Cerigua Briefs 41 10/23/97 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit source: cerigua@guate.net Saturday, October 25, 1997 7:35 AM CERIGUA WEEKLY BRIEFS, NUMBER 41, OCTOBER 23, 1997 Gains of October Revolution Defended Guatemala City, October 20. More than 10,000 Guatemalans, including unionists, campesinos and students, made the traditional October 20 march today marking the 1944 popular uprising that overthrew dictator Gen. Jorge Ubico Casteneda. But this year's event, which is traditionally a celebration of those reforms won under the Juan Jose Arevalo and Jacobo Arbenz administrations, became a plea that the gains should not be lost. The achievements of Guatemala's Spring (1944-1954), which resisted 36 years of civil war, now look like they won't survive the nation's fledgling democracy, an irony not lost on those who marched through the capital's streets shouting slogans against the government's privatization program and neoliberal measures. Accomplishments such as the Social Security Institute, the Labor Code, free hospital care are now threatened by policies of the ruling National Advancement Party (PAN), which recently passed a new health code that imposes charges on all but the very poor, and is seeking to privatize the social security and pension system. March participants from the Education Workers Union (STEG) called on the government to respect the Labor Code, preserve all social services and ensure full vigilance over the rights to free healthcare and education. Today's rally was the first to be attended by the former General Command of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG). Speaking at the event Ricardo Ramirez (Commander Rolando Moran) said that the principles of the revolution still hold since "the problems of the people haven't been resolved and neither is there full democracy." But he added that the peace signing last December opened the way to a battle by other means. "The armed struggle has opened a new era that will continue for years... the objective of which will be to conquer democratic spaces for the masses," he said. In addition to the rally in the capital there were also marches to commemorate the day in San Pedro Sacatepequez in San Marcos province and in Quetzaltenango. MINUGUA Backs Away from Criticism Guatemala City, October 22. The government has accused the U.N. Verification Mission (MINUGUA) of imprecision in its work and overstepping its functions. These latest criticisms of the mission prompted this week a series of meetings between the two sides, accompanied by allegations and counter-allegations. The spat follows the recent publication of MINUGUA's seventh report on the human rights situation in the country which highlights numerous violations of legal due process and notes the persistence of certain grave abuses such as the ongoing operation of illegal security forces. The observations which produced the strongest response from the government were those related to the Presidential Military Guard (EMP). In particular the mission rebuked the EMP's involvement in schemes to combat kidnapping, such as the operations in which rebel Juan Jose Cabrera or "Mincho" disappeared and the bust to rescue kidnap victim Isabel Bonifasi de Botran, of the wealthy Botran family. In the Botran case MINUGUA describes how the kidnappers were "severely tortured" to get them to reveal the whereabouts of Botran, later found dead. Foreign Minister Eduardo Stein who, along with Peace Secretary Raquel Zelaya and Marta Altolaguirre of the Presidential Human Rights Commission met with MINUGUA boss Jean Arnault, said he believes the organization is overstepping its mandate. The interpretations MINUGUA is making of internal laws are "dangerous" and unacceptable, he added. Stein stopped short of saying the government would seek to alter the mandate of the mission. MINUGUA responded to this latest in a series of reprimands of the mission by the government with a more than conciliatory line. In a statement issued to the press, Arnault said the mission had to learn how to better communicate its ideas. The verification organization which has in the past been severely criticized by human rights groups here for its weak pronouncements, this time enjoyed support from the Assembly of Civil Sectors (ASC). Maria Dolores Marroquin from ASC said the assembly is worried about the attack on the mission which it sees as an attempt to discredit MINUGUA's work. "MINUGUA isn't opposed to the battle against impunity, nor the punishment of those responsibly for kidnappings, but the way in which these are handled," she said. Smuggling King Just a Lieutenant Guatemala City, October 22. Alfredo Moreno, whose arrest last year was touted as proof of the government's determination to topple the nation's smuggling Mafia, is not the kingpin officials had believed him to be, according to vice minister of finances Irma Luz Toledo Penate. Confirming what many analysts have long suspected, Toledo acknowledged that Moreno was not involved at the highest levels of the smuggling ring that infests the nation's customs and is responsible for millions of dollars in lost government revenue a year. Nor has his arrest led to the identification of the ring's leaders. "It's not enough to nab a minor chief, or a second in command, there's a whole organization out there," Toledo told the daily La Hora, in reference to the government's efforts to combat the smuggling network. "And even though with Moreno's capture some of those implicated were identified, not all were." Moreno was arrested in September 1996 as part of a anti-corruption campaign that led to the dismissal of more than 40 army, police and customs officials. At the time the government claimed that the racket he had headed for more than 20 years was worth US$15 million a month in evaded taxes. According to President Alvaro Arzu, Moreno's ring had long been "an open secret... but no government dared act." Recently Vice President Luis Flores assumed control of a program to root out corruption in customs. A pilot plan to audit Puerto Quetzal found in the first week more than US$1 million missing from the port's accounts. Another US$50 million in income had not been registered. Jurists Move to Abolish Death Penalty Guatemala City, October 23. A bill seeking to abolish the death penalty has sparked a fierce debate here, even though it has yet to be presented to Congress. The proposal, which contains various amendments to the Penal Code, recommends abolishing execution as a punishment and reducing the maximum prison term from 