As our plane descended over Guate the city comes into clearer view....the amorphous squares suddenly become detailed....tin roofs and trash and poverty...the neighborhoods in this sprawling city. This city has been one of the nodes of violence in the recent decades as the civil war raged in the rural highlands and in Guate. Politicians and students and activists plucked from their lives and killed or¨"disappeared." For most of the 20th century Gt has been exploited by an elite few, foreign interests, and the nefarious intervention of the CIA. The many attempts by brave politicians to affect reforms have been met with violence. At the root of much of the struggle is the land ownership which, as would be expected, is mostly (now and past years) owned by a very small elite and enterprises like the United Fruit Company (US).
Decades ago there was a modest move to nationalize a small amount of land not being actively use by United Fruit....the result was a backlash, the paranoia of the Monroe doctrine and a CIA backed coup. Since then, the government has been largely controlled by the military and political attempts at significant reforms have failed.....beyond the violence, the politicians are impotent because of the military strength which is associated with the elite interests. Anyone who knows anything about the last hundred years of Central American politics knows this is a very common story....US policies in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, Honduras....it is repulsive. And the poor folks, the worst hit the indigenous Mayas struggle to get the slightest bit ahead...the slightest bit of improvement in the quality of their lives.
But there is some hope. With the help of international human rights groups a few Mayan families have successfully prosecuted the army for disappearances and death squads killing their family members. This has happened only in the last few years and would not have been successful without the shielding affect of international NGO support. The Gt. army is a little less likely to gun down a bunch of lawyers from the west.....but poor Mayans in the hills, no problem. And fortunately under the recent presidents there has been a reduction in the military...both in personnel and overall spending.
Anyway, having long been aware of the politics of some of Central America and the appalling interventions of the US government (i.e. Reagan and the Iran Contra fiasco....or lets talk Cuba for Christ sake!) it is another thing to come here and see the actual faces of so many people affected.....to drive through the towns and see the standard of living and hear the stories. It brings the stories into a vivid reality that doesn´t come off a page in a book or through the nefarious master storytelling of Oliver North.
Below is an article that exemplifies the stuff I am learning about and is a persistent reality in this country.
***************************DEMONSTRATORS SHOT AND KILLED BY GUATEMALAN ARMY
March 16, 2005
URGENT ACTION
On March 15, in Colotenango, Huehuetenango, at least two demonstrators protesting the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) were shot and killed by Guatemalan army forces.
The men who were shot to death were Juan López, from the village of Xemal, Colotenango, and Ical resident José Sanchez Gómez, who died from his wounds in the hospital. Both were members of the Campesino Unity Committee (CUC). According to CUC, at 6:30 in the morning
on March 15, CUC members gathered to demonstrate peacefully, along with members of the National Indigenous and Campesino Committee (CONIC), the Association for Community Promotion and Development (CEIBA), MAMA MAQUIN, MAGISTERIO, and the National Coordinating Committee of the Displaced of Guatemala (CONDEG).Guatemalan farmer Juan Lopez from Xemal was shot dead by armed forces.
The demonstrators were blocking the Inter-American Highway as a form of protest when, as CUC reports, a contingent of police from the departmental seat of Huehuetenango faced off aggressively with demonstrators, while army troops surrounded the protestors. At around midday, without a word, the government forces began to throw tear gas into the crowd towards the women and children, and opened fire on the men. In addition to the two men killed, at least ten protesters were injured, two critically. The Center of Informative Reports of Guatemala (CERIGUA) reports that the number of injured
reached fifty. The names of some of the wounded:Marcos PérezSantiago MoralesJose Gomez SánchezDomingo RamosMiguel Angel VelásquezPedro Pablo Domingo Prior to the shootings, CEIBA had reportedly learned that the army planned to surround protestors and attack them.The Associated Press wrote "Mauro Guzman, mayor of Huehuetenango, a city near the site of the protest, said police were fired upon." However, Mauro Guzmán is the governor of the department of Huehuetenango, and not the mayor of the town of the same name.
BACKGROUND:On March 10, the Guatemalan Congress ratified CAFTA. On Monday, March 14, about 4,000 demonstrators opposed to the agreement rallied in the streets in Guatemala City. Police used tear gas and a water cannon to disperse them after police were pelted with rocks and bottles. Nineteen people were injured and 16 were detained.
The government and the leaders of civil society reached an agreement on the evening of March 14 to initiate a dialogue process, to be mediated by Cardinal Rodolfo Quezada Toruno, with the aim of ending the violent protests of the previous few days by coming to some agreements regarding the trade agreement. Nonetheless, before any meeting was held, President Óscar Berger on March 15 bypassed the dialogue process and gave CAFTA his full approval.
Vice-president Eduardo Stein is meeting today, March 16, with leaders of the movement opposed to CAFTA to try to defuse mounting tension over the treaty. It is not clear how Stein will seek to placate the protesters now that CAFTA is a fait accompli. The protesters want CAFTA to be put to a national referendum.
The protesters are also calling for the interior minister, Carlos Vielmann, and the director of the National Civil Police, Erwin Sperissen, to be removed from office and want a response from the government to their demands by today, March 16.
ACTION REQUESTED:
1. Express concern about the recent extra-judicial executions carried out by the government security forces in Colotenango, Huehuetenango
2. Urge President Berger to negotiate an end to such conflicts rather than allow repressive measures to be taken by the security forces.
3. Calling on the government to carry out an immediate, impartial and exhaustive investigation into the killing of Juan López and José Sanchez Gómez, to make the results public and bring those responsible to justice
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