward report of events would lack.
The story
itself almost seems the work of a contrarian crime writer: often we might start
off with a scenario in which there seems an obvious culprit, deduced from their
potential motive and their past behaviour, only for the writer to lead us at
the end to the unmasking of the real perpetrator who set up the dumb fall guy
to hide their guilt. Here we are working from the opposite direction: we start
out knowing who the perpetrator is likely to be and the story is about how they
try to use all their weapons of subterfuge, misinformation, bribery and threats
to try and pin it on someone else. Against them in the Manichean struggle is a
small number of brave investigators who dare to do their job properly.
Goldman
skilfully and engagingly leads you through this complex tale of good versus
evil, and it gets very complicated as the false trails proliferate. Speaking as
one who tried to follow the case, it became as complex as Daedalus’ labyrinth,
especially when it got to court. Goldman lends the Ariadne thread that leads
you through the maze of twists and turns, without the need to resort to
diagrams, notes or headache remedies.
By the end we have four people convicted of the
murder: three military men and Father Orantes, who had shared the parish house
with Gerardi. That brings me back to the question I left hanging earlier: did
Guatemalan justice work, was it done and seen to be done? I have to admit to a
sense of disappointment, though this is absolutely nothing to do with the book
itself which definitely maintains the high standards that Goldman set in his
previous work. It’s just that, and this is going to sound preposterous, I still
don’t know why they did it. All the people involved in the murder speak in
half-truths and insinuation, which, like a candle in a cavern illuminates a
little but leaves a lot hidden in the flickering shadow. There is always the
threat of the bogey man in the dark which will leap out and devour those who dare
to tell the whole truth. If knowing the unvarnished truth must precede justice
and reconciliation then I must answer my own question with a no.
Reaching the
point we are at now has been costly in the broken lives of those sent into
permanent exile or found dead in dubious circumstances. This was not the first
step in establishing an effective rule of law and the end of impunity as other high profile human rights cases show. In this
version of the drama Henry II has not yet accepted a penitential flagellation
for ordering the kingdom to be rid of its turbulent priest.
"My first involvement in an IPU (Inter-Parliamentary Union) activity was back in 1998, I think, when, as a new girl, I took part in a delegation to Guatemala,
which was only just emerging from many years of civil war. The
delegation was concerned that it would have to ask probing
questions—sensitively—about continuing human rights abuses, which it
did. We met some very brave politicians, not in formal meetings but by
allowing them entry through the back door of our hotel at 6 am so that
we could hear first hand about the abuses still being perpetrated on
parliamentarians.
My hon. Friend the Member for Islington, North (Jeremy Corbyn)
made a very important point: when we return from such outward
delegations, we have a responsibility to stay in touch and follow them
up. In fact, I am still in touch with one of those brave female
politicians whom I met 10 years ago. I recently sent her a dossier on
the improvements to our legislation on domestic violence."
Jeremy Corbyn MP describes the origin of the IPU (early in the same debate) as: "When the IPU was founded in the period of the 19th century when the idea of holding unaccountable executives to account was fairly new. The idea of a strong Parliament did not really develop anywhere in the world until well into the 19th century, and one must say that those who founded the IPU were visionaries in many ways. It was initially small, because most of the world was made up of colonies of European nations. It started in European nations and has been an important element in promoting democracy and accountable government in Europe. It has been a huge influence in the anti-colonial movement around the world and in a whole lot of things that were spawned from that. We would do well to record our thanks for what the people involved did."
RTÉ, Ireland’s national broadcaster, recently presented a radio programme from their Worlds Apart series on ‘Guatemala: The Indians and the Multinationals’. The presenter, Rodney Rice travelled to El Estor to find out the story behind the video posted on YouTube, of evictions held in the area of El Estor (in Izabal) in Guatemala. The video was posted in an effort to raise awareness and promote global support for the Quechi people who claim they are being ousted by nickel mining company CGN. He attends meetings with Defensoria Quechi and talks with the CGN, a member of Skye Resources, the Canadian natural resource extractor.
There is a brief introduction with some pictures here. The broadcast, itself, begins about three minutes in, and you will have the pleasure of listening to some Irish language broadcasting prior to the programme starting. The programme itself lasts a little under thirty minutes and is well worth listening to.
