/* Written 8:53 PM Feb 24, 1994 by cerisea in igc:reg.guatemala */ /* ---------- "Cerigua Weekly Briefs" ---------- */ CERIGUA WEEKLY BRIEFS, FEBRUARY 21, 1994 Military Shake-up Reveals Power Struggle Guatemala, February 20. The Defense Minister has announced the removal of the army's second-in-command and a shuffling of the military members on the peace negotiating team. The changes followed unusual troop movements near the National Palace. Some hail the removal of General Jose Quilo Ayuso from the Army High Command as a sign that officers supporting a political solution to the armed conflict are currently gaining strength. Others are expecting a coup d'etat attempt. They say promoting General Marco Gonzalez Taracena to fill Quilo's office means disputes over upcoming negotiations are not over. Former Defense Minister Hector Gramajo candidly told Prensa Libre that the army is divided into two factions. Gramajo said retired officers favoring a military solution to the armed conflict make up one group, called the "Brotherhood." Presidential Military Guard Chief Otto Perez Molina leads the other, known as the "Union." Its officers support the so- called "institutional" stand. Unnamed sources cited in the Mexican daily La Jornada say Defense Minister Mario Enriquez removed Quilo after his "hard-liners" attempted to remove General Enriquez, citing health reasons. President De Leon also announced the resignation of Interior Minister Arnoldo Ortiz after the latter said publicly that "hard-liners" in the army were pressuring the government. El Grafico columnist Carlos Soto says the army is "holding a gun to the head" of Peace Commission President Hector Rosada on the question of establishing a Truth Commission. In the ongoing "war of the Rosadas," the government's chief negotiator has made a number of contradictory statements concerning the Truth Commission, voicing positions ranging from opposition to neutrality. He has also said a "truth commission," is a human rights matter and should be discussed at the end of the talks. In other changes, former government peace commission member General Carlos Pineda was promoted to deputy chief of the Army High Command, and General Julio Balcony to the position of Inspector General. After almost a year absence, General Pineda will return to the Peace Commission, replacing General Gonzalez Taracena, while Colonel Victor Ventura, director of the Polytechnic School, has been removed from the negotiating team, to return to his job "full-time." Church Says Civil Patrols Murdered Carpio Guatemala, February 20. The Archbishop's Human Rights Office says it has evidence that civil patrollers carried out the July, 1993 ambush that killed newspaper publisher and party leader Jorge Carpio, and three party members accompanying him. Police investigators made four arrests last summer, saying that bandits murdered the four during a botched robbery. But relatives, human rights groups and eye- witnesses have suspected official involvement in the crime. Marta Arrivillaga, Carpio's widow, says the Church report "confirms what we've thought all along: that this crime was political and not common." Guatemalan army spokesperson Major Edith Vargas said the Church needs to "put its proof on the table" so it may be investigated. Arrivillaga is scheduled to address the U.N. Human Rights Commission sessions in Geneva this week. In January, the U.N. expert for human rights, Monica Pinto, labelled the Carpio murder a case of "summary execution" and joined her predecessor, Christian Tomuschat, in calling for the disbanding of the patrols. Guatemalan human rights groups are once again asking the United Nations to place Guatemala under "Item 12" so that a "special relateur," may be assigned to increase U.N. pressure on the government. "We admit there are abuses," President Ramiro de Leon Carpio said, "but they're not systematic." The Church's report on the Carpio case promises to increase pressure on President de Leon to reign in the civil patrols, especially now, as the United Nations evaluates Guatemala's human rights record in Geneva. The President yesterday announced the formation of a special commission to investigate the circumstances surrounding his cousin's murder, seven months after the crime, and one month after files of evidence relating to the case are said to have mysteriously disappeared. But De Leon also reiterated that the army-controlled civil patrols will not be disbanded until Guatemala's thirty-three-year civil war ends. He said only that some patrols outside the zones of conflict may be turned into unarmed "Peace and Development Committees." Still, cries are growing louder to dissolve the PACs. The U.S. State Department concluded in its 1993 human rights report on Guatemala that "leaders of the PACS are feared in many communities, enjoy protection by the army, and their acts, whether or not they are within the law, are immune from punishment." General Strike; Union Leader Goes Into Exile Guatemala, February 21, 1994. Between 150 and 250 thousand state workers walked off the job Friday, in a