/* Written 10:20 PM Jun 16, 1992 by cerisea in igc:reg.guatemala */ /* ---------- "cerigua weekly briefs" ---------- */ WEEKLY BRIEFS JUNE 7 - 13, 1992 Government's Turn to Respond Mediator Bishop Quezada says negotiators are waiting for President Serrano to respond to the last proposal from the URNG, especially the section on human rights. It was the President who requested the proposal back in February. At that time he said he would answer it in two weeks. The URNG document, "Just and Democratic Peace for Guatemala: Contents of the Negotiations" was delivered to the government on May 15. Government negotiator Manuel Conde says the administration is preparing its statement. Conde says the response will address human rights concerns, but the Civil Self-Defense Patrols (PAC) will not be dissolved until after an accord is signed. He did not not comment on the URNG's proposed reordering of issues and restructuring of the talks. Conde has denied the government pressured for the removal of United Nations observer Francesc Vendrell. He says the government asked the UN for a higher ranking official. Vendrell is to assume a new UN post in Algeria. Chief Government Negotiator Hurt by Scandal Manuel Conde is feeling the effect of the scandal surrounding his brother-in-law. Reports say the attorney general's office ordered the arrest of Belter Ortiz for possession of illegal firearms and an unexplained 50 thousand quetzales ($10,000). Officials say Ortiz also had government credentials and license plates in his possession at the time of arrest. Head negotiator Conde says the matter has been blown out of proportion and is aimed at hurting him politically. Christian Democrat Enrique Guillen says the government is trying to destroy Conde for having said President Serrano is not competent to govern. Serrano is in Brazil and has not commented. Military Peace Negotiators Replaced Manuel Conde has announced that two army generals on the government negotiating team will be replaced. General Marco Antonio Gonzalez Taracena, recently removed from the General Garrison following the escape of two soldiers implicated in a massacre will no longer be involved in the peace talks. The second official is Defense Minister General Jose Garcia Samayoa. Taking their places are General Adolfo Rossito, Army Inspector General and General Carlos Enrique Pineda Carranza, chief of the Chimaltenango military base. The position of inspector general is considered the third most important in the Guatemalan military heirarchy after chief of staff and defense minister. The two officers will join veterans Deputy Chief of Staff General Mario Enriquez and General Julio Balconi, Director of the officer training school. No datehas been set for the next round of talks. University Professor Murdered Professor Raul Morales Toledo was shot to death June 9 by unidentified assailants as he was getting into his car. Officials suggest his attackers were trying to steal his car and shot him when he resisted. They do not rule out other motives, noting Morales was shot assasination-style in the head. Morales's career spanned some twenty years. He had taught in the universities of San Carlos, Rafael Landivar and Francisco Marroquin. Telegraph Workers Strike Over one thousand national telegraph workers declared a work stoppage June 10 to protest the shortage of personnel and lack of vacation time. On the first day of the strike, 160 messengers participated. Management responded by giving each messenger 500 to 850 to deliver on foot that day. Strikers are demanding the reinstatement of workers transferred to the postal service. They also demand more workers to fill positions vacated by retirees. Some employees have accumulated up to three years' vacation time short-staffing has not allowed for time off. Employees of the General Board of Postal Workers say they may begin work stoppages soon. Letter carriers say the Communications Ministry has failed to comply with agreements made following an April stoppage. the ministry was to hire 50 carriers over a period of five months. Workers say the strike could spread nationally. They say employees around the country have no vacation time and correspondence is backing up. Government Announces National Housing Bank to Close With President Serrano was in Brazil, his top aide Fernando Muniz has announced that the National Housing Bank (BANVI) may close. BANVI workers union member Vinicio Garrido says there will be serious unrest if the agency closes. Another member says it would be a mistake to measure the the banks performance in the same way one would a private institution because BANVI also has a social function. BANVI unionist Saul Martinez says the announcement was irresponsible because only Congress can close the bank. Unionists say alarmed customers withdrew 500,000 quetzales ($100,000) and closed over 300 accounts. Byron Morales of the labor organization UNSITRAGUA says grassroots organizations are demanding immediate action to solve the housing problem among the poor. The government must declare a state of emergency over the housing problem orface widespread protest, he added. The Federation of Bank and Security Employess Union (FESEBS) say the