From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Subject: Guatemala: Cerigua Briefs OCTOBER 4 - 10, 1992
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: PACH
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 21:11:02 GMT

/** reg.guatemala: 97.0 **/
** Topic: Cerigua Weekly Briefs **
** Written  4:46 pm  Oct 14, 1992 by cerisea in cdp:reg.guatemala **
WEEKLY BRIEFS, OCTOBER 4 - 10, 1992
Menchu in Guatemala for Quincentenary

Thousands of people gave an enthusiastic welcome to Rigoberta
Menchu upon her arrival in Guatemala City airport October 9.
Part of the excitement is due to Menchu nomination for this
year's Nobel Peace Prize.  Menchu is visiting her homeland to
take part in activities marking 500 years of resistance to
the Spanish invasion of the Americas.  She gave her support
to the many groups working for a better future in Guatemala,
and said "there are many seeds planted in this dear country.
Now, all we need is rain."

She was greeted at the airport by Adolfo Perez Esquivel, one
of the ones to nominate her for the award.  Perez Esquivel,
an Argentine, is a previous recipient of the Peace Prize.  He
says Menchu's chances of winning the award are excellent.
Menchu says if she receives the award, she will use the $1.2
million in prize money to "continue the work of my father,
Vicente Menchu."  The elder Menchu died together with dozens
of other indigenous protestors when soldiers set fire to the
Spanish Embassy in Guatemala in 1980.

The "Other" Guatemalan Candidate

"The emergence of Indian activist Rigoberta Menchu Tum as a
strong contender for this year's Nobel Peace Prize has so
rattled Guatemala's ruling elite that it has scrambled to
produce a Nobel candidate of its own," begins an article in
the Washington Times September 29.  Reporter John Otis refers
to the candidacy of Elisa Molina de Stahl, "a prosperous
white philanthropist who works on behalf of Guatemala's blind
and deaf."  The Washington Times reporter contrasts Molina,
who "has impeccable credentials among Guatemala's social
circles" with Menchu who "grew up picking coffee for 20 cents
a day in an impoverished Quiche Indian village."

The reporter quotes an unidentified Western diplomat who says
that instead of supporting Menchu's candidacy, President
Serrano "put in a thinly disguised counter candidate.  It was
ridiculous."  The
Washington Times says that if Menchu wins the award, world
attention will focus on Guatemala's abysmal human rights
record.  Otis quotes analysts who say that Molina's candidacy
is a maneuver that "reflects the country's racist attitude
toward its Mayan Indian population, which for decades has
been brutalized by the military and excluded from economic
and political power structures."

Army Discredits Menchu

Army spokesman Julio Yon Rivera says "the only thing Miss
Menchu has done internationally is create a bad image for our
country.  contrary to her repeated claims, she is in no wayfighting for the indigenous peoples."  In a report in the
October 10 edition of Prensa Libre, Yon says "the one who
deserve recognition are those who maintain firm, well-defined
beliefs and fight for their countries and their people, but
are present with their brothers and sisters--not staying in
five-star hotels and traveling outside of the country."

Bombs at University, Press Office

Three bombs exploded in the capital October 5 -- two at the
University Students Association (AEU) office and one at the
office of Tinamit, a weekly magazine.  AEU leaders accuse
army-controlled paramilitary groups for the act; it left one
student injured.

Part of the building housing the Tinamit offices was
destroyed by the explosion there.  Tinamit, which means
"people" in the Cakchiquel language, began publishing earlier
this year.

Tinamit Director Carlos Rafael Soto says the attack is likely
related to the magazine's support of Rigoberta Menchu for the
Nobel Peace Prize, or it could be timed to coincide with the
beginning of scheduled 500th anniversary activities, in which
Rigoberta Menchu will participate.  Soto says "it would be
just too foolish" of the army or government to have set the
explosives, but adds that the attack was clearly aimed at
chilling discussion.

Hugo Arce, a Tinamit columnist, says he received death
threats the week before the bombing.  He says the government
is "tightening the screws" on the nation's press.  Arce is
known for his criticism of the army and government officials.

Agreement on Refugee Return

Negotiations on a mass return of refugees living in Mexico
came to an end October 8, with the establishment of a
commission to verify compliance of the agreements reached.
President Serrano, members of the mediating commission headed
by Bishop Jorge Mario Avila and a delegation of the refugee
representatives signed the final agreement at the National
Reconciliation Commission office in Guatemala City.

Verification will be carried out by the Human Rights
Ombudsman, UN expert Christian Tomuschat, one UN
representative, the Catholic Church, and members of the
mediating commission.  They will issue reports (available to
the public) noting compliance with each of the six agreements
reached (see Weekly Briefs September 20-26).

