/* Written 10:35 PM Apr 9, 1991 by cerisea in igc:reg.guatemala */ /* ---------- "Cerigua Briefs Mar 24 - Apr 6" ---------- */ CERIGUA WEEKLY BRIEFS, March 24 - April 6, 1991 U.S. Ambassador Criticizes Guatemala On Human Rights Continuing human rights violations in Guatemala diminish the political leadership of the government and damage the credibility of the army, according to the U.S. ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS). Ambassador Luigi Einaudi spoke on Friday, April 5, at a conference in Arlington, Virginia sponsored by the Latin American Studies Association (LASA). The OAS ambassador identified human rights violations as the single most critical issue affecting relations between Guatemala and the United States. Ambassador Einaudi said national reconciliation cannot be reached without guarantees of safety for those who are to participate in the peace process. He said also that newly-elected President Jorge Serrano will be able to promote democracy without redefining the army's role. Congressman Mulet: Suspension of U.S. Military Aid Is a Mistake The Guatemalan army will turn to other countries for assistance if the United States continues to attach conditions to military aid, according to a Guatemalan legislator who also spoke at the LASA Conference on April 5. Congressman Edmond Mulet said it is a mistake for the Bush Administration to condition military aid to Guatemala on better respect for human rights. The congressman from the National Centrist Union party (UCN) said the Guatemalan army will ask Israel, Taiwan and South Africa for assistance. Rural Civil Patrols Questioned The Guatemalan armed forces are 80% indigenous and volunteer, retired General Ricardo Peralta Mendez told a panel at the LASA conference on Saturday, April 6. He said rural civilian patrols are a necessity of war and denied the army has militarized Guatemalan society. Two members of indigenous communities in Guatemala who participated in earlier panel discussions challenged the retired general's assertions. Rigoberta Menchu of the Committee for Campesino Unity (CUC) and Francisco Cali of the Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA) said the rural population is illegally forced to serve in both the civil patrols and the army. The two campesino representatives said that since the massacre in El Aguacate in November 1988, residents of all villages in Chimaltenango province are being forced to serve in civil patrols. They are told if they don't participate they will share the fate of those massacred in El Aguacate. URNG Favors Dialogue Growing militarism presents the largest obstacle to the creation of democracy in Guatemala, according Luz Mendez, the representative of the URNG (Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity) at the LASA Conference. Mendez said that election of civilian governments within the political structure now operating only provides the army with a cover, maintaining it in its current role. Mendez, a member of the URNG political-diplomatic team, said dialogue is the mechanism for reaching national consensus. She said efforts to impede dialogue must be resisted. According panel organizers, the presence of the URNG representative at the LASA conference was significant because it is the first time the revolutionary organization has been permitted in the United States. Inadequate Equipment to Fight Drug Traffic Interior Minister Ricardo Mendez said on April 1 that the government is in desperate need of weapons, equipment and radios to fight drug trafficking. Colonel Mendez said millions of dollars have been made from the illegal drug trade that has become firmly established in Guatemala. It is impossible to fight drug traffic with a poorly-equipped police force, emphasized Mendez. The United States has the most to gain from the fight against drug trafficking, commented the Interior Minister, since illegal drugs transported through Guatemala have only one destination. However, U.S. economic aid for anti-drug operations in Guatemala was described by Mendez as "minimal." Since 1986 the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has provided troops, aircraft and economic assistance. However, poppy and marijuana fields continue to flourish, and Guatemala has become an important transhipment point for cocaine. Increase in Electricity Rates General Manager Joel Toledo of the state-owned electric company confirmed on April 1 that an increase in electricity rates is under consideration. The proposed increase would be at least 30 percent and possibly as high as 50 percent, according to Toledo. He said the increase is necessary due to debts owed to international lending institutions. In the April 4 edition of Prensa Libre, President Renato Fernandez of the National Electricity Institute (INDE) emphasized that an increase has not been authorized, adding that the issue should be debated in the dialogue between the government, private enterprise and workers which is being referred to as the "social pact." He confirmed that INDE owes 40 percent of the country's total foreign debt because of large investments made to build hydroelectric plants. Presidential spokesperson Manuel Conde denied that an increase is being considered, insisting that such a decision would not be made unilaterally by the government, rather it is to be made by the sectors participating in the social pact. The electricity workers union (STINDE) urged the population to protest the proposed increase. STINDE leaders said it could be as high as 300 percent and would be put into effect over a three-month period in an attempt to lessen the blow. The workers union emphasized that the most critical effect of the increase would be dramatic rises in the price of basic consumer products. STINDE is meeting with other labor organizations to coordinate a national strike, possibly for mid-April. The Guatemalan Confederation of Labor Unity (CUSG) has already proclaimed its opposition to an increase in electricity rates, warning that it will withdraw from the social pact if an increase is implemented. The United Labor and Popular Action (UASP) joined in calling for the creation of a united front to oppose the threatened measure. Serrano Refuses to Meet Publicly with URNG In an interview over the television news broadcast Notisiete on March 24, President Serrano said he would not meet publicly with the URNG leadership. Serrano said that dialogue with the insurgency must be conducted "privately" until a peace agreement is reached, in order to avoid any "ill intentions or misrepresentations." The following evening Notisiete reported that the insurgency considered the prospects for dialogue with the government at an impasse given Serrano's rejections of dialogue proposals. The insurgency has emphasized the importance of breaking the current deadlock, the television report continued, in order to realize direct government-URNG talks. Monsignor Quezada, who is serving as mediator of the peace process, reported the following week that Serrano did not meet with the URNG leadership during his recent trip to Costa Rica because the president felt the points needing to be discussed could be addressed in a letter to be