/* Written 9:26 PM May 29, 1990 by gsleicher in igc:reg.guatemala */ /* ---------- "Cerigua Briefs" ---------- */ CERIGUA WEEKLY BRIEFS, MAY 21-27, 1990 The upcoming encounter between Guatemalan political party leaders and representatives of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG), to be held in Madrid, Spain from the 28th to the 31st of this month, was commented on favorably in political circles this week. The chairman of the Social Democratic Party, Mario Solorzano, stated that he was optimistic about the peace negotiations, of which the Madrid meeting is the second phase. Solorzano said he believes that all the branches of society are involved in the peace process initiated in March in Oslo, Norway. At that time the Basic Accord for Achieving Peace Through Political Means was signed by delegations from the insurgency and from the National Reconciliation Commission (CNR). Carlos Chavarria of the Revolutionary Party said there is considerable consciousness among the parties regarding the importance of the talks, which he believes could be the gateway to restoring peace in Guatemala. Later in the week, the chairman of the Party for National Renewal, Renan Quinonez, referred to the negotiations as "a significant promise for peace". The delegate to the talks for the ruling Christian Democrats, Catalina Soberanis, said the party regards next week's meeting as the first in a series of prolonged negotiations during which many points will be brought up, all of them requiring solutions. The end of the war, Soberanis affirmed, "must be the outcome, not the starting point, of the dialogue process to fulfill the Esquipulas II Accords". The National Centrist Union Party expressed its relief that the polarized positions in which only a military solution is possible have finally given way to dialogue. The daily El Grafico's May 23 editorial described the call made by the CNR to the nation's political parties as "a golden opportunity for the reconciliation of the Guatemalan family" and said that organized labor and the entire citizenry must support the process. Speaking for the students of the University of San Carlos, the largest university in Guatemala, the Association of University Students (AEU) indicated that "the existence of an internal armed conflict cannot be denied; this war has gone on for thirty years at a cost of more than 80,000 lives, and therefore we express our hopes for the dialogue process". The heads of the Guatemalan Catholic and Protestant Churches issued a joint statement in which they advised the political parties delegation to assume their role as "generators of political solutions" before prioritizing the electoral value of their participation. "It is possible to achieve not only the end of the war but, above all, to touch upon the fundamental causes of the conflict and alternative viable solutions that will favor the entire society, especially the most unfortunate," the religious leaders affirmed. The country's largest grassroots organization, United Labor and Popular Action (UASP), summoned both the political parties and the insurgency, as well as the mediating CNR, to "establish real and concrete bases" to give the Guatemalan people back their fundamental rights. In fact, even the United States government supports the CNR- URNG peace process, according to a letter sent by Under Secretary of State for Latin American Affairs Bernard Aronson to Monsignor Rodolfo Quezada, president of the CNR and moderator for the Madrid talks. As for the army, the new Defense Minister, General Juan Bolanos, and the members of the armed forces high command had a lengthy exchange of opinions with the political delegation and the CNR representatives regarding the upcoming talks with the URNG. The only discordant tone came, predictably, from the extreme right-wing Movement of National Liberation Party, whose "maximum leader" Mario Sandoval said he was going to Madrid "with authority and good faith" to demand an immediate cease- fire and to negotiate peace without touching on past causes or responsibilities. Sandoval insisted that the URNG has not "managed to obtain legitimacy, credibility or political, diplomatic and military recognition". The presidential candidate for the also right-wing Party for National Advancement, Alvaro Arzu, did not go as far as Sandoval in his statements, but did challenge the URNG to "prove that it is willing to reach peace". Carpio: Army Violates Human Rights The presidential candidate for the National Centrist Union Party, Jorge Carpio, admitted in an interview in Washington, D.C. that the Guatemalan army commits frequent human rights violations in its counterinsurgency operations, as is denounced by human rights organizations. Speaking before a large group of journalists, Carpio confirmed that President Vinicio Cerezo has had a hard time imposing the civilian government's control over the armed forces. Both in the city and in the countryside, the numbers of extrajudicial executions, kidnappings, illegal arrests, threats and other violations of the right to life continue to climb. A column in the May 24 edition of the daily El Grafico asserted that little or no positive action is taken by those responsible for the citizens' security. On the contrary, police action against those protesting the transportation strike resulted in dozens wounded and arrested (see item on bus strike below). A total of 148 human rights violations were reported this week, an unusually high figure even for the rate maintained during the past year. Outright murders alternate with extrajudicial executions in the statistics, all equally unpunished. An army sergeant, apparently stationed at the Poptun military base in the northern Peten province, walked into a restaurant in that town and shot an 18-year-old girl, killing her instantly. Many of the troops stationed at the Poptun base, one of the largest army bases, belong to the elite "kaibil" corps, denounced by international organizations as responsible for thousands of human rights violations. The bodies of four unidentified youths were found, two under a bridge in the southwestern province of Retalhuleu, where they had been dumped from a car. They had died by torture. Six others were killed by firearms, all in the same day. Four men from the town of Santiago Atitlan in the western province of Solola were executed extrajudicially in the neighboring district of Cerro de Oro. This region has been the scenario of counterinsurgency campaigns by the army since 1979, and three permanent garrisons are there, including one located a few kilometers from where the bodies were found. A family in the western province of San Marcos has suffered the loss of seven of its members, four of whom have been killed outright and three kidnapped and later found dead. Kidnapped Victim Found Injured in Ravine A man who had been kidnapped earlier by armed men was found injured in a ravine in Guatemala City during a search initiated by firefighters on request by the