/* Written 9:46 PM Oct 7, 1991 by cerisea in igc:reg.guatemala */ /* ---------- "Cerigua Weekly Briefs" ---------- */ CERIGUA WEEKLY BRIEFS, September 29 - October 5, 1991Serrano Meets with Bush President Serrano met briefly with President Bush on October 1 during his visit to the United States. The investigation of the Michael Devine murder was one of the main topics of discussion, according to Prensa Libre columnist Mario Sandoval, who accompanied Serrano on his visit. Serrano was unaware that military officers implicated in the Devine murder had just been freed; Bush, however, was informed of the action, which had been made public that very day. Serrano reportedly asked why U.S. policy toward Guatemala depends on a single case which occurred before he took office. Serrano and Bush signed an agreement to increase trade and investment between the two countries. Serrano said he had not come to the United States to ask for assistance or try to re-establish military aid. He said he was more interested in maintaining Guatemala's "dignity" than in begging for assistance. Furthermore, he added, increasing trade between the two countries is more important than any type of aid the United States could give. Serrano asked that the 45-minute meeting with Bush be given official status, but the U.S. president declined. Serrano Meets with Human Rights Groups Serious confrontations between Serrano and human rights groups took place when they met on October 1. Serrano reportedly was annoyed at what he considered vague and generalized accusations. Serrano labeled Amilcar Mendez, president of the Runujel Junam Council of Ethnic Communities (CERJ), a "subversive." Human rights groups rejected this claim and reaffirmed their continued support for human rights activists in Guatemala. The groups said Amilcar Mendez is currently living in exile with his family in California because of intensified death threats. In an interview with Univision Serrano said he did not view the human rights organizations as his enemies, but asked that they go to Guatemala to confirm their accusations before passing judgment. More on Serrano's Trip to United States While in the United States, Serrano spoke at a forum organized by the Carnegie Endowment. He justified current violence by saying that Guatemalans have grown accustomed to it, having been born and raised amid violence,but added that it must be ended. He declared that he is the commander-in- chief of the army, and the army has been "obedient and respectful" because it understands the need to end impunity. Serrano was received in a special session of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) inWashington, D.C. on October 3. He announced that his government will name a permanent ambassador to the OAS; previously, the ambassador to the United States served this function. While in Washington, Serrano also declared that his government would support military intervention to restore to power Haiti's elected-President Jean Bertrand Aristides, overthrown by a military coup this week. Government Receives International Loan and U.S. Donation The Inter-American Development Bank authorized a loan for $32.8 million to the Guatemalan government, thereby re- opening credit lines closed since last year. The loan is specified for projects to provide drinking water and drainage systems to rural areas. The loan was signed when President Serrano met with the Bank president on October 2. Minister of the Economy Juan Miron said credit lines were re-opened because the government met its commitments with the international lending institution through the help of a loan from the Venezuelan government and the issuing of emergency treasury bonds. In addition, $48 of a $50 million donation from the United States was earmarked for overdue interest payments to the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank, the Patrullaje Informativo broadcast reported. U.S. ambassador Thomas Stroock announced on September 28 that the Agency for International Development (AID) donated $50 million to the Serrano government. Stroock said the purpose is to assist in "implementing a solid fiscal policy to achieve balanced and permanent economic growth," adding that the United States wants to see good relations between the Guatemalan government and international lending institutions. President Serrano, nevertheless, said in an interview with Univision broadcast over Guatemalan television on October 2 that his government paid its overdue account with international lending institutions "without any outside assistance." The president of the Council of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial and Financial Associations (CACIF) said the opening of credit lines was only a cosmetic gesture. International lending institutions have stated clearly that the Guatemalan government must demonstrate a long-range economic