/* Written 10:55 PM  Aug 13, 1990 by gsleicher in igc:reg.guatemala */
/* ---------- "Cerigua Briefs" ---------- */
CERIGUA WEEKLY BRIEFS:  August 6 - 12, 1990

More Homeless Occupy Land in Capital

Some 8,000 homeless Guatemalans moved onto an abandoned
piece of land in Zone 7, in the western part of the capital
last weekend (August 4 & 5).  The group has pledged to
confront police rather than abandon the property until a
solution is found to their situation.  They are demanding
that BANVI (Banco de Vivienda, or the Housing Bank) provide
them with land suitable for construction.  The property that
they are occupying is near a garbage dump, and so far two
children have been hospitalized following exposure to toxic
substances.  The squatters have brought their case to the
attention of the Special Attorney's Office.

The estimated 2,000 families have been living in marginal
areas for the past fourteen years, ever since the 1976
earthquake in Guatemala.  "This time we are prepared to
confront security forces," said Juan Vivar, speaking for the
group.  These same persons were forcibly moved off another
piece of land six months ago.

In Monday (August 6) press reports covering further
developments on a related story, a spokesperson from the
Interior Ministry was quoted as saying that the police had
been ordered to forcibly remove the 125 families--some
reports say 350--who have been occupying several streets in
the vicinity of the Special Human Rights Attorney's Office.
The families moved into the area when police burned and
destroyed the housing they had erected in a garbage dump in
Zone 3 two weeks ago.  They were to be arrested on charges
of violating and attempting to usurp private property.  This
carries a prison sentence of six months to three years.

Interior Minister General Carlos Morales said that these
homeless, along with those in Zone 7, are actually motivated
by "dark political forces," who are trying to coerce the
security bodies into responding with force.  By
accomplishing this aim, Morales contends that people will
believe that human rights violations are taking place in
Guatemala.

"We will arrest any invader, any agitator or any manipulator
who tries to create problems," charged the Interior
Minister.

By the end of the week, however, there were no reports that
the police had moved in to dislodge the protestors, whose
situation is increasingly precarious due to lack of food and
the continuing rainy season.

No Solution to Hospital Crisis

Finance Minister Juan Francisco Pinto again failed to appear
before Congress this week to explain any possible solutions
to the hospital crisis.  Pinto sent a representative in his
place to announce that there are no ministry resources
available at this time.  Meanwhile, according to hospital
directors, all the public hospitals in Guatemala are facing
such acute shortages of medicines, supplies and food that
the entire system will have to shut down by August 16 if an
immediate answer is not found.

According to a statement made by the President of the
Congressional Medical Committee, Victor Darden, which was
covered by radio news broadcasts on Thursday, President
Cerezo has agreed to meet with the directors to try to work
out a solution.  In the meantime, Health Minister Carlos
Gehlert has given the Cerezo government 30 days to resolve
the crisis, or he will resign.

The Special Attorney for Human Rights is calling for
transfers of funds to the health ministry budget, while
recognizing that only 28% of all Guatemalans receive care in
public hospitals.  Approximately 50% of the population has
no access to hospital care, 15% are seen in social security
facilities and 8% by private physicians.

Members of the Guatemalan Congress are calling on President
Cerezo to address the problem, and an editorial appeared in
the Friday edition of Prensa Libre chastising the
government.  The editorial claims that things would never
have arrived at such an extreme if the administration had
heeded the public outcry against unnecessary trips abroad
and expenditures for the Ministry of Culture and Sports.

Cerezo Refers to U.S. Embassy Accusations

Diplomatic tensions between Guatemala and the United States
may have rekindled this week.  At a Christian Democratic
Party function honoring the third anniversary of the
Esquipulas II accords, President Cerezo again referred to
U.S. accusations concerning the involvement of his party's
presidential candidate in drug trafficking.

In his speech to party leaders at the event on Tuesday,
Cerezo said that U.S. administration officials were
conspiring against the Christian Democratic Party candidate,
Alfonso Cabrera, in order to ruin his chances of winning in
the November elections.  He said that the United States was
upset with Cabrera because he had refused to go along with a
U.S. regional initiative in 1987 when he was serving as
Minister of Foreign Relations.  Although the claim has not
been substantiated, it is widely known that Guatemala
refused at one time to be used by the United States as a
staging ground for its actions against the Sandinista
government in Nicaragua.

