/* Written 9:52 PM Nov 12, 1990 by cerisea in igc:reg.guatemala */ /* ---------- "Cerigua Briefs" ---------- */ CERIGUA WEEKLY BRIEFS, November 5 - 10, 1990 Probable Candidates for Runoff Elections (Special Post-Deadline Article) By 4:00 pm Monday November 12 with 60% of the votes in, the two candidates who will compete in presidential runoff elections January 6 were virtually decided: Jorge Serrano Elias and Jorge Carpio Nicolle. Voter abstention is estimated at 42% overall, twelve points higher than in the last elections and considered very high in Guatemala. Added to this is the fact that nearly 27% of eligible voters are not registered. Serrano is the candidate of the Movement for United Action party (MAS) and Carpio of the National Centrist Union (UCN); both describe themselves as representing "the modern right", distancing themselves from the country's most reactionary sectors. Serrano Elias is an evangelical Christian and was an official in the government of General Efrain Rios Montt. It is thought that he won votes from Rios Montt when the latter's candidacy was legally banned for constitutional reasons. Carpio is the owner of one of the two largest circulation daily newspapers in the country. Both were defeated by outgoing President Cerezo in the 1985 elections. Serrano told an interviewer this week that it is the military which holds the power in Guatemala and a civilian government has the option of confronting it and failing, or collaborating with the army. Both he and Carpio expressed the sentiment that, on the subject of military officials guilty of crimes of violence, the past must be forgotten and the responsible parties pardoned. Completely out of the picture is the candidate of the party currently in power, Christian Democrat Alfonso Cabrera. Cabrera was reportedly taken ill with pancreatitis two weeks ago and shortly thereafter flown to a hospital in Houston, Texas where he remains. Voter turnout in some of the country's provinces, such as Peten, Alta Verapaz and Quiche was as low as 20-30%. The abstention is considered to result from a combination of factors: the lack of party platforms for any of the twelve candidates, the lack of hope for change given the narrow political spectrum, the call by Rios Montt for his followers to vote null and a call by the URNG on Thursday not to vote. Some who did go to the polls told reporters they did so out of fear of being branded guerrilla sympathizers if they did not do so. According to the URNG, valid elections can only take place if changes are made in the Constitution and if the country is demilitarized. Final Preparations for Elections On Monday the Interior and Defense Ministers announced the beginning of a total militarization of the country to "guarantee the safety of voters and security for voting centers." It is to continue until Monday October 12. Interior Minister Carlos Morales announced on Friday that 47,000 soldiers and police officers are in charge of providing adequate security on voting day. Radio reports on Saturday said the exclusive El Dorado hotel in Guatemala City has been taken over by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, journalists, election observers and political parties. Radio broadcast Patrullaje Informativo reported on Friday that 740 foreign and local journalists had been accredited; by Saturday the estimate had jumped to 1,000. As of Friday, 335 international observers and 50 national observers were accredited. United States Sending Observers At least two U.S.-sponsored delegations are present for the Guatemalan elections. The Center for Democracy had set up its temporary office, in addition to the permanent one it maintains in Guatemala City, in the El Dorado hotel. A spokeswoman said 25 to 30 delegates were expected to arrive, including members of the U.S. Congress and the European Parliament and Central American leaders. She said the delegation hopes to support the electoral process and collaborate with foreign correspondents and other international observers. The Center for Democracy, founded in 1984, is funded in large part by the Agency for International Development (AID) and, according to a report by the Inter-Hemispheric Education Resource Center in Albuquerque, works closely with the U.S. State Department. A 30-member delegation is sponsored by the National Democratic Institute (NDI), an organization established to serve as a channel for funds from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The NED was created under the Reagan administration as a tool for advancing U.S. foreign policy objectives. It is funded by AID and the U.S. Information Agency. Bruce Babbitt, ex-governor of Arizona, is heading the NDI delegation which includes persons from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Panama, Australia, Haiti, Mexico, Israel, South Africa, Spain, Peru, Dominican Republic, Bulgaria, Puerto Rico and Bolivia. Civilian Government Doesn't Mean Democracy It's not