/* Written 9:22 PM Oct 9, 1991 by cerisea in igc:reg.guatemala */ /* ---------- "Cerigua Weekly Briefs" ---------- */ CERIGUA WEEKLY BRIEFS SEPTEMBER 22-28, 1991 No Agreements in Fourth Round of Talks Negotiations to resolve Guatemala's 30-year civil war ended September 24 without reaching accord on human rights. This round of talks began in Mexico City on September 20 and was extended two extra days, but the government and insurgents were unable to reach a compromise. The Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) proposed an immediate halt to human rights violations while the government said a measure to end violations will not be implemented until a final peace agreement is signed. Mediator Bishop Rodolfo Quezada Toruno of the National Reconciliation Commission (CNR) said the government of President Jorge Serrano must adopt and enforce measures to protect human rights whether or not an agreement is reached. The daily Prensa Libre printed the URNG proposal as follows: 1) Indemnization for victims of human rights violations to include scholarships, job security, and economic support; 2) Classification of acts such as disappearance, torture, cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment, and extrajudicial executions as crimes against humanity; 3) Abolishment of Civil Defense Patrols (PAC), development poles, model villages, the Citizen's Protection System (SIPROCI), and the military's use of commissioned civilian agents. This measure is to be implemented one month after the signing of the agreement. Verification will be carried out by a representative of the United Nations (UN) General Secretary. 4) No forcible military recruitment; 5) Dismantling of the clandestine repressive apparatus; an end to the non-uniformed security agents and the arming of civilians; no vehicles without license plates; 6) Repeal of [military amnesty] law No. 8-86; 7) UN supervision of the entire process; 8) All human rights violations cases to be tried in civilian courts. The URNG also proposed the creation of a Truth and Justice Commission with the following subcommittees for: 1) Investigation and resolution of cases involving forced disappearances; 2) Investigation of extrajudicial executions of individuals and cases of massacre; 3) Investigation of violations of international humanitarian law, of the displaced populations and victims of repression. The government negotiating team included Presidential Chief Aide Manuel Conde, Deputy Armed Forces Chief of Staff Jose Domingo Garcia, Presidential Honor Guard Chief General Mario Enriquez, Military Mobile Police Chief Colonel Julio Balconi, Military Intelligence (G-2) Chief General Manuel Antonio Gonzalez Taracena, Minister of Development Manolo Bendfelt, Minister of Interior Fernando Hurtado, and special presidential advisor Ernesto Viteri. Bishop Quezada and Mario Permuth represented the CNR with Francesc Vendrell and Diego Garcia serving as UN observers. Present from the URNG General Command were Rolando Moran of the Guerrilla Army of the Poor (EGP), Gaspar Ilom of the Revolutionary Organization of the People in Arms (ORPA), Carlos Gonzalez of the Guatemalan Labor Party (PGT), and URNG Political-Diplomatic team members Luz Mendez, Luis Bekker, Miguel Angel Sandoval and Francisco Villagran. Reactions to Peace Talks Bishop Quezada Toruno said it would have been wrong to sign a "poor and superficial" agreement, so the lack of an agreement does not mean the talks failed. Human rights are not something theoretical or academic--mechanisms are necessary to permit their genuine enforcement, he said. URNG Commander Gaspar Ilom echoed Quezada's remarks, saying the differences and similarities emerging from the discussion provide a basis from which the talks can progress. During the first week in October, Bishop Quezada will convene all sides who have participated in the peace process since 1990. This is in accordance with agreements on how information generated by the talks shall be disseminated. Serrano Speaks at the United Nations On September 27, President Jorge Serrano addressed the 46th United Nations General Assembly in New York. He presented his plan to reach "total and definitive" peace in Guatemala. The Mexican daily La Jornada commented that the human rights issue, now on the negotiating table, is Serrano's Achilles heel. "Although the rhetoric and good will expressed in Serrano's speech is questionable, at least one can see peace on the Central American horizon. The army must answer to the president's message and the death squads must be