NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #16/NN_1992_16.iso/spool/misc/activism/progress/5283

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Subject: Guatemala: Cerigua Briefs 7/12-7/18
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/** reg.guatemala: 159.0 **/
** Topic: Cerigua Weekly Briefs **
** Written 10:55 pm  Jul 20, 1992 by cerisea in cdp:reg.guatemala **
WEEKLY BRIEFS JULY 12 - 18, 1992
Peace Talks Resume in August

Peace conciliator Bishop Rodolfo Quezada says Guatemalan
negotiators will renew talks on human rights August 6-8. The
last public meeting between the URNG, government and army
broke down in October.  This was followed by a series of
private meetings to resolve the impasse.  Quezada says
negotiators will now address the remaining human rights
issues.  They will also discuss greater citizen participation
in the process.  Present at the talks will be the government
team of six civilians and four generals, the guerrilla
commanders and political advisors, one United Nations
observer and members of the National Reconciliation
Commission.

Leading to the breakdown of talks in October was the rebel
demand for  abolition of the hated civilian patrols known as
PAC.  The United Nations has endorsed dissolution of these
patrols for their human rights abuses.  The URNG also wants
protection for refugees returning from outside Guatemala and
from areas to which they have fled within the country.
International law protects such civilians caught in a
conflict, but the army rejects this, claiming the communities
are made up of guerrillas.  The army has also refused the
formation of a commission to investigate military atrocities.

Quezada says three URNG members have met with him, together
with newly named United Nations observer Jean Arnault, to
discuss the upcoming round of talks.  Dr. Arnault, of France,
is political chief of Central American affairs for the United
Nations in New York.  The bishop says the guerrillas have
repeated to him they will not disarm without agreements to
resolve the conditions which gave rise to the armed conflict.
Quezada says peace is not simply a matter of a treaty or a
rebel amnesty.

Rebel Commander: Peace Is Not Just a Cease-fire

"We have not decided to negotiate with the government and the
army because we are tired, because we're worn out or because
the international situation has imposed it on us," Commander
Rolando Moran of the Guerrilla Army of the Poor (EGP) told
Latin American party leaders at a recent meeting in Managua.
The EGP is one of four rebel forces that make up the
Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG).  "We consider
that political conditions [now] exist to solve the problems
particular to our people," Moran told representatives of 40
Latin American leftist parties.

"Peace in Guatemala cannot be founded on a cease-fire, on
demobilization of revolutionary forces or the signing of a
peace treaty," Moran said. "It must be built on political
accords that resolve the problems that lead to the armedstruggle.  Failing this, war would soon begin again."  The
guerrilla leader added that no Latin America people can
achieve sovereignty or freedom without the support of other
Latin American nations.  The Managua meeting of the Sao Paulo
Forum on Political Movements and Parties declared unanimous
support for the URNG's peace proposal titled ust and
Democratic Peace for Guatemala: Contents of the Negotiation.


Menchu Forced to Change Plans

Few details are available about an apparent attack on the car
in which Rigoberta Menchu was travelling in Quetzaltenango
shortly after her arrival in Guatemala.  Reports indicate a
car may have tried to hit the one in which Menchu was riding,
and at one location her caravan found the highway littered
with nails and other sharp objects. Menchu was forced to
cancel all activities outside the capital.

A crowd of supporters was present to greet the Nobel Prize
candidate when she arrived at the Guatemala City airport.
"This earth gave us life, it belongs to us and the future of
our homeland is ours," she told supporters.
Following her aborted trip to the highlands the activist said
democracy in Guatemala is superficial.

The indigenous leader told Congress that a mixed parliament
of ladinos and indigenous peoples must be formed as
expression of national unity.  Congressional President Edmond
Mulet said the country is honored by her nomination and the
Congressional Indigenous Committee expressed unanimous
support.  Indigenous leaders say Menchu has broken the
silence over what the 500 years since the arrival of Columbus
have meant for the people.

Church Backs Menchu Candidacy

Archbishop Prospero Penados has declared the support of the
Catholic Church in Guatemala for Rigoberta Menchu's
nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.  "Rigoberta is both a
symbol and a reality because she represents the indigenous
race and because she is heard and is raising consciousness in
Guatemala."  Penados repeated the words of Pope John Paul on
his visit to Guatemala that the indigenous are the "original
Guatemalans," and that they must be the protagonists of their
own history.

Also nominated for the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize are former
United Nations Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar and
Nelson Mandela.  Two Peace Prize winners, South African
Bishop Desmond Tutu and the Argentine Adolfo Perez Esquivel,
support Menchu nomination for her human rights work for
Guatemala.
Guatemalan Press Divided Over Nomination

Guatemala's largest daily newspaper, Prensa Libre, has voiced
disagreement with Rigoberta Menchu's "thinking and way of
seeing and understanding life."  Columnist Mario Sandoval
says Menchu has lost her "authenticity" living abroad and
staying in fancy hotels.  Sandoval says Guatemalan Nobel
laureate Miguel Angel Asturias would not have received the
award if it had been up to Guatemalans.

