Niall Ferguson wrote the book and television series 'The War of the World' last year. In episode five of the series broadcast on Channel 4, Ferguson touched on Guatemala. The clip above is an edited excerpt from that episode.
Ferguson it seems recognises the displaced war and how relative peace has been in the second half of the 20th century.
"I try to argue in the epilogue that in many ways the Cold War wasn't cold at all; it was a third world war if you were in Guatemala or Cambodia or Angola. In fact, I call it the "Third World's war," because all that had happened was that violence was relocated to places that people in the dominant powers during the Cold War seldom saw. So violence didn't stop during the Cold War, and there is no reason to assume that it has stopped since the Cold War."
However, for Ferguson the source of war and conflict is not empire building per se- it is more a combination of factors; in particular ethnic conflict, economic volatility and empires in decline. It's a position that seems to ultimately absolve the US for the fall out of its actions in Guatemala.
"Empires are not just about the acquisition of natural resources. They are as much about the export of values, the export of their own civilization. That's a powerful motivation for the transformation of international orders through history.
I, rather boringly, take the view that empires are what historians should study because most of what we call history consists of the doings of empires. The nation-state is a relatively recent phenomenon, and it has achieved much less historically than empires. And yet, we don't understand empires terribly well, least of all in this country, which has a very strange attitude towards empire—a desire to regard them in moral terms, as either all good or all bad; whereas, empires are both, they are capable of being both good and bad.
I think the aspirations of American power have, by and large, been relatively good—aspirations, not always results—but there are other imperial powers that are much less interested in exporting the idea of individual liberty, and China stands out as one of those."
Ferguson's presentation of US involvement seems to put the emphasis on violence by proxy and as a consequence seems to downplay the CIA's responsibility for the genocide. However, that said just recognising the fact that for the majority of the world's citizens there has been no such peace during this time is still highly significant.
Benetech's Patrick Ball gave a talk to the people at Apache. In his speech he explained how his interest in playing a role in working to make technology support the pursuit of human rights causes was cemented in Guatemala. Patrick worked on developing the technological infrastructure needed to gather and process the data for the CEH report (Commission for Historical Clarification) in the mid 1990's. Benetech continues support human rights work in Guatemala in storing and analysing data from the processing of the files held in the National Police archives.
"The Benetech initiative emerged from a company in the 1980's that was building OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology to read snail mail. From this came the idea of writing a LAPP (Linux, Apache, PostgressSQL, PHP) software to read books to the blind, and to make it available at just the cost of the components used. Due to legal and copyright restrictions, the use of the application is currently limited to American users, but arrangements are afoot for extending use within Canada, Britain and even India.
Patrick Ball talks about the project that began his association with Benetech and then about a series of software projects undertaken for solving a gammut of problems ranging from adult literacy, secure data retention, encryption, transmission and replication, and statistical analysis. Benetech is a LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) shop that also heavily uses Python and Java for their work. They're always on the lookout for hiring bright software developers with those skills.
He speaks of the importance of free software in assisting the organization's efforts. Proprietary software encourages capital drain from the poor to the rich; free software reduces this imbalance of power and resources. With free software, the source code being available, users are guaranteed that there are no privacy violation issues and the software has no back doors."
These discussions are from another age- a time when the mainstream media discussed issues in Central America. These appearances of Noam Chomsky from the film documentary Manufacturing Consent seem even truer today- where all too often, television hosts call time and dismiss any discussion of the real issues of concern to Central Americans today.
Speaking for the UK it's probably true for Guatemala that of the national daily newspapers Guatemala has only made it on to the pages via the wire services like Associated Press or Reuters- albeit with a handful of exceptions. How often has Guatemala been mentioned in the UK media without mention of a natural disaster, violence, drugs or archeology? We should be demanding a more rounded coverage and debate of the world we're part of.
The report spelled out in black and white just how pronounced the problem of famine and malnutrition has been in Guatemala. Relative to other countries in Central America, Guatemalans have suffered the worst malnutrition consistently since 1965.
This is a great episode of the incredibly valuable Guatemalan series "Entremosle a Guate" on the subject of alternative sources of energy in Guatemala. Our recent post on biofuels got a clutch of comments- and it's worth broadening the debate beyond just biofuels in Guatemala. It's a land of all sorts of renewable sources of power such as geothermal and hydro electric explored in this episode.
This episode looks at the example of the use of geothermal power in the production of dried fruit by Agroindustrias La Laguna. It also looks at the construction of a micro hydroelectric plant in Chel, Quiche, by the Asociación Hidroeléctrica Chelense (AHC), founded in 2001 with the support of the Fundación Solar.
It's worth adding another powerful film 'Mayan Territories' made by Victoria Tai that provides an interesting insight into the work going on in the development of appropriate technology around and in Guatemala. The film's available to download from the AIDG website for a limited period.
Both videos point to the technological innovation currently taking place in Guatemala, and hint at the potential for change given the much needed investment and support.