This excellent weekly report can't be found on the web- we publish it here with kind permission from CDHG on this blog. INFORME SEMANAL SOBRE DERECHOS HUMANOS Comision de Derechos Humanos de Guatemala
======================================= Fuentes directas CDHG, Prensa Libre, Siglo Veintiuno, El Periódico, Guatemala Hoy ======================================= CDHG 2 Av. 4-66, apto. C-4, zona 1. Tel/Fax: (502) 22203576 /22534285 E-mail: cdhg@intelnett.com =======================================
These are the headlines- for the full report click on 'more':
- ODHAG denuncia la situación de la niñez y juventud
- En vista pública, AJR solicita rechazar amparo solicitado por Ríos Montt
- Usuarios protestan por aumento al pasaje en servicio extraurbano
- Minería amenaza bosque nuboso en Baja Verapaz
- Congreso electo estableció posible distribución de junta directiva more»
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).
"Fairtrade means conserving and improving our land and the air that we breathe. It also means education for our children, healthcare for our families and better opportunities - above all for women - to organise and take decisions. It means producers and consumers working together… Fairtrade is not just a question of money."
Blanca Rosa Molina, fair trade producer & president of the Organisation of Northern Coffee Cooperatives (CECOCAFEN), Nicaragua
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.
‘The study tour gave me new understanding of lives of coffee producing families and the organisation of fair trade cooperatives. We shared experiences with coffee producers and also met fair trade organisations and civil society groups. These meetings not only highlighted the importance trade justice for the producers, but gave a context of the issues in wider Nicaraguan society.’
Josina Calliste, member of women’s fair trade study tour to Nicaragua, 2007
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
LATIN AMERICA 2007 brings together trade unionists, NGOs, academics and progressive movements from Latin America and the UK to explore recent developments across the region.
LATIN AMERICA 2007 features films, stalls, music, and discussion on:
• VENEZUELA: DEMOCRACY AND SOCIAL PROGRESS • CHE GUEVARA - FORTY YEARS SINCE HIS MURDER • NICARAGUA - THE RETURN OF THE SANDINISTAS • LATIN AMERICAN ALTERNATIVE FOR THE AMERICAS • CUBA AND THE FIGHT AGAINST THE BLOCKADE • WOMEN IN LATIN AMERICA • US MILITARISATION OF LATIN AMERICA • RESISTANCE TO NEOLIBERAL AGENDAS AND DEBT • THE MIAMI FIVE • SLAVERY AND ITS LEGACY FOR THE REGION
With speakers from Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia, Nicaragua and Bolivia plus:
•H.E. SAMUEL MONCADA, Ambassador to Britain of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela •CESAR NAVARRO, MP (MAS) for Potosi, Bolivia •TONY BENN •COLIN BURGON MP •LEONARD WEINGLASS, US Lawyer heading up the defence team for the Miami Five •GEORGE GALLOWAY MP •ROBIN BLACKBURN •JEREMY CORBYN MP •VICTORIA BRITTAIN, Playwright and Journalist •DIANE ABBOTT MP •Cllr SALMA YAQOOB •TONY BURKE, UNITE (Amicus Section) •GEMMA TUMELTY, President NUS •MICK SHAW, FBU President •OSIRIS OVIEDO, Cuban Trade Union Federation •PEDRO PEREZ SARDUY, Marti-Maceo Cultural Association •KEITH SONNET, UNISON, Deputy General Secretary •CARLOS LOPEZ TINOCO, FETRAJUN General Secretary (Nicaragua) •FREDDY FITORIA, FTAU Youth Secretary (Nicaragua) •DIANA HOLLAND, UNITE (TGWU Section)
Tickets £10 waged/ £6 unwaged Register by credit card at 020 7263 6452 Book online at www.latinamerica2007.org.uk Send cheques payable to CSC (Latin America 2007) to: CSC, c/o Red Rose Club, 129 Seven Sisters Road, London N7 7QG
This is a brief interview with Carlos Chen giving a little bit of background on the issues surrounding the case of the Chixoy Dam in Guatemala. You can find more information about the latest situation from International Rivers an NGO campaigning on these issues.
