/* Written 6:26 AM Aug 21, 1991 by cerisea in igc:reg.guatemala */ /* ---------- "Cerigua Briefs Aug 11-17" ---------- */ CERIGUA WEEKLY BRIEFS, AUGUST 11 - 17, 1991 Seven from Naval Base Arrested for Multiple Murder The arrest of seven military officers and soldiers for the murder of eleven persons was met with armed resistance at the Pacific naval base on Thursday. Those now being held for the murders are the commander of the naval base, a frigate captain, marine lieutenant, reserve lieutenant, army specialist, seaman and marine soldier. Two days before the arrests, National Police Chief Mario Paiz suggested that smugglers or guerrilla forces were responsible for the crime. The bodies of the eleven victims found on the southern coastal highway showed signs of torture and a final coup de grace. Three were semi-trailer drivers and four were customs workers who routinely accompany semi-trailers from the border to the central customs office. Radio Guatemala Flash said it is suspected that the incident is linked to this week's dismissal of the Treasury Police director in charge of customs. Interior Minister Hurtado denied, however, that the dismissal was anything more than a routine change. Congressman Marco Tulio Merida from Serrano's Solidarity Action Movement (MAS) party said the seven security force members should be executed. Luis Sosa Avila, the ex- presidential candidate for the extreme right-wing National Liberation Movement (MLN) party agreed, adding that the action would set a precedent for the armed forces. Rumors of Coup d'etat Rumors of a coup d'etat circulated among diplomats and journalists on Thursday. Speculation over the cause of the alarm points to various events. The arrest of seven military officers and soldiers was met with armed resistance at the Pacific naval base (see previous story). El Grafico reported rumors of artillery-equipped airplanes and helicopters flying over the Pacific region. Also, a large number of police officers were mobilized in front of the national palace, but the action was later attributed to a disturbance by gangs at a rock concert in the park. Nevertheless, the foreign diplomatic corps reportedly held an emergency meeting at the Brazilian embassy. Diplomatic sources in Washington, D.C. revealed that embassies in the U.S. capital had received information of a possible conspiracy against the Serrano government. Government officials denied a coup had been attempted. Next Round of Peace Talks Postponed The Mexican government requested the postponement of the next round of negotiations between the Guatemalan government, the army and the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) scheduled to begin on August 21 in Mexico. The last minute change publicized on Friday was reportedly requested in light of national elections scheduled in Mexico for Sunday. The new date for the upcoming round which will discuss human rights has yet to be announced. Mayan descendants in Guatemala have asked to be allowed to participate in the peace negotiations when the topic of indigenous rights is discussed, according to the Congressional committee on indigenous affairs. URNG Explains Reason for Sabotage Selective actions of sabotage are carried out by insurgency forces in response to continuing acts of repression against the non-combatant population, the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) stated this week. The August 12 communique said the actions are not directed at the civilian population. Sabotage of the country's infrastructure is not undertaken rashly, the URNG leadership emphasized, and can not be described as terrorist. The reasoning behind sabotage actions was further explained by URNG Commander Pablo Monsanto in an interview for Guatemalan television after the first round of negotiations in April. Commander Monsanto said the URNG's strategy is to force the army to employ its troops to protect bridges, electric towers and other infrastructure. The army can then count on less troops to engage in combat with guerrilla forces and to carry out acts of repression against the populace. This week the army qualified the destruction of the Xalbal bridge in Quiche and electrical towers near the capital city as part of a coordinated terrorist plan by insurgency forces to intimidate the population. Government spokesman Gonzalo Asturias said the "terrorist attacks" affected industrial and business sectors as well as the entire population. In its statement this week the URNG repeated that its military actions will not cease until conditions are created to resolve the causes of the armed conflict. The insurgency leadership said that an end to military actions as a precondition to negotiations is not only unrealistic but impossible, especially when the army is continuing offensive actions. Another Relative of Aguacate Victims Murdered Juan Jose Rodas was among the dead found in different areas of Guatemala this week. Rodas belonged to the Callejas extended family whose relatives were massacred by the army in the town of Aguacate, Chimaltenango in 1988. Last month police jailed and released relative Israel Callejas Tobar who is now seeking exile in Canada. Israel's father, Alfredo Callejas, was among those tortured and murdered in the Aguacate massacre. Another son of the Aguacate victim, Jose Alfredo Callejas, is one of the nine Guatemalans suing General Hector Gramajo for human rights crimes against family members. Rodas and another man, Julio Cesar Motta, were kidnapped by twenty armed and masked men. Their bodies, found in San Andres Itzapa, Chimaltenango, were riddled with bullets. Two other unidentified victims were found with their throats cut near Amatitlan, Sacatepequez. Increase in Electricity Rates Irreversible On Tuesday President Serrano vetoed a law passed by Congress to postpone the increase in electricity rates for 30 days while a study is undertaken to look for a better solution. The grassroots umbrella organization United Labor and Popular Action (UASP) called for electricity rates to be frozen, and described the increase as inhumane and unacceptable. Serrano insisted that the decision to raise rates by 47% effective beginning in September is irreversible. Including interest payments due this year, debts owed by the state- owned electrical company total 752 million quetzales, or over $150 million. The figures were provided by the president of the electrical company who said the payments are owed to international lending institutions and foreign contractors. Serrano said this week that water utility prices will also be increased. Dispute with Belize Takes a Turn The Guatemalan government publicly recognized Belize's right to self-determination on Wednesday, breaking with long- standing claims to the contrary. Government spokesman Gonzalo Asturias said the decision was made in light of the recognition of Belize as a sovereign nation by numerous international organizations. The conflict can be traced to colonial times when Spain allowed the British to cut timber in an area now considered to be part of Belize. In the late 1800s the Guatemalan government agreed to concede the 22,000 square kilometers of land that