dismantled," La Jornada said. The United Representation of the Guatemalan Opposition (RUOG) issued a communique to delegates attending the UN General Assembly stating that "the situation of human rights and basic liberties has worsened" since Serrano took power less than a year ago and "has reached its worst level since the 1986 transition from military to civilian power." The RUOG statement said the Guatemalan people cannot accept Serrano's position that human rights violations will continue as long as the internal armed conflict exists, and indicated that the people depend on the international community to call on Serrano to take immediate action to stop the repression - including dismantling the State repressive apparatus and the death squads. "The dirty war must end now and forever," the communique said. Bishop Quezada Toruno to Receive Oscar Romero Award The Rothko Chapel of Houston, Texas has named several Guatemalans as recipients for human rights honors. The Commitment to Truth and Freedom award along with $10,000 will go to the National Council of Widows of Guatemala (CONAVIGUA) as an organization, and collectively to Sebastian Perebal Suy of the Mutual Support Group for the Relatives of the Disappeared (GAM), Human Rights Ombudsman Ramiro de Leon and his assistant Cesar Alvarez Guadamuz, to be distributed among the three recipients. Rodolfo Quezada Toruno, Bishop of Zacapa and National Reconciliatin Commission president, will receive the Oscar Romero award along with $20,000 for his role as mediator in the Guatemalan peace talks. Recipients will be honored in a ceremony in Houston December 8. URNG Military Update On September 13 and 15, guerrillas ambushed two army convoys on the road connecting Guatemala City with the province of Escuintla where rebels seized highways and the provincial capital in late August. An army truck and a small tank were destroyed, and another military transport was damaged. The army suffered 33 casualties in the attacks. Between September 12 and 14, the URNG reported attacks against the Guatemalan military in the provinces of Alta Verapaz, Peten, Quiche and San Marcos in which the army suffered ten more casualties. On September 20, guerrilla forces announced six army casualties in continued actions around Huehuetenango, Escuintla and San Marcos. Radio broadcast El Independiente reported on September 27 that a guerrilla column closed off a major highway connecting Guatemala City with Escuintla and the southern coast. Guatemalan Army Will Not Be Reduced Vice president Gustavo Espina said the Guatemalan army will not be reduced no matter what the rest of the Central American countries do. Following a meeting in Guatemala on regional disarmament, Espina said the Guatemalan army was the smallest in the area "with only two helicopters and an internal war." Currently the armed forces are conducting training exercises in ten of the 22 provinces, including the capital city. Since September 21 the military has been carrying out a major deployment of air, naval and ground forces. The operation includes day and nighttime exercises involving heavy artillery, search flights, ground support drills, weapons training, and surveillance. Multi-ethnic Participation in 1492-1992 Gathering Delegates attending the Second Continental Gathering of Indigenous and Popular Organizations October 7-12 in Quezaltenango will include the French president's wife Michel Mitterand and a host of representatives from indigenous peoples spanning this hemisphere: Inuits, Iroquois, Apaches, Mexicas, Zapotecs, Mayas, Guaranis, Tupis, Tainos, Caribbean and African-American groups, and others. Oswaldo Guayasamin, an Ecuadoran painter, said the campaign will contribute to the cultural resurgence of the indigenous communities from Canada to Tierra del Fuego and will cause "very strong feelings" against the festivities Spain is planning for the 500th anniversary, according to the Mexican daily El Dia. Guayasamin recalled that in the 1990 gathering in Quito, Ecuador, delegates protested the offensiveness of Spain's celebrations. "If they [Spain and European governments] want to celebrate it, it's certainly their right. They carried away the gold and silver to make Madrid and to create a fleet to continue colonizing us," said Guayasamin. "But as for us, absolutely not." 1,000 Cases of Cholera Guatemala's hospitals is on the verge of bankruptcy and people are dying of cholera because they cannot afford medicine, according to a report in the Mexican daily Excelsior. The paper reported 1,000 cases of cholera