Mutual Support Group for Relatives of the Disappeared (GAM). GAM's request was actually intended to verify reports that Luis Miguel Solis, a member of both this organization and the Guatemalan Council of Displaced Persons (CONDEG), who was kidnapped on May 3rd, had been left in the area, but another victim was found instead. Joselino Orozco said he spent the night walking after his captors abandoned him in the ravine. His young nephew, apparently kidnapped with him, remains missing. Refugees' Demands Endorsed by Canadian Churches The Conference of Canadian Churches asked the government of their country to intercede on behalf of more than 40,000 Guatemalan refugees who live in camps in southern Mexico. They have sought refuge there after fleeing from their homes in the regions where the army has applied its counterinsurgent policy during more than a decade. To this day, the refugees are unwilling to return to their homes and communities, convinced that the conditions which forced them to leave remain unaltered. The Permanent Commissions, which the refugees have instituted for their representation, have enumerated the requirements for returning to Guatemala: their legitimate right to property of their lands must be respected, as well as their right to organize; the government must guarantee their lives and safety; and the only government officials in their communities must be civilians, with the army forbidden entrance to their lands. Permanent international verification groups must be authorized as well. They also demand that, beginning immediately, their representatives have freedom of movement and association when they return to Guatemala to take part in the National Dialogue. Human Rights Organizations Demand End of Repression A public statement was signed by forty-two humanitarian organizations which declared that it will be difficult to find a parallel in modern history to the number and nature of human rights violations in Guatemala. Latin American, Spanish and Canadian humanitarian groups demanded that the Guatemalan government and armed forces put an end to repression against the grassroots movement and respect the civilian population in war zones. The statement refers to the expectations which early in 1986 surrounded the civilian government of Vinicio Cerezo and have since disappeared by the end of his term of office. "The unpunished action of death squads and the military security structures" persists "on a daily basis". The organizations called for investigation and punishment of those guilty of "institutional violence" aimed at suffocating any organized struggle in Guatemala. The Human Rights Commission for Central America (CODEHUCA) also published a report on the visit to Guatemala by its delegation last April. They concluded that the government and the economically powerful lack any political will to stop the violence against organized sectors of the population, or to correct the absolute inequality between the poor majority and the rich minority. Conflict over Public Transportation A social crisis was created when neither the national nor the city governments appeared to be capable of taking decisive action against bus owners who had suspended public transportation in Guatemala City since May 14. On Friday night, however, 75 police agents surrounded the bus owners' association office with arrest warrants for several of the members. The public transport owners had taken more than a thousand vehicles off the streets and "hidden" them or taken them out of the city, in spite of police control points on all the highways leading out of the capital. Two bus company owners, who had not taken part in the strike which demanded a one hundred percent increase in passenger fares, received death threats, and two of their buses were burned by armed men. Two and a half million public transport riders have been affected by the strike. Public schools have been closed until transportation is restored. Protests in poor neighborhoods left dozens wounded and arrested during confrontations with security forces. Throughout the strike, the local press has been critical of police procedures against protesters, who were shot and arrested with needless brutality. The Archbishop of Guatemala, Monsignor Prospero Penados, qualified the strike as a social crime, and called on the government to "take hard, drastic and radical measures to destroy the monopoly which a few have on urban transportation". The mayor of the capital city, Alvaro Heredia, put out new contracts for bus service, and police confiscated 200 buses from five of the 20 striking companies. Thirty people were arrested taking buses out of the city, as the police conducted a search with helicopter support. The bus owners were indifferent to President Cerezo's 36-hour ultimatum and claimed he violated the constitution by confiscating their buses. Threats of a generalized transportation strike in support of bus owners were made by the combined heavy transport associations. The May 21 Prensa Libre editorial suggested that "bus owners will ultimately have their way". Mayor Heredia said that bus routes might be shortened, thus raising fares indirectly by making riders pay for two bus rides instead of one. In spite of the arrests ordered against the bus owners, which coincided with their agreement to put the buses back in circulation on Saturday, forthcoming events could reveal that the problem is far from being solved. Guerrillas Release Prisoners of War Four soldiers of the Guatemalan army who were captured in non-combat operations in the Quiche and Peten provinces were released before witnesses in strict accordance with the Geneva agreements on the treatment of war prisoners. All four prisoners were in good health and had been provided with adequate food and clothing, according to press releases from the URNG. The guerrillas also reported 55 dead or wounded government soldiers in two weeks of military actions against the army, as well as destruction and damage to helicopters, trucks and other vehicles. No Funds for Feeding Hospital Patients The public hospitals in Guatemala are unable to feed their patients for lack of funds, reported Health Minister Carlos Gehlert. During the first months of this year there was a critical absence of medicine and equipment, which has now extended to food. The Health Ministry has a yearly budget of approximately $80 million, which is 9% of public expenditure in relation to 32% which goes to the security apparatus. ***************** In the U.S. and Canada subscribe to Weekly Briefs by sending check or money order to: ANI PO Box 28481 Seattle, WA 98118 Subscription fees in the U.S. and Canada: $9 for 3 months, $18 for 6 months, $36 for one year. Elsewhere, contact: CERIGUA Apartado Postal 74206 CP 09080 Delegacion Itzapalapa Mexico, D.F. Telephone: 5102320 - FAX 5109061 - Telex (17) 64525 PeaceNet address: ni!cerinic Also please send us your comments and suggestions to the Seattle address or by email to gsleicher on PeaceNet.