CALL # 275 ( 2004 OCTOBER 15 - DECEMBER 15)

"In Guatemala, peace has been signed but has not been built"(1). These words of a Guatemalan human rights activist neatly sum up the situation in the country, ravaged by 36 years of civil war (1960-1996). In that conflict, the longest and bloodiest in Central America’s recent history, approximately 200,000 people, mostly native Indians, were executed extra-judicially, massacred or "disappeared". The peace agreements signed on 31 December 1996 put an end to the war but not to the glaring economic and social inequalities in which it was rooted. FAO(2) figures show that hunger is increasing and currently affects three million people, 10% more than ten years ago. The international organization clearly identifies the reasons for this disaster: reduced local production, massive food imports, low wages, etc. Moreover, impunity continues for those responsible for the violence, mainly paramilitary groups that have not been disbanded. Faced with these injustices, peasant organizations are mobilizing to demand change.

On 31 August 2004 police attacked the Finca Nueva Linda, a property situated in the south of the country. Peasants had been occupying it for several months to protest against the ineffectiveness of police and court investigations into the disappearance of their leader, Hector René Reyes Perez. The activist was seen for the last time on 5 August 2003, in the company of the security chief of the Finca. The official inquiry into this affair is at a virtual standstill, when it is not completely blocked, and certain evidence has even disappeared.

While State officials were trying to persuade the peasants to leave the Finca Nueva Linda, the police were ordered to open fire. Unidentified armed men and private guards of the property were seen with the police. Journalists covering the event were manhandled and their cameras and videos confiscated. The operation left nine people dead, 45 injured and about 40 missing.

This dramatic event has once again shown the connection between the police and landowners. It has also marked a new step in the repression of Guatemalan social movements. The policemen concerned have reportedly been accused of aggravated assault and firing on journalists, but have been released on bail and deny the facts. The peasants are accused of homicide, attacks and belonging to an armed group. Of the 31 peasants arrested, 19 are still behind bars.

RENEWED MOBILIZATION

Since the beginning of 2004 the country has been swept by a wave of protest. Over 50 cases of land occupation have been reported, with their sad corollary: forced expulsions. In March and April some 20,000 peasants participated in two major demonstrations. Other socio-economic sectors have mobilized as well, and on 8 and 9 June a general strike to protest against the difficulties in the rural areas paralysed the country. Strikers, including peasants, teachers, vendors and trade unionists, among others, demanded that violent expulsions be stopped and solutions found to the agrarian crisis, and denounced tax reforms and the free-trade treaty under negotiation with the United States., participated in this strike. In view of the extent of the movement, the government committed itself to tax, land and commercial reforms. However, these have become a dead letter. One of the government’s promises was to facilitate negotiated solutions to land occupations!

FOR COMPLETE LAND REFORM

Social organizations have not limited their action to protest. For the past few years they have been making proposals to the public authorities at every possible opportunity. They have taken part in mixed commissions provided for by the peace agreements to draft laws and constitutional reforms. Most of the time their efforts have been in vain. They nevertheless continue to demand a real war on poverty, hunger and social exclusion in rural areas.

One of the pillars of this policy would be the implementation of real land reform, known as the "complete land reform"(3). Part of the reason for the rural population’s extreme poverty is that, paradoxically, it is deprived of the most basic means of production, i.e. land. Inequalities are glaring: 2% of the population owns 80% of the productive land.

Access to land was one of the clauses of the peace agreements signed in 1996, but the measures provided for were either not applied or else, inspired by World Bank models, proved to be inappropriate. Oscar Berger, the new president elected in December 2003, represents a new generation of businessmen who are the sons of rich landowners and have little concern for social development.

Despite the climate of violence, the end of the civil war has allowed some political space to exist, in which social claims can be voiced. It is this space that peasant organizations have decided to occupy to demand observance of their economic and social rights.

(1) Franck Larue, portrait and interview by Grégory Lassalle, in Solidarité Guatemala n° 107.

(2) United National Food and Agriculture Organization

(3) cf. Solidarité Guatemala n° 159 (summer 2004), letter published by the Collectif Guatemala

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

CIVIL SOCIETY IN MOVEMENT

The CUC (committee for peasant unity), Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1992, in which Rigoberta Menchu campaigned, was the first peasant union to defend farm workers’ and landless peasants’ rights. With the peace process a large number of organizations were created. Many of them federated within the CONIC, the national native Indian and peasant coordination. Two main platforms put pressure on the government authorities: the CNOC (national coordination of peasant organizations) and the Land platform.

FURTHER READING :

Moi Rigoberta Menchu, Elyzabeth Burgos, Gallimard

Amérique centrale, Les naufragés d’Esquipulas, Maurice Lemoine, Edition l’Atalante

CALL IN LIAISON WITH:

Le Collectif Guatemala

Founded in 1979 by Guatemalan refugees and French militants, the Collectif Guatemala provides international assistance (civil protection of threatened people) and support for Guatemalan non-governmental organizations. It also works towards informing the French public and raising awareness of the Guatemalan situation.

Contact :

21 ter, rue Voltaire 75011 Paris

Tel. / Fax : (33)1 43 73 49 60

collectifguatemala1@libertysurf.fr

WHAT TO DO:

Write a letter: copy the letter below or download it by clicking here.

Send your letter to Oscar Berger (address in the letter).

Deadline: ideally, as soon as you receive this call; otherwise until mid-December 2004.

LETTER:

Date :

Oscar BERGER

Presidente de la República

6 av. 6-0 - Z 1

Guatemala Ciudad

Guatemala

Señor Presidente de la República,

Por medio de la Red Solidaridad Francia (Réseau-Solidarité, 10 quai de Richemont, 35000 Rennes - France), me enteré del desalojo ocurrido el 31 de agosto 2004 en la Finca Nueva Linda, cuyo desalojo dejo un saldo tragico de nueve personas muertas.

Preocupado por el deterioro de la situación de los derechos economicos y sociales en Guatemala, tal como por la impunidad que gozan los crimenes contra los campesinos, le ruego atender a las siguientes peticiones de la CONIC, de la CNOC, y de la Plataforma Agraria :

  la suspensión inmediata de los desalojos,

  una investigación exhaustiva e imparcial de los hechos violentos sucedidos en la Finca Nueva Linda, con la designación de un Fiscal Especial,

  el fortalecimiento de CONTIERRA y de los programas de acceso a la tierra en el presupuesto 2005, y la designación de un Fiscal para Asuntos Agrarios.

En espera de su pronta repuesta, le saludo atentamente.

Translation:

Dear Sir,

I have been informed by Réseau-Solidarité, () of the expulsion that took place on 31 August 2004 in the Finca Nueva Linda and in which nine people were killed.

I am concerned about the deterioration of the situation in Guatemala concerning economic and social rights, and by the impunity of crimes against peasants. I therefore urge you to meet the demands of the CONIC, the CNOC and the Land Platform to:

immediately put an end to expulsions

launch an exhaustive and impartial inquiry into events at Finca Nueva Linda, with a special prosecutor appointed to the case

reinforce the CONTIERRA and programmes for access to land in the 2005 budget

appoint a commissioner responsible for land issues.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Yours faithfully,