| /* Written 10:02 PM Oct 14, 1991 by cerisea in igc:reg.guatemala */ /* "Cerigua Weekly Briefs" */ CERIGUA WEEKLY BRIEFS OCTOBER 6 - 12, 1991 October 12, 1492 - October 12, 1992: 500 Years of Resistance October 12, a day celebrated by European descendants as Columbus Day, this year marked the culmination of the Second Continental Gathering of the 500 Years of Indigenous and Popular Resistance Campaign in Guatemala. Indigenous peoples throughout the Americas gathered to critically reflect on the 500 years since Columbus's initial invasion. Danielle Mitterand, wife of French president Francois Mitterand, was among the 275 delegates from over 20 countries attending the conference. Rosalina Tuyuc, president of the National Council of Widows of Guatemala (CONAVIGUA) and member of the conference organizing committee "New Dawn," welcomed the delegates "in the name of our disappeared, the tortured, those burned alive, in the name of us all - the victims," reported the Mexican daily La Jornada. Present for the opening event in Guatemala City were ambassadors from the European Community, United States and Mexico. No one from the Serrano government attended. Participants then formed a car caravan to the city of Quezaltenago, known as Xelaju in the Quiche indigenous language, for the rest of the week-long conference. Thousands welcomed conference attendees on their arrival in the host city, reported Prensa Libre. Through analysis of colonialism, neo-colonialism, and self- determination, delegates seek to formulate an alternative plan of action for indigenous peoples of Abya Yala, the western hemisphere. "500 years ago, the Spaniards came to take our lands and exploit us and today their descendants continue to do the same," said Tuyuc quoted in the Mexican daily Excelsior. "We are not a myth," said Quiche Rigoberta Menchu. "We are people with an identity and a culture...Today more than ever is the time to say we are here. We need respect, especially in making the decisions about our future." Menchu, whose family was murdered by the Guatemalan army, remarked that "indigenous people must be heard after 500 years of silence, with our own voice, and not merely through international organizations." She recognized the progress made in the popular movement in Guatemala in that "the struggle in the city has united with the struggle in the countryside." Both sectors now work together to denounce the system and to reclaim what is justly theirs, but only after much bloodshed on the part of families, workers, and campesinos. She said that impunity reigns not only in her country but in other countries, where like in Guatemala, justice is the exception. Quiche organizer Rosario Pu Gomez of the Committe for Campesino Unity (CUC) said these 500 years have meant "death, much bloodshed, many lives lost...Weare not asking to be paid back. Our life, our blood have no price." As a result of the week-long discussion, the delegates voted to change the name of the campaign to "500 Years of Indigenous, Black and Popular Resistance." Rigoberta Menchu Tum was unanimously chosen to be nominated as a candidate for the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize. On October 12 the conference concluded with a march of 80,000 persons. Conference organizers announced that the October 12, 1992 conference would be held in Managua, Nicaragua. Regional Delegates Voice Demands At the 500 Years of Indigenous and Popular Resistance conference, the delegate speaking on behalf of northern America - Alaska, Canada, United States, Mexico - called on the representatives to reclaim the self-determination of their peoples and to condemn the 500 years of conquest. A Nicaraguan delegate representing Central America stressed the need to seek new roads to democracy and said that organized struggle is the only way to end extermination of indigenous leaders and peoples. A Cuban delegate representing the Caribbean nations of Cuba, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico called for the rejection of neoliberal policies, privatization, and free trade policies, all of which have worsened the social problems of the region. He denounced the United States for using the recent overthrow of President Aristides in Haiti as justification for military build-up at the Guantanamo naval base installed against the will of the Cuban people. He asked for solidarity with Cuba in its decision to defend its national sovereignty and dignity at all costs. The Caribbean representative also denounced the colonial status of Puerto Rico and the racial discrimination against African Americans in the U.S. In addition to the delegates were 115 special guests including a representative of Amnesty International, 329 international observers, and 150 foreign journalists, reported the Mexican daily La Jornada. The almost 700 attendees came from the Americas, Europe, and as far away as Kenya and Australia. Campaign to "Free Leonard Peltier"Part of '92 Protest Plans for the 1992 protest in North America include blockades against replicas of Columbus's ships the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria which will dock in New York, Corpus Christi and San Francisco. The ongoing campaign to free indigenous political prisoner Leonard Peltier will also be promoted. Peltier, adopted by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience, has been in jail for sixteen years. CUC on the 500th Anniversary of Columbus's Invasion Inspired by the spirit of resistance and just rebellion,indigenous people seek to encourage a vast popular movement against the 500 years of cover-up through forging the self- discovery of America; this spirit will lead them to regain their independence, said Rosario Pu Gomez, leader of the Committee for Campesino Unity (CUC), according to the daily El Grafico. CUC proposed the rescue and construction of indigenous cultural identity in order to build a new American nationality rooted in the diverse indigenous nations. The organization