"International Rivers and the Environmental Defender Law Center worked to engage the US law firm Holland and Knight to represent the communities at the negotiations table. We continue to monitor the negotiations process and to support communities in all possible ways so that they can one day obtain the reparations they deserve."
Adam Curtis' latest (March 2007) documentary series The Trap explores the modern idea of freedom. It's interesting because he uses the example of US foreign policy in Nicaragua to show how a limited conception of freedom (as freedom from constraint) leads to the perverse belief that people can and should be forced to be free. This from Wikipedia:
"The final programme focussed on the concepts of positive and negative liberty introduced in the 1950s by Isaiah Berlin. Curtis briefly explained how negative liberty could be defined as freedom from coercion and positive liberty as the opportunity to strive to fulfill one's potential."
You can see the full programme here. Look out for contributions from Elliot Abrams, assistant US secretary of state 1981-1989 and Robert Parry, Associated Press reporter in Nicaragua in the 1980s.
I came across this really interesting and moving interview with Emilio Tojin Lopez of the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR). He's translated by Chris Benoit from NISGUA. This interview was produced by Talking Stick TV. Emilio Tojin Lopez talks about his experiences during the civil war in Guatemala and as a member of the community of Santa Maria Tzeja.
You can see in this video from about 8 years ago some more of the context to what Emilio Tojin was explaining. It shows the work and human cost of exhumations, part of the process of bringing those responsible to justice. This video was recently uploaded by CinimatecaOnline.
Over the past decade the CIW has uncovered, investigated and assisted in the prosecution of six slavery operations, secured the release of 1000 workers held in slavery, and successfully campaigned for corporate buyers to eliminate the existence of forced labour in their supply chains.
In the year that we are commemorating 200 years since the abolition of the slave trade in Britain, the Award also offers an opportunity to highlight the existence of slavery in developed countries.
The Award ceremony will be held on Wednesday 21st November at 7.30pm, at the Trades Union Congress, Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3L. Please register your attendence by calling +44 (0)20 7501 8936 or emailing g.wolfes [at] antislavery.org.
To ask the Secretary of State
for International Development what support his Department has given to
non-governmental organisation offices working with street children in Guatemala in the last 12 months.
In this thoughtful piece by Elizabeth Larsen, we are allowed to join with the author in her quest for those answers. The latest Mother Jones prints her story about adoption in Guatemala. The comments following the piece are also well worth the time.
A delegation of Guatemalan Congressmen embarked on a controversial trip to Canada, in an attempt to revive the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Canada and the isthmus countries.
The Canadian business sector is eager to push forward with the agreement and is hoping that once in power, the new Guatemalan government will place the issue at the top of its agenda. According to the official version of events, the delegation was invited by the Canadian-Guatemalan Chamber of Commerce in an attempt to boost Canadian investment in Guatemala.
However, a scandal erupted when the local press revealed that the Congressmen were in fact invited by Canadian financed oil corporation Quetzal Energy. more»
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the government of Guatemala on the level of violence against street children in that country.
Our embassy in Guatemala City, along with EU colleagues, regularly raises human rights issues with the Government of Guatemala. We continue to urge Guatemala to improve security and health provision for the most vulnerable sectors of society, including street children.
On 15 October the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) hosted a meeting between Guatemalan Vice President Eduardo Stein and Minister of Foreign Affairs Gert Rosenthal and several non-governmental organisations, including Christian Aid, Amnesty International and Casa Alianza.
The non-governmental organisations were able to put their concerns
directly to the delegation. Child rights and the problems faced by
street children including the alarming number of murders were
discussed. On 30 October,
FCO officials in London held a discussion forum with a number of
international child rights non-governmental organisations to identify
further opportunities for intervention.
On 25 September our Ambassador in Guatemala City, in partnership with EU ambassadors, met with Alvaro Colom (since elected as the next President of Guatemala).
They discussed a range of human rights issues. Our ambassador
emphasised the importance of improving the protection and rights of
children and undertook to develop this dialogue further with the new
administration. The FCO also sponsored a project earlier this year in
which 800 Guatemalan police officers were trained in the rights of
street children.
The mural Diego Rivera painted called the 'Glorious Victory' denouncing the US backed coup in Guatemala in 1954, was donated by Rivera to the then Soviet Union. The mural will be part of an exhibition called Diego Rivera, Epopeya Mural at the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City. The exhibition is timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the death of the Mexican artist.