general strike for a 40% wage increase, an increase in social spending and a halt to privatization of state-owned corporations. The strike follows one week of marches and demonstrations throughout the country. The strike has paralyzed services in at least 12 of the country's 22 provinces. As worker actions escalate, so does the repression. Union leader Raul Navas was forced to flee the country February 18th, after receiving several death threats from paramilitary groups in Quiche, according to the IUTE State Workers' Coalition leader Nery Barrios. The view of the government on the unrest appeared to be expressed in sentiments before the strike. Presidential representative Hector Luna said "it is believed that groups...living outside the country and directing clandestine forces within" were "manipulating" the workers. When asked if he was referring to URNG rebels, Luna replied, "draw your own conclusions." Luna said if the "illegal" actions continue, "they will have to be suppressed," and participating workers prosecuted. "We hold the government directly responsible for any threats or attacks against IUTE members," says Barrios. President De Leon warned a wage increase would cause an "irresponsible" increase in budget expenditures and vowed to push forward with the "de-monopolization of State companies." Union leaders say the government would have more than enough to pay the wage increases if it collected what the union claims is more than 330 million dollars owed by Guatemala's elite in back taxes. Labor Minister Gladys Morfin appeared to support the workers' claim when she said "...an increase in salaries is fair, but the government can't just manufacture money....private enterprise refuses to pay their taxes." In related news, Attorney General Telesforo Guerra has initiated legal proceedings against four doctors whom he says are responsible for the death of a patient at San Juan Hospital. Guerra says Catalina Penados died because doctors engaged in labor action failed to attend her when she arrived at the San Juan emergency ward. Meanwhile, state professionals are threatening to resign en masse unless the government settles their three-week-old strike soon. Journalists' Home Bombed Guatemala, February 20. A hand grenade ripped through a metal door at the home of Guatemalan journalist Hector Arnoldo Barrera Ortiz. None of the four people inside was injured, but the attack left the director of the Central American news agency ACEN-SIAG badly shaken. Arnoldo Barrera's brother, Byron, went into exile in 1990 after barely surviving the machine gun attack that killed his wife. Byron Barrera was also a director at ACEN-SIAG. Witnesses say the grenade was thrown by persons in a vehicle that had polarized windows. The same suspects were seen cruising the Barrera home the day before. In other journalism news, Juan Jose Contreras Gomez, who worked in the circulation department at Siglo XXI, was kidnapped last night, according to his father. And the National Police have announced the arrest of two men in connection with the murder of the wife and daughter of journalist Marco Vinicio Mejia. Fausto Rodriguez, the manager of a plantation, was arrested together with Domingo Melgar. Police have given no motive for the double murder, and attacks against the press continue. The Archbishop's Human Rights Office reported 22 cases of harassment and 2 extrajudicial executions of journalists, as well as seven infringements on press freedoms in 1993. Officials Suggest Making Troublemakers "Disappear" Guatemala City, February 19. As he was leaving office, Interior Minister Arnoldo Ortiz said there are still elements in Guatemala who believe the best way to deal with dissidents is to "disappear" them. "With the students, for example, many sectors called for the iron fist. They considered it easier to disappear them," than to meet their demands, Ortiz said. He declined to identify the sources of the statements, but assured reporters that powerful individuals and institutions inside and outside the government continue to try to "pressure" ministers to assume policies that are, as he said, "outside the law." Prensa Libre columnists speculate that Ortiz is being replaced because of his failure to stop the wave of kidnappings that have plagued the country in recent months. Nobelist Says U.S. Troops Must Go Mexico City, February 19. Rigoberta Menchu has asked President Bill Clinton to remove U.S. troops from Guatemala. "While they say the troops are in Guatemala for social projects, like road construction, their presence is perceived as support for the repressive policies of the Guatemalan army," the indigenous leader said yesterday in Geneva. Menchu appeared before the United Nations' Human Rights Commission. She called the presence of the U.S. soldiers "unacceptable, especially given that the United States is a member of the group of 'friends' of the peace process that is supposed to remain neutral at all times." Local press reported the arrival of two Hercules cargo planes, carrying Blackhawk combat helicopters for the purportedly humanitarian