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. 32/07 Del 17 al 23 de agosto de 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':
- Organizaciones: legislación laboral no se cumple
- Denuncian amenazas contra delegados del TSE; unos 65 alcaldes y candidatos han sido amenazados
- Presentan ante CIDH demanda contra el Estado de Guatemala, por detención ilegal
- PDH confirma crisis en hospitales nacionales
- San Marcos, preocupa contaminación de agua por minera
- Diputada presenta informe que señala poca ejecución en temas sociales more»
Here's a collection of the clips from John Pilger's latest documentary, 'War on Democracy' that reference Guatemala. You can read Pilger's own description of the genesis of the documentary on his website.
I got the impression that the film bit off just a little bit more than it could chew. Can you really compact the last 50 years of history of US-Latin American relations into an hour and a half? Guatemala is referenced pretty fleetingly. The 1954 CIA-led coup is a favourite of every documentary maker because it's such a stark, well documented, incontrovertible example of the US Government's disregard for democratic principles in it's foreign policy.
It's great to see US-Latin American relations getting some exposure on mainstream British television (even if it was shown at 11pm on ITV). If I have a criticism of the documentary, it's that the path it treads is pretty well trodden- Guatemala 1954, Castro and Cuba, Chile under Pinochet, Venezuela under Chavez and Bolivia in it's transition from Goni to Morales. It would have been a great opportunity to look at the diversity within Latin America as well as the similarities. Who knows about the story of Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Costa Rica, etc.?
Personally though, it would be great if a documentary filmmaker (preferably Guatemalan) were to produce a film following the thread from the 1954 coup through to the issues facing Guatemala today.
You can read a discussion about the film on Comment is Free. There's a handful of dates remaining for cinema's showing the film. A low resolution of the documentary has been posted on Google Video.
"Nuestro primer objetivo no es crear músicos profesionales. Nuestro objetivo es salvar a los chicos", dice Xavier Moreno, del sistema de orquestas juveniles de Venezuela, uno de los modelos de desarrollo humano más aclamados internacionalmente.
It was great to see (and hear) the Simon Bolivar Orchestra (Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar) at the Proms a few days ago. Much has been written about El Sistema in Venezuela as a long running social project broadening access to classical music training and building one of the best youth orchestras in the world.
You can hear more about the Simon Bolivar Orchestra broadcast by the BBC during the interval here. Unfortunately not available on the iPlayer.
Esta es la primera Orquesta Sinfónica Rural de Guatemala. Los músicos son jóvenes pertenecientes a la etnia maya K'aqchiquel que habitan en las comunidades de Zet y Santa Fe de Ocaña al sur de la capital guatemalteca. En esta zona está el Centro de Desarollo Artístico Infantil, que busca brindarle a las niñas y niños entre 6 y 17 años el derecho a tener acceso al arte y la música. PHOTO: BBC Mundo
It's great to hear about a new initiative by World Vision in Guatemala to create the orquesta sinfónica rural.
"Los músicos son niños y niñas indígenas de la etnia K'aqchiquel que dedican varias horas de su tiempo a desarrollar su talento musical. Tras poco tiempo de su existencia, la orquesta ya interpreta importantes piezas de la música clásica."
There are more photos here on the BBC Mundo website along with a short audio report in Spanish.
Background
Observer article - "Simon Rattle describes him as 'the most astonishingly gifted conductor he has ever met'. And yet 26-year-old Gustavo Dudamel grew up in poverty in Venezuela. Ed Vulliamy tells the story of El Sistema - a remarkable youth project which uses Beethoven and Brahms to save the children of the barrios" Review of the Proms Concert - Independent BBC Mundo feature on the Simon Bolivar Orchestra with video, photos and loads of articles and interviews
Graduate student Christine Dixon is seen in an ancient manioc planting bed that was buried and preserved under ten feet of ash following a volcanic eruption at the ancient village of Ceren in El Salvador. A volcanic eruption that buried a Mayan village 1,400 years ago preserved a manioc field -- the first evidence that the nutritious crop was cultivated by the ancient people, researchers said on Monday. PHOTO: REUTERS/University of Colorado at Boulder/Handout
The Guardian published this article on the recent potential insight into how Maya populations were sustained:
"A pre-Columbus settlement in El Salvador known as America's Pompeii appears to have answered the riddle of how Maya civilisation fed its multitudes.
Archaeologists have found buried beneath the volcanic ash a 1,400-year-old field of cassava, a tuber also known as manioc, which produces the highest yield of food energy of any cultivated crop.
If cultivation was commonplace throughout central America in that era, as researchers now suspect, it would explain how the Maya were able to build and sustain cities with such high population densities."
Despite the lucky find, there are many more questions to be answered, including why no victims of the volcanic explosion have ever been found at Ceren, despite some 30 years of excavations there.
[Prof. Payson D.] Sheets said the villagers may have been warned that the volcano was about to blow when rising lava turned underground water to steam. When the steam was forced out of cracks in the surface, it could have created a horrifying shriek that sent the Mayans fleeing, he explained.
Perhaps the villagers escaped unharmed, he added, or perhaps they were overtaken by the volcano's fast-moving cloud of ash and gases and their bodies haven't been discovered yet.
Sheets said he hopes these questions will be answered eventually, as continued digs at Ceren work to uncover the site's secrets.
"There's much more than I'll ever do in my lifetime," he said. "There's well over a century of research to be done there."
Speaking of the National Geographic, they have a brilliant feature this month on the rise and fall of the Maya which is a worth looking at for an overview of the current theories.