plan which includes serious tax reform in order for the credit valve to be truly opened. The comment by CACIF President Marco Garcia Noriego may seem surprising given that industrialists and agroexporters, well-represented in the private enterprise organization, are not in favor of tax reform. Garcia, however, comes from the private bankingsector which supports tax reform. Cocaine Confiscated--Eight Arrested A small airplane transporting approximately 800 kilos of cocaine landed on a clandestine airstrip near the southern coast, according to reports on October 3. The cocaine is valued at almost 100 million quetzales or $20 million. The daily Prensa Libre said the aircraft may have been forced to land due to mechanical problems, or it may have been discovered by U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) personnel when it landed. The three crew members fled, but eight were arrested at the site by security agents. The Notisiete newscast said the eight are accused of belonging to the southern coast cartel, linked directly to the Columbian Medellin Cartel. The television newscast said that landowner Alvaro Mauricio Poveda was among the eight arrested. Prensa Libre reported, however, that the land is owned by Irma Gonzalez Ralda of one of the prominent landowning families in the southern coast region. At least a thousand secret landing strips are used by drug smugglers, the Transportation Minister confirmed in El Grafico on September 28. He said the civil aeronautics division lacks adequate personnel and equipment to control the numerous landing strips located in the provinces of Peten, Huehuetenango, San Marcos, Quezaltenango, Retalhuleu, Suchitepequez, Escuintla, Zacapa, and Izabal. In interviews printed in Prensa Libre on September 30 and October 1, Eduardo Marti Guillo, who recently resigned as a Vice Minister of the Interior, said an average of 150 planes transporting cocaine from South America land every month in Guatemala for refueling. According to confidential information provided by agro-businessmen, $250 million is paid annually to rent land for airstrips; in some cases land owners are forced to accept the deals. Drug money is laundered in Guatemala through auto smuggling and the real estate business, Marti Guillo said, which explains why real estate prices have skyrocketed and the market has become dollar-based. Army Officers Accused of Devine Murder Freed The Attorney General's office reported on September 30 that the eleven army members implicated in the murder of U.S. citizen Michael Devine had been set free by a military court. The Defense Minister immediately called the announcement irresponsible, saying that only four were freed and the others remained in prison. The Attorney General's office appealed the military court decision and insisted that the army members be imprisoned. Army spokesman Homero Garcia said that Colonel Guillermo Portillo Gomez and Colonel Mario Roberto Garcia Catalanwerereleased without bail on September 17 and 19, respectively, while Capitan Hugo Contreras and an army specialist were released on bail on September 11 and 17, respectively. Captain Contreras is believed to be the intellectual author of the crime, while there is evidence that Colonel Portillo gave the order. At the time of the murder, Portillo was second-in-command at the Santa Elena military base, located near where the murder took place. The military court's action to free the officers is not surprising in Guatemala, where an army officer has never been convicted of violating human rights. Recently promoted General Jose Luis Quilo Ayuso presided over the military court which handed down the decision. General Quilo Ayuso was the commander of the Chimaltenango military base when 20 peasants from El Aguacate were massacred in November 1988. Some of the victims' families testified to human rights groups that they heard the screams of the victims being tortured inside the military base. In response to the release of the officers, United Nations expert Christian Tomuschat said that impunity continues to prevail in Guatemala and laws governing prosecution of members of the army must be modified. The UN human rights expert is in Guatemala from October 2-12 to verify improvement in human rights violations. Army Abuses Denounced This week the URNG charged the army with the following abuses against the civilian population: On September 28 the army launched five 105 milimeter shells, some containing white phosphorous, which landed near the Tziaja village in the Chajul district of Quiche. On September 29 the army launched four 105 milimeter shells and four 81 milimeter mortar shells which exploded in the village of Eden, also in Quiche. Army troops accused residents of Santa Elena, Chimaltenango of belonging to guerrilla forces and soldiers threatened to kill workers at a nearby plantation if guerrilla forces