/* Written 11:40 PM  Jun 19, 1990 by gsleicher in igc:reg.guatemala */
/* ---------- "Cerigua Briefs" ---------- */
CERIGUA WEEKLY BRIEFS, JUNE 11 - 17, 1990

Central American Summit in Guatemala

The colonial city of Antigua was placed under heavy security
before and during the Central American summit held from June
15-17.  These measures, directed by the Guatemalan army, included
two security agents for every journalist or government official.

Following the preliminary meetings held by their Foreign
Ministers, Presidents Calderon, Chamorro, Cristiani and Callejas
arrived in Guatemala on the 15th amid severe security.

The summit was convened for the purpose of creating a Central
American economic bloc through intra-regional cooperation,
planning of industry and improvement of agricultural activities.
However, the Foreign Minister of Costa Rica stated that the summit
would also have to deal with the process towards peace and
democracy in Central America.

In addition to the Central American presidents, another figure in
the meeting was U.S. Secretary of State James Baker, who is said
to have met privately with each of the presidents before final
resolutions were made known.  President Vinicio Cerezo said that
Baker's presence at the summit was an indication of the United
States' interest in the resolutions to be reached.  Cerezo called
this interest "natural" and "historical."  This was the first
meeting in ten years among the Central American presidents which
included a U.S. State Department representative.

Human Rights Violations

Violations of the right to life continue to mount every day in
Guatemala.  During the past two weeks, 38 people were murdered in
attacks, 74 bodies were found in public places, which included 30
showing signs of torture.  Three minors and 11 adults were
kidnapped and 31 others were wounded in attacks.  The total
reached 187 in two weeks.

Mario Polanco of the Mutual Support Group for Relatives of the
Disappeared (GAM) said that all people who live in Guatemala are
potential disappearance victims, because anyone at any time can be
kidnapped on suspicion of belonging to a humanitarian, labor or
human rights organization.

Guatemalans make up half of the disappeared persons in Latin
America, according to a report by the Center for the Study and
Promotion of Human Rights (CIEPRODH) given during a seminar in
Guatemala City at the beginning of the week.  The report added
that the government has not given the Guatemalan people any
explanation for the continued human rightsviolations.

Labor Leaders Receive Death Threats

Leaders of the Federation of Guatemalan Workers (CGTG) received
death threats over the telephone during the week, according to
denunciations by the CGTG executive committee.  Jesus Miranda,
assistant chairman of this Christian Socialist labor organization,
called a press conference to expose the series of threats made by
unidentified persons using foul language in describing their
intentions.  Miranda added that their office has been broken into
twice this year, and official investigations have not produced any
results.

The threatened labor leaders emphasized that despite the acts of
intimidation against them, the CGTG would "continue its struggle
in favor of the working class and to obtain a better distribution
of the country's wealth."

Shortly before the threats were made public, Human Rights Watch
charged President Vinicio Cerezo's government with not supporting
the basic rights of Guatemalan workers, pointing out that in some
cases the government itself persecutes organized labor.  A Human
Rights Watch denouncement addressed to the U.S. government
criticized the Cerezo administration's violations of workers'
rights.  Among other points, it referred to civil defense patrol
duty as forced labor.

Socialist International Accuses Guatemalan Government

The Socialist International Council assembled at Cairo, Egypt,
issued a condemnation of the Guatemalan government because of
leniency in investigating the murders of Hector Oqueli and Gilda
Flores, which occurred last January in Guatemala City.  A similar
statement, signed by the chairperson and the president of the
Women's Socialist International, rejects the outcome of the
official investigation and requests it be replaced by a "prompt
and objective" one.

Oqueli, a Salvadoran politician who was Socialist International
secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean, and Guatemalan
lawyer Gilda Flores, of the Socialist Democratic Party, were
kidnapped en route to the Guatemala City airport.  Their bodies
were found several hours later in the region bordering El
Salvador.

At the time, the wave of international censure compelled President
Vinicio Cerezo to promise to investigate the murders and punish
those guilty, but five months later the crime remains as unsolved
as on the day it was committed.  Once again the Guatemalan
government finds itself accused of negligence in the investigation
of human rights violations.  Cerezo said that he would present the
results of the investigation to Salvadoran President Cristiani
during the weekend of the summit.

Outcome of National Conference on Struggle for Democracy

Representatives of the most important popular organizations in
Guatemala took part in the conference "Guatemala in the 90s: the
Struggle for Democracy in a Country at War", which was held at the
American University in Washington, DC.  The more than 400 persons
in attendance obtained a complete and documented account of the
state of the war in Guatemala, the campesino and labor movements
and the evolution of grassroots and human rights organizations.

The resolutions pronounced at the closure of the conference
included unrestricted support of all forms of struggle which the
Guatemalan people may adopt in their efforts for peace.  The
platform declared by United Labor and Popular Action (UASP) on May
1 was fully endorsed: UASP speaks for unity with all citizen
groups who promote peace and human rights, demands the right to
organize, demilitarization of the countryside, an end to the civil
defense patrols (PAC) and investigation of disappearances.

Support was also declared for the Basic Accord in Search of Peace
through Political Means signed by the Commission for National
Reconciliation (CNR) and the Guatemalan National Revolutionary
Unity (URNG) in Oslo, as well as the El Escorial Accord and all
future actions taken in favor of peace.

Another resolution calls for keeping the US public informed of
both the situation in Guatemala and U.S. policy regarding it, in
order to pressure the U.S. government to act in observance of
human rights and non-intervention principles.

Following their participation in the National Conference, Fermina
Lopez of CONAVIGUA, Amilcar Mendez of CERJ, and Rodolfo Robles of
UITA met with former President Jimmy Carter and requested his
support in pressuring the Guatemalan government to answer their
demands.  Carter promised to do what he could, but did not
guarantee success given the military's continued fight to keep its
control over the civilian government.

Refugees Take Part in High-Level Forum

Representatives of the 43,000 Guatemalan refugees who live in
Mexico took part in a forum organized by the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, the Mexican Commission for Aid to
Refugees, and a group of non-governmental organizations.  The
Permanent Commissions, elected by the refugees to represent them,
reported on their role in the National Dialogue in Guatemala.  The
representatives of theCommissions said that they heard the
testimony of many repatriates who denounced that they are forced
into civil defense patrol duty, are under the army's control, and
have no opportunity for community life.

The initial number of repatriates' delegates to the National
Dialogue was twelve, then reduced to  six after they received
threats on their lives, and finally only two attended.  The
repatriates' participation in the National Dialogue came to an
abrupt end, however, when one of the two delegates was murdered.

The refugees who want to return to Guatemala demand guarantee of a
number of rights, including regaining their lands, free
association, the right to a private life and a communal one,
protection by international organizations, and freedom of
movement.  These rights are not respected at present, and the
refugees' Permanent Commissions stated that the government and
army must meet with the refugees who live in Mexico to discuss
conditions for their return to Guatemala.

The refugees expressed their gratitude to the people and
government of Mexico, as well as the organizers of the forum, and
said that they had restored the ruins of the Mayan archeological
site known as Edzna, in southern Mexico, "as a reforms.

Even before the package was officially sent to Congre2 million
quetzales yearly, 30 million more than last year's subds to the
Presidential High Command, the military structure respctory and
hopeful, and stated that the outcry for peace emanates there was
no sense in electing a congressman when most of the m