had been gradually taken over if Great Britain would construct a highway connecting Guatemala to the Atlantic coast. Great Britain did not fulfill its agreement, and when Belize achieved its independence in 1981, the conflict remained unsolved. The Serrano government will continue negotiations, Asturias assured this week, to reach solutions to the territorial dispute. Belize Prime Minister George Price said over Radio Belize, however, that "not a single cubic centimeter" of land will be given up. What the Guatemalan government wants, according to unofficial sources, is to have access to the Caribbean and to be able to transport products from the Peten across Belize. The Mexican daily Excelsior pointed out that the Serrano government is interested in resolving the conflict promptly to avoid a veto from Great Britain on economic aid from the European Community. Interview with URNG Representative Luis Bekker In order to solve the internal armed conflict, the guerrilla, the government and the army must demonstrate the ability and political will to implement agreements reached, said Luis Bekker of the insurgency political-diplomatic team. The Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) considers the agreements on democratization an advancement in that the document, signed by the army, states that the armed forces must be subordinate to civilian rule, he said. Negotiators signed the Queretaro Accord on democratization in July in Queretaro, Mexico. Bekker said the URNG proposal for the negotiations is responsible and complex; it is not designed for the short term. The document proposes to allow enough time for different sectors to reach a national consensus to permit full implementation of the accords. National consensus is fundamental to the URNG proposal for democracy in Guatemala in that it seeks the development of a new economic, social, political and cultural model, said Bekker in an interview with Radio Pacifica in New York. Cholera Crisis Intensifies The number of cholera cases may reach one million, according to Minister of Health Miguel Montepeque, reported the daily Prensa Libre. On Monday the health minister confirmed 36 cases of cholera in the country, three of them in the capital city. The majority of the cases are in the southern coast region and western Guatemala, especially near the Mexican border. The first three deaths from cholera were reported on Tuesday in the daily El Grafico. The cause of death of the victims from the provinces of Quetzaltenango, San Marcos and Retalhuleu was confirmed by local authorities, according to the daily. The Economic Vice Minister announced this week that there was an extreme shortage of chlorine in the country due to the increased demand for prevention of cholera. On Friday the Guatemala City municipal office assured, however, that the same levels of chlorine will be maintained in the city water. The mayor of Coatepeque, Quezaltenango, said health workers are without vehicles, fuel, medicine, and chemicals used in lab cultures. Street vendors in the capital have attributed a 90% drop in sales of seafood and fish to the fear of cholera contamination. Television newscast Notisiete reported that food vendors were violently forced to shut down and their products, including bottled drinks, were confiscated by police who carried no official order. Director of General Health Services Rudy Cabrera Marquez said that 84% of the food sold in the streets was contaminated with fecal matter; however, one vendor reported that the police had not checked the food for contamination. In response to police actions, the street vendors' Emergency Committee assured their compliance with health requirements but demanded that arbitrary confiscations cease. Vendors protested in front of the National Palace calling on President Jorge Serrano to intervene on their behalf. Another epidemic is also feared in Guatemala. The daily El Grafico has reported that shigellosis, which caused 12,500 deaths in 1969, has reappeared. The illness is quite similar to cholera and perhaps even more dangerous. Indigenous Groups Prepare for 500th Anniversary Rosalina Tuyuc, member of the Maya Commission "Majawil Q'uiej" which means "New Dawn," reported that the next Continental Resistance Gathering will be held October 7-12 in Guatemala. Delegates from Latin America and observers from Europe and Africa will participate in the conference on the 500th anniversary of the invasion of the hemisphere, reported the daily El Grafico. Another Massacre Six persons were massacred early Friday morning in the Alta Verapaz province. Five workers from a plantation in Lanquin and a one and a half year-old girl were killed as they traveled home after buying supplies in Coban. The body of the young girl was found with her tongue cut out. Death Threats Touch Various Sectors Reporters in Guatemala who cover court proceedings reported this week that they have received threatening phone calls. The reporters have been warned not to write anything related to the murders of U.S. citizen Michael Devine and Guatemalan anthropologist Myrna Mack, the attack against journalist Byron Barrera and pending extradition cases. The reporters are from major newspapers Prensa Libre, El Grafico and La Hora and five radio news broadcasts. Members of the Association of University Students (AEU) told El Grafico that they received anonymous phone calls this week warning that "four leaders of the AEU are going to die." On Friday three student leaders of the High School Students Coordinating Committee (CEEM) reported being harassed and threatened by armed men. Also, nine workers at the port terminal in Puerto Quetzal, Escuintla, fear for their lives after receiving death threats. Responses to Violence The daily appearance of bodies showing signs of torture and a final coup de grace is reminiscent of the days of Romeo Lucas and Rios Montt, said President Nineth de Garcia of the Mutual Support Group for Relatives of the Disappeared (GAM). She added that the popular movement is being threatened by death squads which maintain constant surveillance of the offices of grassroots and labor groups. The Center for the Promotion and Study of Human Rights (CIEPRODH) reported 544 human rights violations during the first half of 1991. In addition to 300 assassinations, the violations included torture, kidnappings, disappearances, attacks and death threats. In an interview on Notisiete television news, Congressman Andres Giron refuted the repeated claim that common criminals are responsible for recent murders. "It is necessary to support President Serrano, but it is also necessary to confront him, to tell him that as the highest chief of the army and the country, he should know where these murders and tragedies are coming from." Interior Minister Fernando Hurtado said over radio newscast Patrullaje Informativo that those who do not recognize the government's efforts to bring an end to impunity are "bad" Guatemalans. Hurtado defended the security forces' investigation of the recent violence. ***************** 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: $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.