We just received this press release from Human Rights Ombudsman's Office in Guatemala. It details the threats that the recently reelected procurador Dr Sergio Morales has received.
AMENAZAS EN CONTRA DE LA INSTITUCIÓN DEL PROCURADOR DE LOS DERECHOS HUMANOS DE GUATEMALA
Guatemala, 23 de agosto de 2007
Hacemos del conocimiento público la situación de riesgo e intimidación por la que atraviesa la institución del Procurador y su titular en particular, debido a hechos amenazantes ocurridos en los últimos días, hechos provenientes de individuos no identificados y que ha continuación describimos:
HECHOS
El sábado 04 de agosto de 2007, aproximadamente a las 00:30 horas, individuos no identificados (2 ó 3 sujetos) intentaron ingresar al inmueble sede del Departamento de Educación, instalaciones anexas a la Sede Central de la PDH (12 Avenida y 13 calle esquina de la zona 1) ubicadas a 100 metros de la Sede Central en la 13 calle 12-48 zona 1, de la ciudad capital. La intervención de un agente de la Policía Nacional Civil asignado a la seguridad de la institución, pudo impedir el ingreso de los desconocidos, quienes al darse cuenta de la presencia de la seguridad optaron por abandonar el lugar.
El domingo 12 de agosto, a eso de las 12:40 horas, a plena luz del día individuos no identificados intentaron ingresar a las instalaciones de la Sede Central de la PDH ubicada en la 12 avenida 12-72 zona 1, (esquina entre la 12 avenida y la 13 calle) propiamente en el área que ocupa la Coordinación de Auxiliaturas. Los sujetos desconocidos forzaron el balcón de la ventana mencionada y rompieron el vidrio de esta. El personal de seguridad de turno actuó de inmediato y aseguró el sector de la 12 calle "A" con una inspección de las oficinas en dicha área de la Coordinación de Auxiliarturas y demás instalaciones de la PDH; pudieron corroborar la rotura del vidrio y la forzatura del balcón (de hierro). Obviamente los supuestos ladrones (probablemente más de un sujeto), huyeron del lugar ante la presencia de los elementos de seguridad.
De los hechos tuvo conocimiento el Ministerio Público tras haberse efectuado la debida denuncia.
El lunes 13 de agosto, aproximadamente a las 22:30 horas, el Dr. Sergio Fernando Morales, se trasladaba hacia su domicilio en un vehículo de uso oficial, Chrevrolet, Suburban, blindado, de modelo viejo. En el trayecto personal de su seguridad a bordo del vehículo que le seguía ("colero") le informó por teléfono que debían detenerse puesto que el vehículo Chevrolet en el cual viajaba el Procurador daba señales de fuego. Efectivamente, al detener los vehículos se percataron que el viejo Suburban sacaba llamas por debajo del motor. Al abrir la tapadera del motor vieron que de un lugar a la izquierda (lado del copiloto) salían llamas, que pudieron apagar; continuaron el viaje y en poco tiempo arribaron a la residencia del Procurador.
Pocos minutos después, a las 23:25 horas, en un teléfono celular de servicio asignado al Procurador, se recibió un mensaje anónimo, enviado por computadora, mensaje que dice textualmente: "no es blindada, el vehículo lo es, el blindaje se derrite con fuego y el cable se incendio ya lo vio y aprendio". El mensaje lleva al menos de forma aparente la firma de "caucho".
A las 23:28 horas, en el mismo celular se recibió por la misma vía de correo electrónico, un segundo mensaje que dice: "se que ahora su vehiculo esta inservible gracias a mi ingenuo de incendiar los cables de su suburban ", termina con la supuesta misma firma "caucho".
De los hechos, por amenazas, se presentó denuncia en el Ministerio Público.
El contexto del actual proceso electoral, a tres semanas de las elecciones generales del 9 de septiembre de 2007, está caracterizado por altos niveles de violencia y ha costado la vida a más de cuarenta personas que de manera directa o indirecta han estado relacionadas a la vida política en esta coyuntura electoral.
En este contexto resalta también el hecho de que, en medio de un debate nacional, recientemente en el Congreso de la República se aprobó el acuerdo que da vida a la Comisión Internacional contra la Impunidad en Guatemala –CICIG- firmado anteriormente entre el Gobierno de Guatemala y la Organización de Naciones Unidas y al cual durante meses (o cuatro años) se han opuesto sectores interesados en el mantenimiento de la impunidad y los negocios ilegales, o por sectores poco informados. Las primeras acciones para la conformación de una comisión de esta naturaleza (originalmente la CICIAS) surgieron hace cuatro años a instancias de esfuerzos conjuntos entre el Dr. Sergio Morales, Procurador de los Derechos Humanos y organizaciones de la sociedad civil. El Dr. Sergio Fernando Morales, tomó nuevamente posesión de su cargo el día 20 de agosto 2007 para iniciar en segundo mandato, período 2007 – 2012 como Procurador de los Derechos Humanos tras ser elegido nuevamente por el Congreso de la República como su Comisionado para la defensa y promoción de los derechos humanos.