50 to 30 years. Several national and foreign lawyers began working on the document in 1991, and since 1994 they have also had the input of U.N. Verification Mission (MINUGUA), but the political climate has always deterred its authors from presenting the bill to Congress. "The proposal is still under discussion," said Miguel Angel Urbina of Institute of Comparative Studies in Penal Sciences. "But what we understand is that neither the death penalty nor prison have resolved the problems of violence which stalk the country." "Personally I 'm not a proponent of the death penalty," adds Bar Association president Alfonso Novales Aguirre. "I don't believe it's advisable and much less a deterrent." While the measure has important backers, like the Catholic Church, popular support may be hard to come by. The last execution here -- only last year -- had the support of 90 percent of the population, according to one opinion poll. Popular support for iron hand measures is also reflected in the increasing recourse to lynchings as a way to deal with crime. In the last 10 days, nine young men died at the hands of lynch mobs. Five had been accused of stealing two mules, and the only crime committed by two others was apparently being strangers in town. Capital punishment has been the topic of public debate on several occasions in recent years, and on each occasion proponents of the measure have come out ahead. In 1995, Congress approved adding kidnapping to the list of capital crimes, despite international conventions which prohibit expanding that punishment's scope. And a year ago, for the first time in more than a decade two men faced a firing squad for the rape and murder a four-year-old girl. The current method of execution -- as yet unused -- is by lethal injection. The government legislated for the change after last year's televised execution generated widespread complaints. Refugees from Domestic Violence Receive Support Guatemala City, October 22. The Guatemalan Women's Group (GGM) is working with the United Nations to give protection to Guatemalan and foreign women here who are escaping domestic violence. In a contract signed with the U.N. High Commission on Refugees, GGM has agreed to provide shelter, support and counseling to women who have fled their countries, or who are looking to leave Guatemala, because of physical, sexual or mental abuse suffered in their homes, GGM's Geovanna Lemus told Cerigua. These women are often the wives of military officials or government functionaries, who -- because of their spouses' standing -- have no recourse to justice or protection in their home countries. "The UNHCR, seeing that so many women were seeking refuge from situations of violence against women began to support them through their legal office, and we support them psychologically," she said. Guatemala does not recognize violence against women, in any of its forms, as sufficient motive for granting refugee status to asylum seekers. "Since the UNHCR will soon end its stay in the country, it's in the process of incorporating institutions of civil society (in the work it does) so that this work will continue," said Lemus. With the war in Guatemala over, and the programs to aid the return of Guatemalan refugees wrapping up, the UNHCR is likely to pull out of the country in the near future. As part of this process, GGM is also working with Guatemalan refugees who have recently returned from exile in Mexico. "We've begun training with 15 women selected from the return area in northern Peten province, so that they will become promoters of women's human rights," she said. The promoters will familiarize themselves with the new law against intra-family violence, and learn which authorities to turn to and what documentation is necessary for filing a complaint in order to aid the victims of abuse. AGAAI: Conflicts with Local Authorities Widespread, but Avoidable Guatemala City, October 16. Conflicts between the mayors and residents of at least 20 municipalities across the country are the product of authoritarian governing styles and the lack of mechanisms for removing corrupt or incompetent authorities, according to the Association of Indigenous Mayors and Authorities (AGAAI). The population "isn't taken into account, only at election time," said AGAAI's Valentin Tavico, adding that if municipalities kept their populations informed of policy and budget decisions the violence that has erupted recently between many town mayors and the people who elected them could be avoided. In several towns this year, outraged crowds have set their town halls on fire. In other cases the mayors are implicated in the deaths of residents who criticized their administration. Guatemalan law arguably adds to this problem, since there are no provisions for recalling mayors who fail in their duties except by forcing their resignation. In other cases, the mayors are not to blame, but bear the brunt of discontent with decisions taken at other levels of government. "We have a Congress that emits laws without knowing the reality of the communities," said Tavico. A case in point is the recent reform of the Municipal Code which requires the residents of distant and isolated villages to register the finger prints of their newborns within 30 days of birth. According to Tavico, the measure goes against the widespread practice of mother and child "lying in" for the first 40 days after the child is born. The new law "provokes discontent among the population and puts the mayors in a bind," he said. Alvaro VelAsquez of the Central American Institute of Political Studies (INCEP) agrees. The municipality "is the closest face of the state the population has," he says, pointing to why confrontations are more common at this level of government. He also noted that the mayors are under much closer scrutiny than other authorities. "It's easier to monitor the work of a mayor than that of a minister or a high functionary," he said. According to Tavico, a final contributing factor in the disputes is their exploitation by political rivals, who add fuel to simmering discontent, without concern for the damage caused. "The conflicts are taken advantage of by some political parties and destabilizing groups in order to discredit their opponent and win over adherents, especially now with the municipal elections that are coming up next year," he said. Next year, 30 of Guatemala's 330 municipalities will elect new municipal authorities. *************************** SUBSCRIBE TO CERIGUA WEEKLY BRIEFS! 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