mission. The Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) says the U.S. government plans to leave the helicopters behind. A ceremony inaugurating "Purple Heart" joint military training exercises between the two forces was held in Puerto San Jose, Esquintla today. Upon Menchu's arrival in Minneapolis last night, the 1992 Nobel Prize winner received less than VIP treatment. Menchu's personal secretary, Hugo Benitez, released a statement denouncing that U.S. immigration agents questioned Menchu for more than an hour about the validity of a tourist visa issued at the American Embassy in Mexico City. Agents refused her request for a lawyer when the third interrogation session began. "Given these occurrences, Rigoberta Menchu expresses her disapproval of the toughening of immigration policy by the current U.S. administration and of the selective discrimination applied to citizens of America south of the Rio Bravo," said her spokesman. Defense Minister Defends Santiago Atitlan Incursion Guatemala City, February 18. Defense Minister Mario Enriquez says that residents of Santiago Atitlan, the only place in Guatemala to get the army banned from entering its limits, are now calling on it to return. Guerrillas are constantly entering Santiago Atitlan, Enriquez said, as he explained a recent army incursion into the town. Residents deny there are guerrillas in their town. They presented the army with a letter signed by the mayor and 3,000 Santiago citizens, in which they express opposition to either an army or guerrilla presence in their territory. The letter asks President De Leon and the army to respect the agreement made by ex-President Cerezo to keep the military out of Santiago Atitlan. The government agreed after troops stationed in the town massacred protesting peasants in December 1989. General Enriquez dismissed the petition, saying that Cerezo had only agreed to close the existing base, not to withdraw all military forces. "At no time did the president say that their territory would be demilitarized," he added. Human Rights Ombudsman Jorge Garcia Laguardia has condemned the latest incursion, in which two Santiago residents were beaten by soldiers. General Enriquez, insists, however, that the army has a right to enter Santiago. "The army has a mission to do and we're not afraid to carry it out in any corner of the nation," he said. Resistance Communities Fear New Attacks Guatemala, February 21. Members of the Civil Communities in Resistance (CPRs) in Quiche province reported large scale movements of troops on the ground and a number of military helicopters and planes flying overhead this week. The CPRs took out an announcement in the daily El Grafico on February 19, to decry the army's destruction of newly planted crops. CPR members expressed fear that the operations are the prelude to an army attack against them, now that they have come out into the open. CPR members recently emerged after 10 years of hiding in the Ixcan jungle from army attacks. The Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) recently warned that the army is planning a major offensive. It did not cite sources, but said the offensive could include attacks against civilian groups. But spokesperson Edith Vargas denies the army is planning "to launch any kind of counter-insurgency offensive much less ...attacks on civilian populations." The URNG itself has hardly been idle in past weeks. Defense Minister Mario Enriquez admitted on February 16 that at least 10 soldiers have been killed in recent combat with guerrillas in Huehuetenango and Quiche provinces. One hundred rebels also briefly occupied the town of Momostenango this week. Residents reported soldiers were involved in an exchange of gunfire with what appeared to be rebels in zone 10 of the capital late Tuesday, but army representatives deny the report. More Refugees Return Huehuetenango, February 18. In the past week, 207 refugees have returned to the villages they were forced to abandon 10 years ago, according to Oscar Orellana of the Government Refugee Commission (CEAR). The refugees fled their homes in northern Huehuetenango province in the early 1980's to escape army massacres and combat between guerrillas and government forces. Over 6,000 refugees have returned to Guatemala since the first organized return arrived in January 1993. Another 41,000 thousand remain in Mexican refugee camps and an equal number of Guatemalan exiles who do not have refugee status are believed to be scattered throughout southern Mexico. Corrections In the February 14th Weekly Briefs CERIGUA mistakenly reported that in the 1970's, troops commanded by retired General Rios Montt massacred peasants at La Cruz plantation in Jalapa. The massacre did not occur there but at another plantation a few miles North of La Cruz. In the same issue, CERIGUA also reported the sentencing of Captain Roberto Landaverry to two years in prison for human rights abuses. Since that time we have learned that a military court suspended his sentence. ***************** 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.