Hacemos esta comunicación a la opinión pública y a las entidades de la comunidad internacional interesadas en la promoción y protección de los derechos humanos con el fin de mantenerla informada sobre los acontecimientos que pueden estar configurando una situación con repercusiones en el trabajo de promover y defender todos los derechos humanos en Guatemala.
Agradecemos los mensajes de solidaridad y apoyo que sean enviados.
'The indigenous Q'eqchi' community of Barrio Revolucion was among the six groups evicted during three rounds of forced evictions in November 2006 and January 2007. Canadian mining company Skye Resources, which acquired the controversial property rights granted in the 1960s by a repressive military dictatorship to International Nickel Company (INCO), sought the evictions. Decades after the brutal repression linked to the INCO nickel mine that operated briefly in the area in the late 1970s through 1981, State 'security' forces are once again being employed against the local Mayan population.
'By the light of the near-full moon in the early evening and of the lightening flashing through the torrential downpour into the night, Barrio Revolucion was gathering for a ceremony in honour of the ongoing collective process of rebuilding. Nearby, in the neighbouring municipality of Panzos, department of Alta Verapaz, the community of La Paz ('Peace') was also gathering in preparation for a simultaneous ceremony.'
The scene is set by this article by Sandra Cuffe of Rights Action posted on Upside Down World.
There are many articles on mining issues in Guatemala carried in this blog and you can find them here. They range from evictions to consultas [referendum], and from financial profit to spiritual loss.
Referencing Guatemala, Ramzy Baroud, in his article in Middle East online, talks about the art of war, democracy and public relations. In case we have forgotten, ‘since World War II, the US government and corporate America have carried the democracy banner whenever they sought war and profits. While doing so, the CIA has managed to topple many popular, democratic governments around the world, replacing them with handpicked puppet regimes’. We need to keep reminding ourselves of the reality, despite the best endeavours of the industry in ‘manufacturing consent’.
"It was Edward Bernays who fine-tuned the art of Public Relations in the twentieth century. Using many of the psychoanalytic theories put forward by his uncle Sigmund Freud, he developed a mastery of public manipulation, suggesting that such manipulation was essential to democracy itself. Bernays strongly believed that people are simply 'stupid' and in need of being told how to behave, what to believe, what to eat, what to wear and how to vote. The outcomes of such an experiment reverberate to this day.
Some historians credit Bernays' efforts in the 1920s and 30s for turning the modern citizen into a modern consumer. Not only did he convince Americans that a 'hearty breakfast' must include eggs and bacon, as opposed to the traditional toast and coffee, he also managed to persuade women at the time that cigarettes were a symbol of man's power and domination; to challenge the male sense of superiority, women needed to smoke. A few public stunts later, sales of cigarettes (which Bernays termed 'torches of freedom') soared, eventually doubling the market for tobacco manufacturers, who, amongst many other businesses, were Bernays' clients.
It was only natural that such tactics would soon become politicized. Various presidents and presidential candidates utilized Bernays' theories and services in the interests of power and profit, though some did try to outset the increasing influence of big businesses on American democracy. Roosevelt's New Deal in the early 1930s - which purported to reengage the citizen as a vital component in a functioning democracy - was resented by the corporations, and they ferociously fought to win consumers back and defeat the democratic initiative. Ultimately, they succeeded.
It didn't take long for Bernays tactics to be exported internationally. Guatemala is a textbook example; when the country was ready to embrace serious popular change in the 1950s, with democratically elected President Jacobo Arbenz implementing equitable land reforms that ran counter to the interests of the US United Fruit Company (which was naturally unwilling to concede its highly profitable 'Banana Republic'), media manipulators back home immediately set about to convince Americans that Arbenz somehow posed a threat to American democracy. A CIA engineered coup deposed the elected president and installed its operative Castillo Armas, who was hailed by visiting US Vice President Richard Nixon as a 'liberator.'
Freud's Civilization and Its Discontents argues that man's subconscious desires would be utterly violent and sadistic if uncontrolled; his nephew suggested the cure was to curb these desires in a way that generated immense profits. Successive US administrations have taken note and their greatest achievement has been to exploit the subconscious factors that infuse fear and paranoia amongst the masses. Wars have been undertaken, regimes overthrown, and bombs dropped in the midst of sleeping populations, all in the name of democracy.
What Bernays brazenly dubbed 'managing consent' - and Chomsky and Herman more honestly referred to as 'manufacturing consent' - remains the defining factor that subverts true democracy in the US, and often leads to the most violent consequences in countries that fall under the US sphere of influence. Despite serious public efforts to counter the anti-democratic union between the state and corporations in the 1960s and 70s, the latter managed to prevail, using direct repression at times, but also by underhandedly exploiting the same discontented popular movements to promote their ideas and products; this tactic has manifested itself invariably every time a discord between the state and corporation on one hand and the people on the other took place.
A more recent example is the way in which President Bush has constantly attempted to manipulate to his advantage the anti-war movement which opposed his 2003 invasion of Iraq. His logic - also used by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair - was simple yet most deceptive: the war in Iraq is aimed at achieving the same kind of democracy that allows millions of Americans to disagree peacefully with their government without facing persecution, as they would under Saddam. While one finds laughable the deduced notion that Iraqis are now reaping the benefits of democracy, one can hardly deny that Bush's logic took hold among many, even those opposed to the war Such dialectics managed to shift the debate in many circles from the illegitimacy of the war and its true intentions to altruistic arguments about how 'the world is better off without Saddam'. This type of manipulation is anything but new and is hardly exclusive to the Iraq case.