attacked army troops in the area. The army is forcing residents of Agua Escondida, Tecpan, to sweep the local area three times a week in search of rebels, an action which endangers their lives and causes them to lose days of work, the rebels charged. The URNG issued a call to Guatemalan and international organizations to continue drawing attention to the army's campaign of repression and terror. No One Wants U.S. Toxic Wastes El Grafico reported on September 28 that the Economy Minister was about to authorize daily importation of 20,000 tons of toxic wastes from the United States to be used in theproduction of fertilizers. A few days later the ViceMinister of Economic Integration admitted the government wasconsidering building a plant to process wastes from the United States, but added that it would not authorize the project if it would cause ecological damage. The Vice Minister said paper, wood, glass and food wastes would be used to produce fertilizers, and insisted that imported wastes would not include human excrement or radioactive material. The processing plant would require an investment of $50 million and would create 3,000 new jobs. Apparently various sectors protested the idea, because by October 3, both Vice President Espina and the Economy Minister confirmed the project was no longer under consideration. Intense Combat in Palin, Escuintla The URNG reported an operation of coordinated attacks near Palin, Escuintla, on Sunday, September 29. Rebel forces took combat positions at 6:00 a.m. and began to paralyze traffic on the highway that connects the capital with the southern coast. At 7:20 rebel forces ambushed a military convoy at kilometer 44 of the highway, causing 30 army casualties and destroying two army trucks and damaging a third. Ten minutes later, rebel forces ambushed four small army tanks at kilometer 39, causing ten army casualties and destroying two of the tanks. Four hours of combat followed, in which another small tank was destroyed, two tanks damaged and twelve more army casualties were inflicted. In addition to small tanks and armored vehicles, the army used artillery- equipped helicopters and an A-37 bomber plane. Police Officer Kills Youth in San Lucas Tolimas A National Police officer reportedly under the influence of alcohol killed 20-year-old Juan Carlos Castro in the village of San Lucas Toliman, Solola. Press reports said the officer fled but was hunted down by as many as a thousand town residents who were about to lynch him when the human rights ombudsman's office intervened. Another resident of the village along Lake Atitlan was killed by a police officer a few months ago. At that time residents demanded that security forces be removed from the village. Human Rights Ombudsman Ramiro de Leon said a police detachment had just been reestablished there before the latest incident took place. Opposition Politicians Targeted Two crimes against local-level politicians of opposition parties were reported this week. National Centrist Union Party (UCN) leader, Pedro Menendez, was killed in Tiquisate, Escuintla. Menendez was also chief of the local police force and was shot after leaving a town council meeting.HildaIleanade Jesus Barrera, a local Christian Democrat leader in Guatemala City, was kidnapped and taken to a dark room where she was interrogated for several hours. 500th Anniversary Resistance Campaign to Meet in Guatemala The "500 Years of Indigenous and Popular Resistance" campaign will hold its second hemisphere-wide meeting in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala on October 7-12. Delegates and invited guests will discuss: democracy, self-determination, defense of human rights, analysis of government policies on land ownership and use, and activities planning for 1992. Rigoberta Menchu, of the Committee for Campesino Unity (CUC) and the United Representation of the Guatemalan Opposition (RUOG), will attend the meeting. Menchu, who has lived in exile for several years, will be accompanied by Danielle Miterrand, the wife of the president of France. Plight of Guatemalan Children Almost half (45%) of Guatemala's population consists of children under the age of 14. Of these children, 40,000 are internally displaced; 56,000 have been orphaned by violence; and 5,000 are street kids. Of the 365,000 children born during 1990, at least 80% are destined to live in extreme poverty. Thirty percent of infant deaths are caused by diarrhea, 28% by severe respiratory infections, and 6% by illnesses preventable by vaccines. Child malnutrition is as high as 78% in western regions. These figures were provided by Rosalina Tuyuc of the National Council of Widows of Guatemala (CONAVIGUA) and Nineth de Garcia of the Mutual Support Group for Relatives of the Disappeared (GAM) in commemoration of International Day of the Child and were printed in the daily El Grafico on September 30.