Guatemala Rejects Rights Reforms


Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit

source - jclancy@peg.apc.org
Thu, 27 May 1999

Washington Post

Guatemala Rejects Equal Rights Reforms
by Serge F. Kovaleski in Guatemala City

Voters in Guatemala have rejected a complex package of constitutional
reforms, including proposals to give the nation's majority indigenous
people equal rights, according to results of May 16's referendum.
Analysts called the defeat of the 47 reforms -- aimed at addressing
the social, political and economic problems that fueled 36 years of
civil war -- a huge setback for Guatemala's four-year-old peace
process.

If the referendum had passed, it would have officially recognized the
legal and cultural rights of Guatemala's indigenous groups,  which
account for more than 50 percent of the population. While the
government recognizes Mayan Indians and other indigenous peoples as
citizens, it does not officially recognize their two dozen languages,
for example.

Election officials announced that 55.25 percent of voters rejected
the reforms, while 44.75 percent voted in favor. Overall, only 18
percent of Guatemala's 4 million registered voters took part in the
referendum.

The defeat of the reforms and the low turnout were considered a
setback for President Alvaro Arzu and his National Advancement Party,
which had supported a "yes" vote. Some Guatemalans said the outcome
reflected widespread distrust of politicians, particularly Congress,
which was seen as railroading passage of the proposed reforms behind
closed doors before they were submitted to the referendum.

While voting in many rural provinces with large indigenous
populations was close, the disparity was enormous in the capital,
where the country's wealth and power are concentrated. More than 75
percent of the people who turned out in Guatemala City rejected the
proposed changes.

Critics contend that the government should have done more to educate
the public, particularly indigenous communities -- where voter
turnout usually is low -- about the significance of the reforms.
Observers noted that most of the information circulated about the
measures was in Spanish, which many indigenous Guatemalans cannot
speak or read. Furthermore, most polling stations were located in
larger towns, which are difficult for indigenous people to reach.

 Feliciana Macario, a board member of the National Guatemalan Widows'
Commission, a group composed predominantly of indigenous war widows,
said: "There was no interest on the part of the government that the
people really understood the questions. The government only saw the
need to fulfill a political commitment, but not to really reach the
people."

Had the reforms passed, Congress would have been required to consult
indigenous groups before passing legislation that might affect them.

(c) 1999 The Washington Post Co. republished in 
The Guardian Weekly, Week Ending May 30, 1999, 160:22, p.17 

 
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