Since World War II, the US government and corporate America have carried the democracy banner whenever they sought war and profits. While doing so, the CIA has managed to topple many popular, democratic governments around the world, replacing them with handpicked puppet regimes. The Palestinian elections in January 2006 were the closest the region had seen of true democratic elections in many years, and yet the fact that it was Hamas - who violently fought the Israeli military occupation and who strongly opposed US policies in the region – elected to power justified an entire population being starved, physically confined and violently oppressed by Israel, with the full support of the US and the world's banking system. The Palestinian experiment is unlikely to conclude soon, but the outcomes have been utterly devastating thus far.
Edward Bernays' direct influence is long gone, but his ideas continue to define the relationships between the corporations, the American state and the consuming citizen on one hand, and the state-corporations' union and the rest of the world on the other. The carefully managed relationships have undermined democracy and unleashed sadistic wars and uncontrollable violence, of which Freud had warned, but which his nephew shamelessly exploited.’
Background
You can see a clip from Edward Bernays' "Banana land" in this previous entry on the blog
- UVOC exige al gobierno que investigue asesinato de campesinos
- Alcalde del PAN, y candidato de la UCN fueron asesinados
- Investigación involucra a militares en atentado contra vocero de la UNE
- Lluvias causan graves daños en Alta y Baja Verapaz; CONRED declara alerta institucional
- Conmemoran Día de los Pueblos Indígenas
- Agenda de derechos humanos more»
It was all so different five months ago- Alvaro Colom looked like he was going to walk it. Now with less than a month out from the first round of the Guatemalan elections, it's anyone's guess. Although Otto Pérez Molina is predicted to be at least 10 percentage points off the pace in the first round, it all changes with forecasts for a second round run off between Pérez Molina and Colom. The gap narrows to just 2 percentage points- Colom is first with 41.4 per cent, followed by Pérez Molina with 39.3 per cent.
This has been reported by Angus-Reid- their source is Demoscopía/Siglo XXI. The methodology: was interviews to 1,216 Guatemalan adults, conducted from Jul. 29 to Aug. 8, 2007. Margin of error is 2.8 per cent.
A previous opinion poll published by Prensa Libre 25-07-2007 showed much the same distribution of votes for first round and second round- but incredibly- included around 40% of people polled who said they didn't know, hadn't decided, didn't want to vote for any candidate or wanted to keep their vote secret. However, in this latest poll published by Siglo XXI the don't knows, not decideds, keep secrets is only 15.3%. Are more people deciding who to vote for? Or is this just reflecting a difference in the methodology of the pollsters?
Either way it points to a potential surprise on the real polling day.
Written by Kimberley Kern This month, the national genocide case against Rios Montt and his high command had an exciting move forward.
“Plan Sofia,” is an old military document that outlines the plans for the eradication of indigenous communities in the Quiché region of Guatemala in the years 1981-82. It reveals that Ríos Montt signed the orders for the massacres of the towns of El Quetzal, Huehuetenango and Chicamán, Quiché. More than 300 died in El Quetzal, and 92 people died in Chicamán. After these documents were leaked to the public in March, Rios Montt´s lawyers filed a motion in April arguing to keep them classified so they could not be used as evidence in the case.
"The documents detailing Plan Sofia clearly illustrate an explicit chain of command, with Rios Montt at its head, through which orders of mass extermination were communicated at the height of the conflict" said Catherine Norris, an organizer with the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) in Washington D.C.
On July 16th, many co-workers and I, attended a public hearing of the genocide case, solicited by the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR). Arguments were heard from the legal representatives of the AJR and the lawyer representing the Ministry of Defense, who argued that the 25-year old documents should be kept secret for national security purposes. During the hearing, the judge asked lawyer for the Ministry of Defense, "If the acts were committed in 1982, why do they continue to be classified as state secrets?”
On July 19th, the First Court of Appeals in Guatemala denied the motion filed by Ríos Montt and said that archived military documents must be submitted as evidence in the national genocide case against him. According to the judge, the argument that “Plan Sofia” is a state secret is invalid because releasing them would not compromise the current security of the state and the crimes have already been committed.
Honestly, this news came as a shock to many of us. The level of impunity in the government and disorganization in the judicial system is a sad reality in Guatemala. There are no legal limits to appeals filed against these cases, which makes the judicial process very slow and long. But, with these documents in the hands of the prosecution, the case is more likely to be successful in the end. With this turn of events, the members of the AJR have been re-inspired to keep fighting for justice.
THE COMMUNITIES OF SAN JOSE RIO NEGRO (SJRN)
In addition to living and working in Santa Maria Tzejá (SMT), every 3-4 weeks my partner and I embark on a hike to visit survivors and witnesses of the AJR who live in five different Q’eqchi’ communities. This excursion is an incredible opportunity to observe the spectacular rolling hills and extraordinary views of the Ixcán, full of trees and miles upon miles of cornfields, set on steep slopes. The rainy season is beginning here and traveling through the mud is also always an adventure. We have the good fortune to visit and spend time with families and communities whose lives and stories are so different from SMT. For example, in contrast to living with one hundred families in SMT, these tiny villages consist of 20-30 families each.