This excellent weekly report can't be found on the web- we publish it here with kind permission from CDHG on this blog. INFORME SEMANAL SOBRE DERECHOS HUMANOS Comision de Derechos Humanos de Guatemala No. 34/07 2-8 November 2007
======================================= Fuentes directas CDHG, Prensa Libre, Siglo Veintiuno, El Periódico, Guatemala Hoy ======================================= CDHG 2 Av. 4-66, apto. C-4, zona 1. Tel/Fax: (502) 22203576 /22534285 E-mail: cdhg@intelnett.com =======================================
These are the headlines- for the full report click on 'more':
- Álvaro Colom ganó la presidencia; anuncia que convocará a acuerdo nacional
- APG denuncia amenazas contra periodistas de El Periódico
- A pesar de aumento de criminalidad existen pocas sentencias
- Las tarifas eléctricas se incrementaron
- Líderes denuncian asecho de empresas mineras en comunidades de Izabal
- Observadores de la UE presentan informe sobre segunda vuelta electoral more»
When the King of Spain told Hugo Chavez to "shut up" at the Ibero-American summit in Chile, it kind of felt like a symbolic moment, and then it was finished off with a regal flourish as the King walked out while Daniel Ortega was in full flow. A storm in a tea cup or just a scene from just any other school playground?
Personally, watching the video from the standpoint of a reader of body language - it's fascinating. Politicians always attempt to claim the higher ground for themselves and that's exactly what was on view when current Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero railed against Chavez's charge of fascist against former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.
More seriously and more worrying here is how poorly the issues are covered. To the BBC for example, it almost seemed incidental that the basis to Chavez' name calling was Spain's support for the coup in Venezuela in 2002. In one article on the exchange the BBC fails to mention the substance of Spanish support of a coup in Venezuela, in another it prefers simply to collect Chavez's verbals (again without any reference to issues or context like this from the New York Times) and in a third it refers to a 'brief' coup. As if coups can be brief. Let's not get into semantics, but it was the illegitimate government of Pedro Carmona in 2002 that was brief, not the coup. Coups either take place or they don't. What's also interesting is the ignoring of issues in the wider region. For example, a Spanish King turning his back and walking out on Daniel Ortega doesn't attract any attention, even though as far as schoolboy behaviour goes, it's as childish to runaway with your hands on your ears as it is to say shut up.
Finally today, the BBC's Martin Murphy ran an article that reflected on the incident from the weekend, only without any reflection. It contained the curious sentence:
"For a president whose role model is the Latin American independence hero Simon Bolivar it was particularly ignominious that a Spanish king treated him like a schoolboy."
That says it all. Deference is and has been everything for many years in international politics regarding Latin America. We should know who are betters are and accept it. Only now things are different with Chavez, and what might be outbursts for some or colourful quotations as the BBC puts it, are for others rare moments where we see that the Emperor, or indeed the King, has no clothes on after all.
"Pedro Zamora, General Secretary of the Guatemalan STEPQ dockers' union was shot 20 times by multiple assailants who ambushed him and his children on Monday, January 15. After firing 100 shots, one walked up to the wounded Zamora and shot him at point blank range in the face. Three-year-old Angel was wounded in the attack. Zamora's last act had been to push the children to the floor to try and protect them. Since the murder, the five surviving leaders of the STEPQ union have received telephoned death threats, that they are subject to surveillance. Their families are also being threatened."
Another trade unionist, Marco Tulio Ramirez Portela, was murdered recently (23-09-07). You can read an excellent article by Kimberley Kern on this case and what you can do to voice your concerns here.
“On September 23rd Marco Tulio Portela Ramirez, a union organizer, was brutally gunned down outside his home as he prepared to go to work at the Bandegua banana plantation, a subsidiary of Del Monte Fresh Produce.”
We just received this from French filmmaker Gregory Lasalle in Guatemala about video reports about the local referendum on proposed mining developments in the community of San Sebastian in Guatemala.