communicated through Quezada. The Guatemala Flash radio broadcast reported on Friday, April 5 that presidential spokesperson Manuel Conde revealed that a meeting between the government and the insurgency could be held during May in a Central American country, which is believed to be Costa Rica. Supreme Court Should Include Military Officials President Serrano proposed on April 3 that army officials be included among Supreme Court judges. He submitted a proposal to the Guatemalan Congress calling for armed forces officials to hear the cases involving military matters that reach the high court. Some members of Congress have already opposed the change according to Wednesday's radio broadcast over Guatemala Flash. Currently, Supreme Court judges are chosen by Congress from a list of nominees submitted by the nation's main university, the bar association, political parties and the government. Army Will Not Withdraw from Refugees' Lands One of six conditions for the return of Guatemalan refugees from Mexico was rejected by Vice President Gustavo Espina on Friday. He said the government would not demilitarize the regions to which the refugees wish to return. The army cannot withdraw from the communities, the vice president explained, because it would be neglecting its duty to protect citizens. Espina said the government would consent to the remaining conditions proposed by the Permanent Commissions representing the refugees. Those conditions are: that the refugees return together voluntarily in an organized manner, that they be able to reclaim lands they were forced to abandon, that they be allowed to organize and associate freely, that national and international organizations accompany their return and oversee compliance with agreements, and that the Permanent Commissions and returning refugees be allowed to travel freely. Human Rights Ombudsman Ramiro de Leon said although the refugees are living in safety, conditions are difficult. De Leon is a member of the Intermediary Commission that met with refugees in Campeche, Mexico, on March 20 and 21. In an interview on Notisiete on March 24, he confirmed that the refugees wish to return to Guatemala but under specific conditions. The Commission agreed to communicate these to the Guatemalan government. De Leon reported that 7,000 refugees are living in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, 23,000 in Chiapas and 13,000 in Campeche. The governmental entity responsible for issues relating to refugees is the Special Commission to Aid Repatriates (CEAR). Vice President Espina was named to preside over the Commission when it was restructured in February. The ministers of the Interior, Defense, Foreign Relations and Development were appointed as members, and prior president Carmen Rosa de Leon was renamed as executive director. Police Action Against Campesinos Deemed Illegal The Archbishop's Human Rights Office has charged that arrests made during the eviction of campesinos from the Olga Maria plantation was illegal. Campesinos occupying the plantation in Escuintla province were forced off the property in a police action on March 12 that left one woman dead. Thirty- nine were arrested. Three members of Peace Brigades International present as international observers were expelled from the country. The arrested campesinos were reportedly released on March 26 after intervention by the archbishop's human rights office and a lawyer from the United Front of Guatemalan Workers (FUTG). Interior Minister Ricardo Mendez declared on March 25 that the police had acted correctly and within the law. In an interview on Notisiete, Mendez called the eviction at the Olga Maria plantation a "closed case," and added that similar situations in the future will be dealt with in the same manner. However, a week later, the Archbishop's human rights office demanded that the public prosecutor's office indict police officers involved in the violent eviction. Participation in Rios Montt Government an Honor Interior Minister Ricardo Mendez declared on March 26 that he was proud to have served in the Rios Montt government. Colonel Mendez was appointed by President Serrano to fill the same post he held when former general Rios Montt was President from 1982-1983. Mendez was responding to a request made by the Guatemalan Human Rights Commission days before that he be prosecuted for his responsibility in the kidnappings and murders of thousands of Guatemalans during the Rios Montt dictatorship. The Patrullaje Informativo radio program broadcast Mendez' statement that "when Rios Montt was president, there wasn't any repression, much less forced disappearances. It is an honor to have been a government minister during that time because for the first time, social problems were dealt with." He claimed no one was massacred during the Rios Montt government. National and international human rights organizations have documented more than 10,000 cases of murder and that at least 100,000 Guatemalans fled to Mexico to escape counterinsurgent operations in the countryside while Rios Montt was president. In an interview originally broadcast over Costa Rican television and re-aired over "Cuestion de Minutos de Guatemala" on Channel 3 in Guatemala on April 3, President Serrano was asked to assess the Rios Montt regime in which he served as chief of the Council of State. Serrano said the greatest repression occurred during the Lucas Garcia government and when Rios Montt took power this began to decrease. He explained that a successful program known as "beans and guns" was implemented by Rios Montt to establish development programs and provide a peoples' organization to prevent an insurrection. The "development programs" mentioned probably refer to model villages where campesinos are relocated to settlements under army control. "Peoples' organization" is apparently a reference to the rural civilian patrols, in which an estimated one million men and boys in the countryside are forced to serve. These programs are still in place. Archbishop: Abuses Cannot Be Merely Forgotten Archbishop Prospero Penados said April 4 it is not easy to say "let's forget and start anew," pardoning those responsible for human rights violations. He responded to statements by President Serrano in the Costa Rican newspaper La Nacion that "national reconciliation will not be possible if we bring old resentments back to life." Penados said it is necessary to forgive, but payment must be made for abuses committed in order to compensate relatives of the victims. The archbishop said realtives of rape, murder and massacre victims in Guatemala still feel much resentment and pain. URNG Action Near Guatemala City Guerrilla forces occupied the district seat of Santa Elena Barillas, 36 kilometers south of Guatemala City, for one hour on Wednesday, April 3, according to press reports. Deputy Mayor Everardo Reyes said town residents were not harmed. The rebels took control of the local police station, where officers surrendered, turning over revolvers, rifles, ammunition and uniforms. ***************** 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. over the Commission when it was restructured in February. The ministers of the In