Since the communities of SJRN have little exposure to outsiders, they have fewer resources and their homes and lifestyles are much more humble. The survivors of the SJRN massacre and their communities did not flee to Mexico during the conflict; rather they were internally displaced. Community members hid in the mountains or were resettled in model villages. The homes are smaller, the communities less organized and education is not a priority like it is in SMT. Many young men and some of the younger children who have had the opportunity to attend elementary or middle school are able to speak Spanish, but most of the women only speak the native language, Q’eqchi’. This makes them very different from the returnee communities of the Ixcán, which are often multi-lingual with many Spanish-speaking members and an acceptance of the accompaniers’ presence as a fact of the Return Accords. This language barrier has been an enormous challenge and many daily interactions between the women and me are through broken Q’eqchiand sign language…. lots of smiling and nodding as well. When I first arrived, I studied two weeks of Q’eqchi’ and have since learned more from the families that we visit. It is interesting to compare this language with the one spoken in SMT, K’iche’, because many words are the same, or similar. I feel the most out of my element when we are visiting these communities, but I have also enjoyed the opportunity to step completely out of my comfort zone and challenge myself to try to communicate. Even though I mostly receive smirks and laughter when I struggle to speak Q’eqchi’, I know that the families also really appreciate that I try. They are among the warmest people I have ever encountered.
This is a brief summery of their story:
In 1982, the victims of the massacre of San José Rio Negro (SJRN) were working and living on two farms: El Remolíno and SJRN. In March of that year, members of the Guerilla Army of the Poor (EGP) arrived on the Romolíno farm and held a meeting in which they demanded that the workers collaborate with them. After the meeting they burned the farm’s cardamom dryer as well as supplies of rice and beans, and returned to the jungle. The workers were afraid that the army would blame them for the burning of the dryer and decided to flee to another farm, San Isidro. The men boarded canoes that they found by the river without noticing that “EPG” was painted on their sides. Shortly before arriving at San Isidro, they were apprehended by soldiers on the riverbank of the SJRN farm.
The workers on the SJRN farm were peasants who were already displaced by the internal conflict and who were assured by the owner that they would be safe there. However, in 1982 guerillas arrived to warn the workers that the army was coming to massacre them. Unfortunately, many workers were under the impression that only Catholics (often suspected of being guerillas or guerilla sympathizers) would be targeted and killed. Some workers fled but most decided to stay. Later, the army arrived by helicopter and stayed for a week. On the third day they began to kill the workers they had captured from El Romolíno and SJRN.
An ex-soldier who claims to have participated in the massacre says that some people were decapitated, some shot with bullets and others chopped to death. Survivors report to have heard machine guns, bombs and screams and seen smoke coming from the site of the massacre. When family members returned after the soldiers left, they found that their houses had been completely destroyed and discovered a freshly-dug grave, encircled by vultures and women’s clothes.
COMMEMORATION OF THE MASSACRE OF SAN JOSE RIO NEGRO
“It is important to continue remembering what happened to us in the past. Every year we gather so our children will know what happened here. If we choose to forget, they will never know our history”. -Mario-
In addition to accompanying witnesses of the AJR, we also accompany and visit community members engaged in their locally organized human rights organization. ADEREMCO stands for the Association of Development of the Uprooted and Re-established Communities of the Micro-regions of Q’iche and Alta Verapaz. Formed in 1999 during the exhumations of the victims of the massacre, its mandate is to seek justice for the victims of the massacre, exhume the bodies of the victims who have not yet been found, demand reparations, seek to restore their communities social fabric damaged by the civil war and promote development and land ownership in the affected communities.
Every year, these communities gather together to commemorate and remember the family members and friends who were killed during the conflict. As in SMT and the many other communities who suffered, this is an important occasion not only to remember the dead, but to reignite the ongoing fight for justice.
Mario, a member of the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) and a resident of SMT, spoke at the ceremony which consisted of a Catholic Mass, a community dinner and a dance featuring a live marimba band. “We cannot stay silent. We are not animals. We are human beings!” He was speaking about the fact that 200,000 Mayan people were killed in a bloody war in which the heads of State at that time have still not been punished.
ELECTIONS 2007
In September, the 2007 presidential and regional elections will take place in Guatemala. It’s an interesting time to be in the country because, although some people have written off the government as corrupt and not worth their time to vote, many people are still talking about politics.
There are about 16 major political parties running in the presidential and municipal elections. Each one is differentiated by a different symbol, and when arriving at the polling stations, the symbol is what the population will actually vote for. Of course, this means that most uniformed or illiterate voters will simply check the symbol they have seen the most… which are everywhere… on posters in stores, gigantic billboards and even painted on trees and rocks along the highways.
I have recently attended several talks about the current political situation in Guatemala in relation to the upcoming elections. One conversation that keeps resurfacing in discussions, and which I find very interesting, is the question: “Who funds the political parties?”