"Les mando aca los links de videos-reportajes realizados por periodistas comunitarios durante la consulta sobre mineria de San Sebastian en el Huehuetenango en la cual algunos miembros de CAIG participaron comoobservadores. De manera general seguimos preocupados de la manera como el (nuevo)legislativo y el gobierno de Alvaro Colom van a dar seguimiento legal a estas consultas realizadas al nivel municipal."
"The Marlin mine in Guatemala continued to demonstrate strong sequential improvement in its second year, with production increasing to 58,700 ounces of gold at total cash costs of $176 per ounce. Ore production from underground mining continued to ramp up, averaging over 1,100 tonnes per day. Construction of an additional leach tank designed to enhance silver recoveries is expected to come on line by the end of the fourth quarter."
US based Democracy Now! ran the following reaction to recent elections:
In an upset victory, Alvaro Colom, who ran on an anti-poverty platform, beat the hard-line retired General Otto Perez Molina with close to 53 percent of the vote. We get reaction from Guatemalan American writer Francisco Goldman. His new book "The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed the Bishop?" implicates the defeated Perez Molina in the 1998 murder of beloved Guatemalan human rights activist Bishop Juan Gerardi.
Alvaro Colom "es un hombre moderado" by his own standards- here we see him getting just a little bit emotional. I came across this set of interesting photographs from Surizar on Flickr aka Jacob Solís Urízar. It's great to get more images from Guatemala other than from the usual and more conventional sources like the wire services. Thanks Jacob!
Here are some of the things being said by Guatemalans around the blogosphere after the election of Alvaro Colom. These are rough non-scientific translations :-):
"Common sense is not that common." According to Voltaire and yesterday many Guatemalans lent weight to this view. In these historic presidential elections it's been demonstrated that many "Guatemalans never really knew who they should be voting against". It only remains for us to wish that the votes haven't been against Guatemala, our people, our future and the little bit of peace that we have left."
"I'm optimistic about the future of our society. Why? Well because with the passing of time, the free debate of ideas has allowed us citizens to mature. Today there are more of us who want to live in a society where goods and property, the elections and the lives of everyone are respected."
"I was never really a supporter of either of the two options available, I would have liked to have had Giammattei, and that for the first time in history we'd had a little bit of continuity."
Alvaro Colom demonstrates with actions what he's tirelessly repeated during three electoral attempts. However, deep down I know that what us Guatemalans have coming will be reason enough to moan and lament against the wailing wall.
"Personally, I don't particularly support either of the two candidates, but I believe that Colom is the lesser evil... now it just remains to wait for pigs to fly."
"How amazing, Guatemala has now got a new President! Let's continue to work and go further, the President doesn't have a magic wand to change things... it's up to us, the majority, let's continue to believe in Guate and support our new President."
"I don't know if another party had won I would feel so frustrated, but today that's how I feel. It frustrates me to see my country committing the same mistakes again and again. Electing parties that from the start seem so desperate for power and who make speeches which are completely unrealistic, just saying what the people want to hear, but not a lot about what exactly they're going to do."
Preliminary results from Sunday's run off give the presidency to Álvaro Colom of the Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza (UNE), or National Unity of Hope, party more»
This excellent weekly report can't be found on the web- we publish it here with kind permission from CDHG on this blog. INFORME SEMANAL SOBRE DERECHOS HUMANOS Comision de Derechos Humanos de Guatemala No. 34/07 Report 26 - 31 October
======================================= Fuentes directas CDHG, Prensa Libre, Siglo Veintiuno, El Periódico, Guatemala Hoy ======================================= CDHG 2 Av. 4-66, apto. C-4, zona 1. Tel/Fax: (502) 22203576 /22534285 E-mail: cdhg@intelnett.com =======================================
These are the headlines- for the full report click on 'more':
- Analistas alertan por presencia del crimen organizado en partidos
- Sala de apelaciones ordena a Tribunal que resuelva caso de extradiciones a España
- FENASTEG rechaza iniciativa de Ley de Servicio Civil
- Estudio ambiental revela riesgo ecológico en Guatemala
- CSJ ordena a TSE exigir finiquitos a funcionarios electos y reelectos more»
A profile of the two candidates going into the run-off in the Guatemalan elections on Sunday, Alvaro Colom and Otto Perez Molina. In addition there is a more detailed consideration of the allegations of human rights abuses against latter of these two candidates. more»
Guatemalans assess their country's political future in the wake of a general election on 9th September and await the second round of the Presidential election between Alvaro Colom from the National Unity of Hope party (UNE) and Otto Pérez Molina from the Patriot Party (PP). Here we give a flavour of the views represented in newspapers, blogs and other online media in Guatemala over the last month.
