/* Written 9:56 PM Mar 30, 1992 by cerisea in igc:reg.guatemala */ /* ---------- "Cerigua Weekly Briefs" ---------- */ WEEKLY BRIEFS, MARCH 22 - 28, 1992 Dianna Ortiz to Testify in Guatemala Ursuline nun Dianna Ortiz will travel to Guatemala to testify about her kidnap, rape and torture by state security forces in November 1989. Her trip is set for April. Guatemalan special prosecutor Fernando Linares says Ortiz must clear up inconsistencies in her testimony. He says there have been no physical examinations to support her case. Ortiz' attorney Paul Soreff, who will accompany her to Guatemala on March 29, said Ortiz underwent two medical exams following the incident, one in Guatemala and one in the United States. The Catholic church has asked President Serrano to guarantee her safety. While in the country, Ortiz will meet with grassroots organizations, Catholic church workers and officials from the Supreme Court and the office of the Human Rights Ombudsman. Women's organizations from Ortiz's home state of Kentucky have placed announcements in the Guatemalan media in solidarity with Guatemalan women: "We know the violence and sexual abuse you have endured...We are with you in your demands for respect for life and dignity as women...The courage and determination of the women of Guatemala are an example for us; it inspires us, the women of the United States, to continue our struggle in solidarity with other peoples." Junior Officers Threaten Coup A faction calling itself the "Young Officers" has threatened a military coup if the government and guerrillas decide to jointly investigate human rights violations over the last thirty years. A communique released on the tenth anniversary of the March 23 Rios Montt coup charged that the insurgency- proposed Justice and Truth Commission will be used to prosecute members of the military. The Young Officers criticized the ongoing peace talks saying the aim is "to dissolve the armed forces so the insurgency can achieve its ends." Their communique also said conditions are ripe for a replay of the coup that deposed military dictator Lucas Garcia ten years ago. Radio El Independiente commented that the faction may belong to the same "Officers of the Mountain" who twice participated in coup attempts against the government of Vinicio Cerezo. Defense Minister Jose Garcia denied that such a group exists. URNG on Status of Negotiations The Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) says the peace talks have reached an impasse over government inflexibility and unwillingness to seriously address human rights. The Serrano government has refused the idea of aTruth and Justice Commission or to apply international laws protecting civilians in wartime. It also refuses to dismantle the repressive civil patrols (PAC). The URNG is asking the National Reconciliation Commission to hold a public meeting between the URNG and civilian sectors to address proposals and concerns about the peace talks which are now at a standstill. The rebel command rejected what it called an army disinformation campaign to discredit the insurgency with military double talk. The army says it wants peace yet continues its psychological offensive - holding up prisoners of war as deserters, blaming insurgents for army acts of repression, and accusing the URNG of drug-trafficking. The URNG believes the army is trying to present it as weak and isolated with nothing to offer, because it fears URNG strength and political initiative. Smithsonian to Identify Possible Remains of Disappeared Journalist US freelance writer Nicholas Blake disappeared in 1985 along with his photographer and friend Griffen Davis. After bribing witnesses and promising not to prosecute, the Blake family has recovered remains they believe may belong to Nicholas, according to the New York Times. The two men disappeared in the Cuchumatanes mountains of Guatemala while seeking out members of the guerrillas for a story they were doing. The government and the US embassy told the family the two men probably died in rebel hands. The Blakes have now discovered that in fact they were followed by civil patrollers to the outskirts of the town of El Llano and shot. In 1987 a civilian military agent (comisionado militar) Felipe Alva came forward after assurances that no charges would be filed. He said the remains were moved from the original burial site, burned and reburied to conceal evidence of the crime. The family has taken two hundred pounds of bones, fragments and dirt to the Smithsonian Institute for identification. If the remains are positively identified, Felipe Alva will receive a "several thousand dollar" reward. Students Want Cerezo Tried for Kidnapping and Murder San Carlos University students are demanding prosecution of former president Vinicio Cerezo for the kidnapping and murder of ten student leaders in 1989. Leader of the Student Front for University Reform (FERU) Lisandro Moran says students are charging Cerezo with the crimes because as president, he was Commander-in-Chief of the Army when intelligence agents kidnapped the students and murdered them. Intimidation Against Students Intensifies A high-powered explosive was detonated at the San Carlos University school of chemistry and pharmacy. The explosion occurred about 100 feet from the office of the University Student Association (AEU). University spokeswoman Ada Alvarado condemned the bombing. She said it is the fourth terrorist attack in three months. She said students are dedicating their educational efforts toward achieving peace, democracy and development for all Guatemalans. In another incident, classes were cancelled and 19,000 students evacuated after a false bomb threat was called in. AEU student leader Otto Peralta, who has received threats against his life this week, said the incidents were warningsagainst student and grassroots participation in the peace process. Peralta said a platoon of military and national police as well as the treasury guard raided the campus in an act of intimidation against annual student protests. Infiltrators are on campus to disrupt the events and identify student leaders, Peralta said. Indigenous Want Lands Returned Former owners of today's El Jaibal plantation in Solola are demanding the land be returned to them. They now live in San Jorge La Laguna. The l,800 people now living up in the mountains around Lake Atitlan say 350 years ago their town was on the lakeshore. Little by little, local authorities took parcels of land as payment for services from residents who spoke no Spanish. In 1959, the government evicted fifty Cakchiquel families from the shores of the lake and pushed them up into mountain areas that could support only a small population. Since this removal, the lands have gone unused. The villagers say they seek the most peaceful and democratic way to recover some 600 acres of land. They are calling on President Serrano to refrain from sending in the police or military to avoid a repeat of the massacre and years of repression at Santiago