Guatemala has a very high concentration of income and wealth in a few hands, which makes it one of the most unequal in the world. With no effective distribution mechanisms, and with low wages and low employment, the majority of Guatemala’s population lives in extreme poverty and exclusion from resources like education. This concentration of wealth has produced increasingly powerful economic groups that use their power to influence the political scene and exercise control over the State. These groups are owned and run by a few families; the two main families are Gutierrez and Bosch.
Together, these businessmen allied with foreign interests, own the 30 largest companies in Guatemala. The two front-running parties, Unidad Nacional de Esperanza (UNE), National Unity for Hope, and Partido Patriota (PP), Patriots Party, have each received around $5 million from these two families. Encuentro por Guatemala, (EG), Gathering for Guatemala, the party of Rigoberta Menchú, has also received a large sum of money from these two families. This very basic look at the financial foundation of the elections implies that no matter who wins, these parties continue to be controlled by the same big-business interests.
I hope that all of you are happy and healthy in your lives.
Peace, kimika
BECOME A HUMAN RIGHTS ACCOMPANIER
In the UK
You can find out more information here: http://www.guatemalasolidarity.org.uk
In the USA
NISGUA is one of many organizations around the world that employs accompaniment as a vital tool in the global struggle for the respect of human rights. In the Guatemalan context, accompaniment creates a non-violent response to the threats, harassment, and violence faced by survivors of Guatemala’s 36-year-long civil war and grassroots organizations working for justice and human rights. To this end, NISGUA’s Guatemala Accompaniment Project (G.A.P.) places long-term volunteer’s side-by-side with people in rural communities and with organizations in an effort to deter human rights violations. The dissuasive physical presence of accompaniers provides a measure of security and creates space for Guatemalan communities and groups to organize in defense of their rights. Accompaniers also monitor and report on the human rights situation and alert the international community to abuses.
If you yourself, or someone you know, may be interested in becoming a human rights accompanier for the AJR, please see this link for more information on the application process and details of G.A.P: http://www.nisgua.org/get_involved/join_gap/human_rights_accompanier/
The application deadline to attend the next training (October 14-21st) is August 17th.
How do you portray the subject of violence? Is there a right way to cover something that's so fundamentally wrong? It was watching hard man actor Ross Kemp's foray into documentary making (of all places) that got me thinking about this.
He made a programme on gang violence in El Salvador as part of an ongoing series on the subject for Sky One. It was broadcast in November 2006- I was unfairly disparaging as it turns out. I think the programme he made was actually not as gung ho gratuitous a shock and awe exposition of the subject as I thought it was going to be.
Analysts warn that twenty years after the signing of the peace accords in Central America, which ended years of civil war, the economic and social causes of those wars still exist, and could represent potential threats to peace and stability in the region. Economist Miguel Gutierrez stated that "little has changed" with respect to poverty and social inequality, since the signing of the 1996 peace accords. This Inter Press Service article argues that "economic and social marginalization and the need for regional integration" are still the most critical issues today. more»
There are currently 184 textile maquilas in Guatemala and they employ a combined total of 70,000 people, 80 percent of whom are young women, according to a source with the Guatemalan Exporters Association’s (Agexport) Apparel and Textile Industry Commission (Vestex).
Inés Benitez writes in IPSNews about female labour exploitation in the textile factories in Guatemala, known as maquiladores or maquilas.
more»
Independent investigators charge that the vast majority of present-day atrocities against women have been committed by current or former members of the Guatemalan intelligence services. Having escaped prosecution for human rights violations during the internal war, these trained killers are now members of private security forces or police and paramilitary units that have been strongly implicated in the crimes of the last seven years.
more»
Amnesty International UK has just published a 32 page report documenting a recent wave of human rights abuses:
The level of threats, intimidation, attacks and killings of activists in Honduras and Guatemala who campaign to defend the rights of marginalised communities is reaching 'worrying proportions' said Amnesty International today (8 August) as it published its new report.
Amnesty International's report - Persecution and Resistance: The experience of human rights defenders in Guatemala and Honduras - exposes a systematic pattern of attacks against those who defend the rights of marginalised communities, including indigenous peoples and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
Director of Amnesty International's Americas Programme, Susan Lee, said:
'Those who protect others from suffering human rights violations end up suffering abuses themselves. The insecurity of human rights activists in Honduras and In Guatemala is reaching worrying proportions.
'Threats, intimidation, unfounded criminal charges and killings of activists in Honduras and Guatemala are designed to stop them from protecting people's rights, particularly when their work goes against powerful economic interests,' said Susan Lee.
# Read a copy of the report Persecution and Resistance: The Experience of Human Rights Defenders in Honduras and Guatemala # Take action to protect human rights defenders at risk in Honduras # Listen to an audio report from human right defender Dina Meza
A giant walking condom takes its chances against a 15 ft bright orange and blue HIV virus, and it's a fight to the end in front of the audience of teenagers and families in rural Guatemala.
This is just an average working day for the educational Proyecto Payaso, Colectivo Atz’anem k’oj clowns as they travel the country to promote safe sex and communicate HIV and AIDS information. Don’t forget to have a look at the short video and, of course, the logo. more»
This is clip from Guatevision's news broadcast on 01-08-07 about the CICIG decision. This is how Human Rights First described the decision on CICIG in Guatemala:
"The Guatemalan Congress vote August 1 to approve an international commission of experts to help investigate and prosecute organized crime is a groundbreaking decision, according to Human Rights First, a New York-based international human rights organization."