"The following factor which was very visible from the presidential election is the geographical spread of the vote. Colom obtained his victory [in the first round] from votes made by those in more socio-economic disadvantage, those living in rural areas and voters with low levels of education, along with a section of urbanites who fail to recognise a path for democracy in the military man Pérez Molina."
"In a way, members of the status quo are more comfortable with Colom because he's manageable; however Pérez Molina even though he's been known about since his involvement in the civil war in the 1980's, continues to be an unknown quantity: a military man and politician after power who, once dominated, may be manageable, all the more when he has the military under his control.
Despite this, there are divisions within those upholding the status quo. Some members of the business community are staying with Colom, but others like Multi-Inversiones [a large agro-industrial conglomerate] have already split their support. The [Juan Luis and Felipe] Bosch branch are still upset with the attack from Pérez Molina six months ago against one of their own, Carlos Vielman [ex-Interior Minister]... But the other side of the family represented by Dionisio Gutierrez [leading Guatemalan businessman and cousin of Juan Luis and Felipe Bosch] is with the PP. "
Editorial from Informe Guatemala – Fundacion DESC, edited by Edgar Gutierrez, journalist and ex-Foreign Minister, http://www.fundadesc.org/InformeG
"It was during Libre Encuentro [current affairs television programme] from yesterday evening that Anabella Giracca raised, albeit timidly, the question of the low inclusion of women and indigenous Guatemalans amongst the candidates up for election. Swiftly the gentlemen there, chaired by Dionisio Gutierrez who was happy to have the President of CACIF there on the programme, a Spanish guy who runs the political studies faculty at the Marro [Francisco Marroquin university] and Sholon Porras influenced by his participation in various right leaning governments, didn't give the subject the time of day."
"The surprising irrelevance of Rigoberta Menchú in the past election confounds the idea that racism was the basis for the rejection of her policies. Surely racism was part of it, there's no doubt, but not the most important part. Menchú lost the election totally before an electorate where indigenous Guatemalans are in the majority. What is hardest for our famous Nobel prize winner is that she's not a prophet in her land. If the elections had been in the United Nations, I bet she would have won."
"Rigoberta doesn't have a mass organisation behind her, a social movement, like Evo Morales had and has in Bolivia. She doesn't have a party structure that includes many regions in Guatemala."
"See, not everything is fine and dandy in the paradisiac lands of Guatemala. Real democracy is still over a century behind. In Guatemala, a woman could not get elected as president, just yet, although it has happened several times in Latin America (even in Central America). In Guatemala, an indigenous person could not get elected as president, just yet, although it has happened twice in the American continent with Benito Juárez and Evo Morales. In Guatemala, a person from the left could not get elected as president, just yet, even though most countries in South America and even Nicaragua in Central America have elected people from the left."
"Both Menchú [Presidential candidate for Encuentro por Guatemala (EG)] and Nineth Montenegro [leader of EG and congresswoman] attribute the failure of their participation to racism; but this hypothesis lacks any substance from the moment you look at the facts. In Quiche, Menchú only got 2.83% of the votes. En Uspantan their votes reached 2.78%. In Alta Verapaz, Sololá and Totonicapan, that like in Quiche where indigenous Guatemalans are in the majority, got 3.22%, 5.05% and 7.95% of the votes. If racism was a factor of any kind of importance, are the indigenous Guatemalans who didn't vote for Menchú racist? Another doubt that's worth mentioning is: of the sad 2.83% how many of the votes are for Menchú and how many for Montenegro."
"The election on 9th September in Guatemala demonstrated the absolute hegemony of the local oligarchy over the doings of the political parties. Financing of the parties and having their people in position such as vicepresidential candidates, the oligarchy managed to get two right wing options through to compete in the second round.
Perhaps the good thing about all this is that, at last, the agony of the mummified left is accelerated, and Menchú has just shown herself to be what she's always been: an ideological con based on playing the victim for external consumption.