URNG Rep Talks with US Legislators

It is the hardliners in the Guatemalan army that arecontrolling the government end of the peace process, Luis
Bekker of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG)
told members of Congress October 9.  Bekker talked about
difficulties negotiators are facing.  It was the first time a
member of the Guatemalan armed opposition has met openly with
US legislators.  Sources say government chief negotiator
Manuel Conde was also invited to attend the meetings, but
declined.

Civilians government negotiators enjoy no authority, Bekker
told a group of both Senate and House members.  He said
Guatemalan President Jorge Serrano's influence over the
negotiations has declined since General Roberto Perussina
became Army Chief of Staff and since General Francisco Ortega
has consolidated his power within the military junta as chief
of the Presidential Military Guard.

The URNG representative said that despite the urgent need to
reach agreements on respecting human rights, the army is
blocking the process.  Bekker said it is vital that
international pressure be brought to bear on the process in
order to move it forward, and also to see to it that
agreements are kept.

Unionist Murdered

Sergio Antulio Tampique, who represented the University of
San Carlos (USAC) union in the labor coalition UNSITRAGUA,
died of internal injuries October 7 after a severe beating by
unknown assailants.  Another member of the same union,
Alfredo Rodriguez, disappeared the same night Tampique was
beaten.  The local press reports Rodriguez turned up,
although police denied they had detained him.  The USAC union
recently held a strike to demand more money for the
university. Union spokespeople said the murder is part of the
widespread repression suffered by Guatemalans.

Ombudsman Backs Urrutia's Testimony

Human Rights Ombudsman Ramiro de Leon has confirmed that
guerrilla Maritza Urrutia told him of her kidnapping before
she left Guatemala.  Maritza Urrutia says she was kidnapped
by government security forces on July 23 and coerced into
applying for amnesty.  Urrutia has admitted to belonging to
the URNG.  She says her kidnappers led her to believe that
members of her family would be killed if she failed to comply
with their wishes.  She states she told De Leon as well as
Guatemalan Archbishop Prospero Penados of her kidnapping
before she left Guatemala with the aid of the Archbishop's
Human Rights Office and the US and Canadian embassies.
Urrutia filed suit against the Guatemalan government in the
Interamerican Commission on Human Rights of the Organization
of American States (OAS) on September 30.
Ombudsman Ramiro de Leon says he complied with Urrutia's not
to release her statement, because Urrutia feared her family
would suffer reprisals.  Although Serrano and other
government officials have criticized his action, de Leon says
"I don't regret my decision and I would do the same again."
He says the lives of Guatemalans were at stake and it was his
duty to protect them.  He cited article 30 of the
Constitution, which states that public officials are not
required to disclose information provided by individuals
under a guarantee of confidentiality.

In statements to the press Urrutia said she feels fortunate
to be alive, unlike the thousands of disappeared in her
country.  She believes the government is trying to give the
appearance of respecting human rights, by making it look like
she willingly applied for amnesty.  She notes the amnesty law
was only in effect until July 23, 1988.

Urrutia was in Norway on October 10, meeting with the members
of the Norwegian foreign ministry and the Norwegian Human
Rights Institute.

Amnesty International on Indigenous Peoples

"Mass killings of indigenous peoples may have become fewer in
number over the past 500 years, but they have never stopped,"
declares Amnesty International in its just-released report
"Human Rights Violations Against Indigenous Peoples."  The AI
report is a "survey of the type, context and pattern of human
rights violations" against indigenous peoples across the
Americas.  Various references to Guatemala are made,
including the army's counterinsurgency operations in the
early 1980s in which tens of thousands of Indian peasants
were killed, and the massacre of 15 Tzutujil Indians in
Santiago Atitlan.

Amnesty International presented the book at a press
conference in Mexico City October 6.  One AI representative
says claims that the human rights situation has improved in
Guatemala mean only that "fewer people are being killed" but
pointed out that "in 1992 alone, 1,151 persons were killed."

UN Expert: Civil Patrols Are Not Voluntary

The UN human rights expert assigned to Guatemala, following a
10-day trip through the country, reports that the army
pressures campesinos to serve in the civil defense patrols.
UN expert Christian Tomuschat says the army has an
"unfortunate" tendency to identify those who refuse to
participate in the patrols as guerrillas.  He says the civil
patrols operating in rural communities jeopardize the
authority of local elected officials.

In another complaint of abuse by the civil patrols, thecoalition calling itself "Sectors Which Emerged Because of
Repression" and communities in San Pedro Jocopilas, Quiche
have accused patrol chief Francisco Ixcoy and two of his
subordinates of the murder of Catarino Chanchabaj Larios on
August 26.

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