enough to have a civilian government which gives the appearance of democracy, according to the Mutual Support Group for Families of the Disappeared (GAM). In a paid statement which appeared in El Gr fico on Friday GAM insists that what is necessary is the political will to put an end to the systematic violence in Guatemala. The human rights organization said their hope of learning the whereabouts of their family members has been shattered by the current civilian government. The Cerezo government was described in the GAM statement as a silent accomplice which protects kidnappers and assassins with a cloak of impunity. To end the violence it is necessary to dismantle the structures used for repression, which include the civil patrols, model villages, death squads and the centralization of all police corps under the command of the army, according to GAM. The families of the disappeared also call for prosecution and punishment for human rights violators, the closing of clandestine jails and an end to forced disappearances. Two More Politicians Murdered A mayor seeking re-election in the provincial capital of Jalapa was murdered on Monday evening as he left the local Christian Democratic headquarters. Roberto Bonilla was the 14th politician murdered since the electoral campaign began in June. One of the two assailants was fatally wounded when he was pursued by Bonilla's security guards. When the guard reached him he had in his possession a card which identified him as a civilian agent working for the local military base, according to a radio broadcast over Patrullaje Informative the following morning. The other assailant, who managed to escape, is reportedly the civilian agent's son. A Christian Democrat leader from the Chiquimula province was found with knife wounds early on Thursday morning in the capital city and was transported to a local hospital where he died. Thirty-six-year-old Obdulio Santos also worked as an immigration official at the Guatemala City airport and was the husband of President Cerezo's private secretary. Violence during the month of October, according to the two daily papers El Gr fico and Prensa Libre, resulted in 110 political murders and 21 disappearances. Government-URNG Dialogue Discussed After President Cerezo had said earlier in the week that he might agree to dialogue with the URNG, Defense Minsiter Juan Bolanos declared on Thursday that the army would absolutely not attend a round of talks with the insurgency. Cerezo repeated on Saturday that the conditions were right to dialogue with the URNG leadership and possibly he, himself, would attend. Contending that his statements did not contradict with those of the defense minister, he said that a military delegate would be assigned but the armed opposition could not meet directly with the army because the army makes up part of the government. On Friday presidential candidate Jorge Carpio expressed his support for dialogue with the URNG, calling it a necessary step to end the country's civil war. DEA Fumigations: A Health Hazard A village mayor in San Marcos is charging that children and adults have suffered respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses resulting from U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency fumigations in Guatemala. Mayor Sergio Martin of Comitancillo says that the "poison" being used is sprayed from DEA helicopters and small aircraft. In addition to causing human illnesses, it is killing livestock and damaging vegetables and crops. The chemicals are being sprayed on poppy fields in the foothills of the Sierra Madre. Because the aircraft fly at high altitude, the wind carries the substance to populated areas, according to the mayor's official protest. There was widespread opposition to DEA aerial sprayings in 1987. Since then, the practice has continued at low profile. Neither government authorities nor the local press report DEA activities in Guatemala. The U.S. embassy announced last week that $2 million in aid to Guatemala for 1991 is earmarked for eradication of illegal drugs. Community in Quiche Occupied by Army A group of campesinos living in the province of Quiche demanded on Wednesday that the army move out of their community. Fifty soldiers have occupied the San Antonio Sinache community in the Zacualpa district since October 15, according to the campesinos' denunciation. The soldiers have threatened and mistreated the villagers, harassing the women and forcing the men to perform guard duty in paramilitary patrols. The soldiers have also been charged with attacking and wounding two villagers. The community has expressed fear of future reprisals after a civil patrol chief gave the army a list of the names of all the residents of the village. ***************** 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 Also please send us your comments and suggestions to the Seattle address or by email to cerisea on PeaceNet. cessary is the political will to put an end to t