On Wednesday, newspapers in Guatemala carried the response
by U.S. Embassy spokesman James Dickmeyer.  He denied that
the U.S. government had accused Cabrera of involvement in
drug trafficking and said further that the United States has
no preference for any of the presidential candidates.

While it may be true that the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala has
not made direct accusations against Cabrera, it has been
involved in publicizing drug cases involving Cabrera's
family.  It has also released information on the issue of
drugs in general in Guatemala under the Cerezo
administration.  In Washington Congressional members are
quite familiar with all of this information and are said to
refer to Cabrera as a "narco."

In publicizing the issue of drug trafficking in Guatemala,
the United States has defined the two contexts in which it
is to be presented:  1) the Christian Democratic government;
2) alleged guerrilla involvement in drug cultivation.
Although the U.S. Congress surely wants to reduce the flow
of narcotics coming through Guatemala, it could also be said
that the United States is determined to prevent certain
foreign leaders from coming to power.  Such leaders are
those who are capable of acting independently because they
have secure incomes derived from narcotics.

Guatemalan Foreign Minister Ariel Rivera denied that any
friction has resulted from President Cerezo's statements,
according to radio reports on Friday.

Union Members Under Surveillance

Two union members in Guatemala City are being harassed and
followed by armed men driving State vehicles, announced the
Guatemalan Federation of State Workers (FENASTEG) in radio
reports on Thursday morning.

William Sierra and Armando Sanchez are members of the
Workers' Union of Technical Training Institute, which is
affiliated with the Federation.  They report that they are
being followed and watched in both their homes and work
places.

A speaker for FENASTEG characterized the surveillance as
part of an effort to spread terror among groups in Guatemala
which are trying to organize.  The last ten weeks have
witnessed a sharp increase in violence directed against
persons associated with social and labor organizations in
Guatemala.

Social and Labor Alliance Prepares for Talks

The United Labor and Popular Action (UASP), the broad-based
labor and social justice coalition, has already submitted a
proposed agenda for its talks with the Guatemalan
insurgency.  The time and place for these talks has not yet
been set.

Byron Morales, a leader in the organization, said that the
discussion could be divided into two essential parts.  The
first would be an analysis of the present national situation
from the perspective of each of the participants. This would
establish the parameters for ensuing discussion.

In the second part, participants would propose and discuss
alternative solutions to the national crisis with the aim of
developing a plan to achieve peace as early as possible.

Talks between different sectors of Guatemalan society and
the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) have been
taking place in stages.  In June representatives of nine
political parties met with rebel leaders in Spain.  At the
end of August private sector representatives will meet with
the URNG in Ottawa, Canada.

Peten Governor Involved in Illegal Exports

The governor of the northern province of Peten, which
borders Mexico, is involved in illicit trafficking of
Guatemalan hardwoods to Mexico, according to reports on
Thursday from civic and teachers' organizations in the
province.

Leaders of the Peten Teachers' Association (AMP) and the
Peten Association (ASOPET), Rafael Vasquez and Juan Acosta,
both named Governor Abraham Fion as responsible for the
illegal exportation of thousands of board feet of timber to
Mexico.

Fion's signature appears on the freight slips for the
illegal shipments, according to Acosta.  An article in El
Grafico reported the existence of a clandestine sawmill and
videos which allegedly show Fion engaged in the illegal
activities.  Alfonso Torres, of the Wood and Resin Workers
Union (SUCHILMA) and Salvador Reyes, President of the San
Benito Palma cooperative, backed up the accusations against
Fion.  They also voiced their support for Juan Acosta, of
ASOPET, who has been the target of intimidation for having
spoken out against the illegal trade.

In response, the chief of the Treasury Police announced that
they would be patrolling the border to put a halt to the
traffic, according to the Friday edition of Prensa Libre.
On Saturday, government spokeswoman Claudia Arenas reported
the circulation of false documents, supposedly issued by the
Office of the President, authorizing the extraction of
timber in Peten.  The letters in question, bearing false
seals, signatures and letterhead, request local military
collaboration to allow the passage of vehicles carrying the
lumber.