"Approval today of the joint Guatemalan – United Nations Commission against Impunity (CICIG) brings to a close almost five years' worth of wrangling over its establishment. The hybrid Commission is the first of its kind and has important functions to determine the extent of the illegal security organizations and their relations with State entities. It will also strengthen Guatemalan judicial institutions by assisting in the investigation and prosecution of such groups."
"The relatively small Commission will be headed by an individual appointed by the U.N. Secretary-General. It will consist of both international and Guatemalan investigators, forensic experts, prosecutors and jurists familiar with human rights, criminal and international law. It will have a renewable mandate of two years."
El Periodico pieces together the story of how the CICIG finally came together:
La tormenta se hizo perfecta de una manera insólita. En los seis diputados integrantes de la Unión del Cambio Nacionalista (UCN) que asistieron al pleno esa mañana del miércoles 1 de agosto, quedó la decisión. Tras titubeos, llamadas telefónicas y discusiones entre dos de ellos en los pasillos, hicieron la mayoría calificada. Así se escribió esa historia y, el día después, arrancaron los cabildeos en Nueva York para que la CICIG tenga cara y agenda.
The UN representative Beat Rohr estimates that it's going to take 6-12 months for the CICIG to get started:
El coordinador residente del sistema de las Naciones Unidas en Guatemala, Beat Rohr, calculó hoy que tomará de seis a doce meses el inicio del trabajo de la Comisión Internacional contra la Impunidad, que se encargará de investigar a los grupos clandestinos en ese país.
Ayer, el Congreso guatemalteco aprobó un decreto que da la luz verde a esa entidad responsabilidad de la ONU.
Rohr explicó que estará encabezada por un Comisionado nombrado por el Secretario General de la ONU, Ban Ki-moon, una vez que el presidente guatemalteco sancione el decreto y que la cancillería avise a las Naciones Unidas que puede proceder.
Roberto Garretón wrote this in El Periodico about the CICIG. He's in the Comité Asesor of Secretary General of the UN against the Prevention of Genocide.
Photo: Guatevision - Noticias
The way presidential candidate after presidential candidate came on board before the CICIG vote in Congress to support, has all the feel of an important shift in the tide in Guatemalan politics. The sight of Rios Montt and his daughter not getting their way and not being able to game the Guatemalan political system for once is a remarkable moment in its own right.
Efrain Rios Montt during his time as President of Guatemala 1982-3 addressing the country in one of his many infamous television broadcasts Photo: When The Mountains Tremble
Se acordó hacer la mesa de diálogo en la banqueta de la calle, en frente del edificio ocupado.
We received this press release from CUC:
LAS POLITICAS IMPLEMENTADAS DE ESTE GOBIERNO NO RESUELVEN LA CONFLICTIVIDAD AGRARIA.
Durante este gobierno se ha dado una oleada de desalojos violentos, asesinatos y persecución de los dirigentes de las comunidades que luchan por la recuperación y defensa de la madre tierra.
La política de desagrarización de la conflictividad Rural no se resuelve con la creación de otros fondos como el caso de la reactivación de la economía campesina, la compra de fincas rápidas sin profundizar en la certeza jurídica de la propiedad, los programas de arrendamiento de tierras, por parte del MAGA; por otra parte está la política de créditos individuales por parte del Fondo de Tierras, la creación de los centros de arbitraje agrario que sólo vienen a generar dispersión y gastos innecesarios para evadir de fondo la crisis agraria.
Por otra parte, la compra de tierras improductivas, la sobrevaloración de tierras, la falta de capital de trabajo, la facilitación de los medios de producción que han accesado a la tierra ha agudizado más pobreza y extrema pobreza en el campo y la ciudad. Por lo anteriormente expuesto,
SOLICITAMOS
1.Suspender las amenazas de desalojos a las comunidades que han accesado a tierras por parte del Fondo de Tierras y Banrural. 2.La renegociación de los créditos atorgados a través del Fondo de Tierras, en base a un nuevo avalúo de las fincas. 3.La condonación de las deudas de algunas fincas que no tienen posibilidades de pago.
¡La tierra es Nuestra Madre, no se compra ni se vende, se recupera y se DEFIENDE!
Comité de Unidad Campesina CUC, miembro de CNOC, MICSP, WAKIB’ KEJ, CLOC Y Vía Campesina
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.
When an eleven-year old girl comes home from school to tell you the price of tortillas in Zacapa, you know that something is amiss. All of her friends, her parents and neighbors have only one thing on their minds – the rising cost of food. more»
Three years into its existence, the Marlin Gold Mine has produced a long list of social problems for the local communities in the municipality of San Miguel Ixtahuacán.
“Is this the kind of development we want? What are we to negotiate? There is nothing to negotiate! Can you negotiate life? I do not think you can negotiate life. Health can not be negotiated. In this case, human lives are at risk. Mining is not the model of development we need in our communities. There are other ways to create development in the communities of San Miguel.”
This photo-essay by James Rodriguez, an independent photo-journalist based in Guatemala, can be found at MiMundo.org.
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.