BANVI situation is the direct responsibility of current and previous governments who appointed officials interested only in lining their own pockets. Officials extended credit to their friends, relatives and fellow party members, employees say. FESEBS has asked Vice President Gustavo Espina for a meeting to discuss the fate of workers in the event the housing bank closes, but has received no response. Serrano Seeks to Cancel Debt at Earth Summit President Serrano is asking for $55 million at the Rio Earth Summit, to promote proyects to protect Guatemala's tropical rainforests, according to Agricultural Minister Adolfo Boppel. Guatemala's foreign debt stands at $55 million. Serrano hopes to convince creditors to let him apply the money to a Mayan Biosphere, to consist of 15% of the country's territory, about the size of El Salvador. Government spokesperson Gonzalo Asturias says the forests help counter the greenhouse effect and that Guatemala must receive international assistance to help relieve problems caused by climatic change. Under the auspices of the Agency for International Development (AID) a commission was created to study measures to protect the Mayan Biosphere. The Guatemalan rainforest, the second largest in the Americas after the Amazon, is home to untold numbers of species of birds and trees. Toxic Waste Import Deals The organization Greenpeace says the Guatemalan government is currently negotiating two deals to import an undetermined amount of dangerous and toxic wastes. One involves a project to incinerate used tires and the other is to recycle domestic, industrial, agricultural and livestock wastes. Prensa Libre reports that a US embassy official made known that one company was seeking to import wastes. The report says Guatemalan vice president Gustavo Espina ordered the agency in charge not to process necessary papers for the company, the Industry for Environmental Recovery. Officials noted that the company was previously registered under a different name in 1990. A trade analyst says it is possible to import toxic waste by calling them raw materials. The contents listed will be that of the material shipped in largest quantity. Wastes may be illegally imported by identifying them as authorized materials such as plastics, iron, food, paper, tin, fertilizers or synthetic compounds. Burial for Persons Murdered in 1980 Relatives held funeral services in Quiche for seven persons murdered by the army in 1980. The bodies were exhumed from six clandestine graves in Tunaja, Zacualpa, Quiche. Hundreds of people attended the funeral for the three women and four children, one child a two month old infant. One woman present told TV Notisiete that relatives knew who did it and who are responsible. "The seven died when the army threw bombs and burned them to death," she said, "...we don't want any more massacres." Miguel Morales of the Mutual Support Group for Relatives of the Disappeared (GAM) named Santo Coj Rodriguez of the army as responsible for the murders. Guatemalan Kids Impoverished and Defenseless Two thirds of the four and a half million Guatemalan poor under 18 live in abject poverty, according to UNICEF. The number of children who begin working at the age of seven to help support the family is estimated at 1,159,000. UNICEF says these children have no way to counter these violations of their basic rights. The magazine Cronica reports that thousands of Guatemalan girls begin working as prostitutes as early as eight years old. A Casa Alianza worker said that in 98% of cases, adults have forced them into it. Another worker from the For Women Only shelter says economic conditions have contributed to an increasing number of children being forced to leave their houses. One doctor says the girls also "run away from home because they are abused by relatives, they are sold, or their families have gotten them started in the business." Human Rights Foundation Investigating CERJ Leader's Case Representatives from the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Foundation are in Guatemala to investigate charges brought against activist Amilcar Mendez by a civilian army agent. Mendez is a recipient of the Kennedy award. He was released on bail June 5 after appearing in court to respond to charges of defamation filed by military commissioner Ernesto Arevalo. The commissioner, in the company of soldiers, kidnapped Samuel de la Cruz in 1990 in the presence of witnesses. Mendez says the case against him is a government move to discredit the Council of Ethnic Communities Runujel Junam (CERJ). The organization's headquarters was bombed in May. Cerezo Says Feudal Mentality Blocks Peace Right-wing business owners pose a threat to peace, according to former president Vinicio Cerezo. If they "continue to pay poor wages and evade taxes needed for financing social projects, they are creating conditions that will lead the country back into war," he told the Mexican daily Excelsior.The challenge for ending the violence is to do away with the business sector's "feudal mentality" in order to generate wealth, raise salaries and pay taxes, the former president says. ***************** 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.