Carlos Soto of El Grafico accused Sandoval of sounding like
the army.  Soto said it was racism when Sandoval expressed
outrage that an indigenous person travels to Europe and earns
respect both nationally and abroad.  He said Prensa Libre's
call that Menchu return to stay in Guatemala in order to
reacquire her indigenous ways was a call to stay and await
the murderers to burn her house and kill her.

Soto criticized those who tried to sabotage the indigenous
leader's political activities during her week-long visit.  He
said some in power evidently find it "intolerable" that a
survivor of the massacres of the last decade achieves the
stature of Mahatma Ghandi or Nelson Mandela.

Radio El Independiente said Menchu represents the bitter
experiences of a people living in a culture of pain and, as a
symbol of the nation's fight for respect for human rights,
her candidacy is an honor for all Guatemalans.

Refugees Plan to Return This Year

The Permanent Commissions (CCPP) of Guatemalan refugees in
Mexico have told officials they will go home this year but
refrained from specifying a date. The refugees say one thing
necessary before they return is that verification mechanisms
be in place to ensure signed agreements are fulfilled.

Refugees met July 11-13 with non-governmental organizations,
the Guatemalan governmental refugee commission (CEAR), an
international consultative and support group (GRICAR) and
mediators from the United Nations (UNHCR), the Catholic
Church, the Human Rights Ombudsman's Office and the
Guatemalan Human Rights Commission (CDHG).

Bishops Say Conditions Unfavorable for Return

Bishop Gerardo Flores, president of the Guatemalan Bishops
Conference says refugees returning now will face overwhelming
poverty and uncontrolled violence if they go back.  The
bishops agree the land problem will directly affect the
refugees and is still the main point of conflict.

Nationwide Protests Continue
Activity in government offices came to a halt July 13 during
a 24 hour work stoppage in which unionists say 90% of state
workers participated.  Activist Jose Pinzon of the Guatemalan
Workers Central (CGTG) says there was unanimous participation
from health, highway and public works employees and teachers
in Guatemala City.  Communications, banking, customs and
electrical workers stopped work for a half day.

Workers held up traffic along three major highways in the
interior of the country.  At noon others demonstrated in the
capital for finance ministry, Supreme Court, social security
and central bank workers.  Police and army troops mobilized
throughout the capital and the government threatened to fire
strikers and withhold annual bonuses.  These bonuses were to
serve as a substitute for a law repealed by Congress July 2,
the Compensation Law for Length of Service.  The repeal of
this hard won law has given further impetus to the state
workers' fight for salary increases.

The government broke off talks with labor July 16 after some
200,000 strikers refused to accept 18% to 22% wage increases.
State employees are holding out for an 83% increase.  They
say they have the backing of 75% of the public workers
unions.  Workers are also demanding the reinstatement of the
compensation law.  The Guatemalan Constitutional Court has
ruled that the Congressional act repealing the law was legal.

State workers in 15 of the nation's 22 provinces held work
stoppages while over 15,000 in San Marcos held a
demonstration echoing the demands of grass roots and labor
protests underway in the capital.  Bishop Alvaro Ramazzini
addressed San Marcos protesters calling on workers to unite
and defend their rights.

On July 16-17, workers continued work stoppages for 48 hours
following unsatisfactory negotiations with ranking labor and
finance officials. The protest culminated in a 15,000 strong
demonstration in front of the National Palace.  Eleven
independent unions have joined forces with the 34 unions for
the National Federation of State Employees (FENASTEG) and 15
organizations forming the National Federation of Public
Servants (FENSASEB).  Labor leaders say the strike will
continue next week and called on the government to renew
negotiations.  Professional state employees, workers with
university degrees, ended their strike after accepting a 75%
salary increase.

Anthropologists to Explore More Mass Graves

The National Council of Widows (CONAVIGUA) has announced that
more digging will be done at several clandestine cemeteries
in the Quiche highlands.  Clyde Snow is leading the
international team of pathologists, odontologists and
physical anthropologists in a joint effort with Guatemalanforensic experts to identify bodies buried in mass graves in
the 1980s.  Human rights organizations calculate that over
100 such graves exist in the Guatemalan highlands.

Cholera Epidemic Continues to Claim Lives

A health official in the province of Chiquimula says there
are 2,900 persons infected with cholera in his province and
77 have died.  He attributes the growing contagion to extreme
poverty and illiteracy. Authorities in Jutiapa and Alta
Verapaz have reported 13 deaths and 40 patients being treated
for cholera.

Businesses Worried Over Loss of Trade Benefits

Public officials and private employees are seeing the US move
to restrict Guatemalan imports as a serious threat.  Business
owners estimate losses of up to $200 million if the US Trade
Office cuts off trade benefits for Guatemalan exports to the
United States.  US labor activists have denounced human
rights violations of Guatemalan workers and called on the
United States to cut trade benefits.  The restrictions would
principally affect the export of clothing assembled in the
maquila but some are afraid  agricultural exports will suffer
as well.
*****************

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** End of text from cdp:reg.guatemala **