with 30 deaths in Guatemala and said that after cholera broke out, medicine prices shot up 30%--out of reach of the poor. Now that the coffee and sugarcane crops are ready for harvest, cholera is expected to spread rapidly throughout the southern coast, where 300,000 campesinos will arrive soon for work. Coffee and sugarcane businessmen have made no effort to improve hygienic conditions to prevent the spread of cholera among workers, failing even to build latrines. Church officials in the southern province of Escuintla say the epidemic will get much worse if people continue to pretend that nothing is happening. Earthquake Aftershocks Continue Tremors ranging from 3.0 to 3.2 on the Richter scale continue in the province of Chimaltenango and in the eastern part of Guatemala. Over 100 aftershocks have been registered a week after the September 18 earthquake. San Miguel Pochuta in Chimaltenango lies buried under layers of thick mud and around 23,000 residents of the area have been affected by subsequent flooding, mudslides and rock avalanches. Several people have died and others are still missing. Rockslides have severely damaged the area and mudslides have resulted from intermittent rainfall accumulating in elevated areas. A major threat to Pochuta is a mass of mud and rock accumulated in the El Jiote river about seven miles away. In isolated areas north of Pochuta, around 5,000 children between one and five years are suffering from illnesses caused from lack of water and food reported the daily El Grafico. In addition, another strong tremor registering 2.7 shook the eastern province of Chiquimula. GAM Seeks Death Penalty for Civil Patroller The Mutual Support Group for the Relatives of the Disappeared (GAM) has asked for the death penalty for civil patroller Santos Coj Rodriguez who is currently in jail charged with murder and illegal internment. Coj is accused of the murder of eight campesinos and several illegal burials in Tunaja, Quiche in 1983. U.S. forensics expert Dr. Clyde Snow said that analysis of 27 bodies exhumed in Chontala, Quiche indicates victims were shot and burned. The next grave to be opened is in the town of Lemoa, where witnesses say 15 bodies are buried. Lemoa is located 500 yards from military installation No. 20 in Santa Cruz del Quiche, according to GAM president Nineth de Garcia. Congressman Father Andres Giron said when changes are made to the Constitution, he will call for an end to the paramilitary civil defense patrols (PAC), which he called "a curse on Guatemala." In Huehuetenango 5,000 campesinos demonstrated against forced recruitment and called for the abolition of the PAC and the military's commissioned civilian agents. Guatemalan Police to Receive Assistance From Taiwan and Chile Interior Minister Fernando Hurtado announced that the government is ready to sign an agreement with Chilean Carabineros to provide training to the Guatemalan police. Hurtado is planning a trip to Chile in October to finalize the details. The Carabineros will serve as consultants in technical training, practice drills, security and restructuring of the police academies. Hurtado will also travel to Taiwan to discuss training assistance offered by this "friendly" country. Two Street Children Kidnapped by Armed Men President Jorge Serrano met with Covenant House President Sister Mary Rose McGeady in New York on September 23 and promised to end the violence against the estimated 5,000 street kids in Guatemala City. The homeless children's shelter Covenant House, known as Casa Alianza in Latin America, has filed suit against 59 police officers for the murders of 16 street kids. A court order closed the shelter's legal assistance office in August, however, Serrano indicated that the office would be allowed to reopen. The day after the president's promise to stop the violence against the kids, two homeless boys were kidnapped by armed men in Guatemala City and later freed. One child was beaten in the face with a revolver butt. Guatemalan Labor Party Celebrates 42nd Anniversary In commemoration of the 42nd anniversary of the Guatemalan Labor Party (PGT) on September 28, rebels set off leaflet bombs in front of two Guatemalan TV stations, a radio station and the Guatemalan Journalists Association. The bombs contained pamphlets that read: "As revolutionaries, we strive to broaden the struggle for peace and democracy and to give it perspective. We are fighting for a political and negotiated solution to the armed conflict and to the social and economic crisis." No injuries or damages were reported.