These thoughts hold to a conviction that it's better to tackle the problems as they are, and not offer solutions full of false hope and self-deception. It's not possible to go any lower. We on the left have to start to get up on our feet but without international cooperation, and with the full engagement of the grass roots and to be able to represent the Guatemalan people."
"For what Rigoberta has built, it's not strange that in a country as class riven that the right would reject or use her; that in a country so racist the left would attack her; that in a country so macho her brothers would question her legitimacy and that in a country with so little conscience her sisters would envy her. Despite it all, Rigoberta returned to break the mould."
"It fell on us like a bucket of cold water, the last opinion poll in Prensa Libre [national newspaper] that projected the triumph of Otto Pérez Molina in the second round. An ignorant people and without memory gets dangerously close to the killer again thanks to indolence, cowardice and mediocrity of those who could avoid it...
The consequences of the now inevitable conflict aren't limited to electoral skirmishing, they'll become much more palpable in four more years of poisoning of an already putrid [political] environment, four more years of confrontation should Pérez Molina win an imminent return to the past and consolidation of impunity. As much as he'd like to distance himself, Pérez Molina isn't really any different from Rios Montt. He's got his hands stained with the same blood."
"[The candidates] policies are stuck in a wider policy that perpetuates the status quo of Guatemalan politics for four more years and will continue corrupting the weak Government institutions that make up the young democracy in Guatemala. For this reason no candidate is worthy of my vote and much less will I be prepared to vote for the one "that's the least worst option"."
"These weeks before the second round can also be a chance to do something innovative, never before done in Guatemala, but common in other countries: [build] a coalition government. In exchange for support one of the candidates could concede places in their cabinet to the other party and form a coalition government...
We're ready to witness whether the political parties and politicians who lead them have reached a level of maturity, where on the one hand, they all opt for a respectful and honourable campaign, while on the other, they're preparing the conditions to govern the country, and hopefully reach agreements that lead to development."
María Guerra, journalist, Este Pais (online magazine), www.este-pais.com
We just received the following press release from the Committee of Campesino Unity (CUC):
CONDENAMOS ASESINATO DE NUESTRO COMPAÑERO Y ALCALDE AUXILIAR DE LA COMUIDAD EL TROJE, COATEPEQUE QUETZALTENANGO.
Condenamos enérgicamente el asesinato de nuestro compañero Manuel López y López, sucedido el domingo 28 de octubre en el caserío El Troje del municipio de Coatepeque, departamento de Quetzaltenango. El compañero fue asesinado de 15 impactos de bala por dos desconocidos que se conducían en una moto. Nuestro compañero era miembro activo del CUC y actualmente Alcalde auxiliar de dicho caserío.
El Comité de Unidad Campesina CUC, condena este hecho de violencia, la que pretende silenciar las demandas de las comunidades sobre el cumplimiento de sus derechos laborales en el campo y la ciudad, la problemática de la tierra.
En los últimos años, miembros del Comité de Unidad Campesina han sido víctimas de asesinatos, amenazas e intimidaciones por parte de los diferentes grupos armados ilegales que se encuentran en distintas partes del país.
Los trabajadores y trabajadoras que procuran mejorar sus vidas mediante las actividades sindicales, organizativas ó comunales se enfrentan con crecientes niveles de represión e intimidación cada vez más en las diferentes regiones del país. Lo más preocupante, es que nadie de los responsables ha sido capturado, mucho menos enjuiciados.
POR LO QUE DEMANDAMOS DE URGENCIA
1. Investigación de estos hechos de sangre que a todas luces violaron los Derechos Humanos y que los responsables sean capturados y condenados con todo el peso de la ley.
2. Que estos hechos no queden impune y que el gobierno actual cumpla con las leyes Internacionales relacionados con el fiel cumplimiento a los Derechos Humanos.
3. Nos solidarizamos con las familias del compañeros caído y los instamos a seguir luchando por la paz y la democracia.
Welcome, Guatemala Solidarity Network (GSN) based in the United Kingdom supports the people of Guatemala who continue to struggle for change after centuries of oppression, violence, racism and exploitation.
You can keep in touch with all the news and views on Guatemala in many, many blogs and sources of information here via Pageflakes.
Christine Russell
Mike Hancock
Gareth Thomas
Meg Munn