Atitlan. Interior Minister Fernando Hurtado says he has a court order to evict anyone who invades El Jaibal. Otto Rene Castillo to be Published in Guatemala In an unprecedented act, the Minister of Culture will publish Vamos Patria a Caminar, by Guatemalan poet Otto Rene Castillo. Castillo was an early member of the insurgent Rebel Armed Forces (FAR). He was tortured and burned alive together with combatant Nora Paiz Carcamo on March 19, 1967. El Grafico columnist Carlos Soto accused the government of trying to enhance its own image by presenting the publication as some sort of concession. Soto said the move is an insult to his friend Castillo, who fought against the government and was murdered by it. Yesterday, they burned his body while he lived, Soto wrote. Today, they burn his legacy, staining it with their dirty hands. Violence Against Women and Children Forty percent of women who die violently are murdered by their partners, according to the National Office on Women. Nevertheless, Guatemalan law does not recognize domestic violence as a crime. A Prensa Libre report says such violence is directed for the most part at wives but also at daughters, mothers and elderly women. The report indicates that violence exists at all socio-economic levels but few charges are filed because of the hostility shown to womenwithin the Guatemalan judicial system. Children's rights advocate Marilys de Estada told Prensa Libre that sexual abuse is one of the most traumatic forms of physical and psychological aggression against children and teens. Of denunciations made to the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman, only 8% are such cases. This figure does not begin to describe the situation children face, De Estrada says. Conditions Not Right for Refugee Return Refugee counsel Alfonso Bauer Paiz says representatives of the 45,000 Guatemalan refugees in Mexico have reached agreements with the Guatemalan government for a return home en masse. Sources at the United Nations High Commission on Refugees, however, say strong repression still exists in indigenous areas of Guatemala and President Serrano has not established the necessary security measures to move the repatriation process forward, according to a report in the Mexican daily Uno Mas Uno. Still being discussed is return to the refugees' original lands, individual and community safety, and national and international verification to prevent harm to the refugees. Francisco Cali on Discrimination Against Indigenous Peoples The indigenous peoples are blamed for the backwardness of Guatemala, for its being a "third world" and underdeveloped country, says Cakchiquel leader Francisco Cali of the Guatemalan Peasant Committee of the Highlands (CCDA). In an interview with the Los Angeles daily La Opinion, Cali says indigenous people traditionally react in one of two ways to this attitude. Either they accept it and deny their roots, or they become more proud of their ancestors' legacy and create indigenous cultural organizations to keep their traditions alive. Both cultural and political indigenous organizations are targets of government repression. During the repression of the 1980s, political organization became stronger and indigenous activism increased in both the grassroots and guerrilla movements. One aspect that complicates the situation is that 80% of army soldiers are indigenous. Cali points out the importance of recognizing how they came to be in the army. Military service in Guatemala is mandatory and recruitment consists of virtual kidnapping. As for indigenous people in the rebel movement, Cali says that the Guatemalan army is so sophisticated in it's counterinsurgent operations, the guerrillas could not survive without their support. "This means the support of the indigenous peoples of Guatemala," he says. "I don't mean the entire indigenous population supports the URNG. If they did,the revolution would have triumphed by now." United States May Forgive Guatemalan Debt After a visit with US Treasury official David Mulford, Bank of Guatemala president Federico Linares said the United States may forgive 80% of a $300 million Guatemalan debt. Mulford went to Guatemala to promote the Americas Initiative and said the debt may be cancelled if Guatemala finalizes negotiations on a new program with the International Monetary Fund and makes up late payments owed to the World Bank. If Guatemala is deemed "eligible," the government could benefit from the Americas Initiative, which includes debt reduction, Mulford says. GATT Could Convert Latin America into Toxic Waste Dump With industrialized countries generating 200 million tons of toxic waste per year, they will desperately be looking for somewhere to dump it, the daily Siglo XXI reports. Central American countries have been offered $20 to $100 a ton and with millions to dispose of, the economic crises could make the temptation hard to resist, the report continued. Principles adopted in the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) will make health and environment regulations appear as barriers to the free trade, says one Greenpeace environmentalist. Since GATT measures are not premised on sustainable economic development and insist on absolute freedom for private enterprise and multinational corporations, Latin America could become a dump for nuclear and toxic waste unless governments can effectively ban such imports. Greenpeace Director Steve Sawyer in Guatemala City told the magazine Cronica that Greenpeace has managed to shut down a chemical plant polluting Lake Managua in Nicaragua. He said the current problem is to prevent the transfer of the plant to Guatemala. Sawyer said loopholes in legislation make bans on import of toxic waste difficult to enforce. Guatemala's New Chief Justice Six weeks after Juan Jose Rodil Peralta became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he ordered the rotation of 54 judges, explaining the order as the result of complaints. The rotation of the judges has raised questions because it interrupted proceedings in some closely watched cases involving the army and high-level politicians. Judge Maria Eugenia Villasenor was removed in the case of a profitable government purchase of Sikorsky helicopters. Former president Vinicio Cerezo and Serrano's former Army Chief of Staff Edgar Godoy are implicated in the purchase. Judge Eduardo Coromac, who ordered the arrest of the prime murdersuspect in the Myrna Mack case, was moved from his Guatemala City post to another province. The new chief justice took part in drawing up the Fundamental Statute of Government which replaced the constitution during the de facto governments of Rios Montt and Mejia Victores (1981-85). This statute legalized summary trial where the accused were usually sentenced to death by firing squad. Also permitted under the statute were the civil defense patrols (PAC), and the scorched earth policies which destroyed more than 400 highland villages. ***************** 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.