composed of indigenous peoples and poor campesinos opposed the quincentennial celebrations planned by the Vatican, United States, Europe and Latin America. These celebrations aim to wash the hands of Europeans who are historically responsible for the invasions, genocide and destruction of cultures throughout the American continent, said CUC. Homage to Che Guevara During the conference representatives from the Southern Cone region - Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil - asked for a moment of silence in remembrance of the 24th anniversary of the death of guerrilla Comandante Ernesto "Che" Guevara who died in Bolivia on October 9, 1967. People then shouted "Se ve, se siente, el Che esta presente" (He's seen, he's felt, Che is present), reported the Mexican daily La Jornada. Radio Guatemala Flash Denounces Government Censorship When the radio news program Guatemala Flash ran an ad by URNG rebels on October 9 expressing support for the 500 Years of Indigenous and Popular Resistance conference in Quezaltenango, the transmission was cut off. After a brief silence, there was an advertisement for Mazda cars followed by an army recruitment ad in the Mayan language. Guatemala Flash protested the series of interferences during the airing of the insurgent message: "We denounce this kind of coercion and regret these dictatorial attitudes which prevent the creation and improvement of a participatory and pluralistic democracy." Carlos Soto: Guerrilla Strength Makes Peace Talks Possible Vice President Gustavo Espina warned the rebels that the Serrano government was going to crack down on them with "heavy-handed" measures for their aggressive armed actions, reported the daily Prensa Libre. Espina said the government was going to make the insurgents understand that they cannot take power by force. El Grafico columnist Carlos Rafael Soto criticized Espina's brash statements. He said that to even speak of "heavy- handed" policies against an insurgent force was for naught given that what the government is really up against is a war.Soto said Espina's statements come in the wake of guerrilla actions (twice in a matter of weeks) in Escuintla just 15 miles from the capital city, along with the failure to sign an accord with the guerrillas in the last round of peace talks. Soto also noted such statements made by government chief peace negotiator Manuel Conde, who said the guerrillas "were committing suicide" because the rebel leadership was risking the lives of their combatants during these aggressive attacks. The article said "government officials involved in the talks don't know what they're doing and perhaps haven't realized there's a war going on...The negotiations aren't happening because of some kindly government concession. They exist because the guerrillas are strong enough politically and militarily to make the government sit down to negotiate." Soto said that Espina's threats toward the subversives merely signal the go-ahead for security forces to commit more illegal acts of repression against people who have nothing at all to do with the internal conflict. "Declaring a heavy- handed policy solely to justify and to obscure the government's own political failure or to detract attention from the serious economic problems imposed on the people is irresponsible," said Soto. Presidential Chief Aide Manuel Conde announced that the next round of talks between the government, the army and the rebels will be October 21-26 in a location to be announced. Negotiators will continue discussing the issue of human rights. URNG Warns of Risks in Peace Negotiation Process Projecting a "triumphalist vision" of the peace process is harmful declared the General Command of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) in response to Serrano's publicity campaign in Guatemala and abroad around his own "Total Peace" plan. Such an attitude is just as damaging to the credibility of the process as predicting its failure. Isolating the talks from the reality of Guatemala by addressing the problems in abstract or legalistic terms can become an insuperable obstacle to resolving the causes of the civil war, said the URNG. Furthermore, in order for Guatemalans to see the negotiations as a legitimate process, immediate measures must be implemented to restore respect for human rights. 25th Anniversary of Death of Rebel Commander October 2, 1991 marked the 25th anniversary of the death of Turcios Lima, one of the first rebel leaders of the guerrilla armed movement. Lima fought in the early years with the Edgar Ibarra Front and later with the Rebel Armed Forces (FAR). In a communique issued by the General Command of theGuatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG), insurgent leaders remembered Commander Luis Augusto Turcios Lima for his strategic vision calling for democracy, social justice and the incorporation of the indignenous population into the revolutionary movement. Trained in the Guatemalan army, Turcios Lima joined fellow officers Marco Antonio Yon Sosa, Alejandro de Leon, Luis Trejo and Augusto Loarca in launching an attack on November 13, 1961 against the government of General Ydigoras Fuentes. Fuentes was successor to military president Carlos Castillo Armas who, with the design of the CIA, overthrew Jacobo Arbenz in 1954. President Worried About National Image Abroad President Jorge Serrano returned from his trip to the United States concerned about Guatemala's poor international image, reported the radio broadcast Guatemala Flash. Serrano said that an elaborate international campaign of disinformation has greatly damaged Guatemala's stature especially in Washington, DC where disapproval was most sharply pronounced. United Nations human rights expert Christian Tomuschat stated before the Guatemalan congress that Guatemala's has a bad image abroad because of intimidation of journalists and the impunity protecting violators of human rights. Mass Graves Bear Similarities to Those in Argentina and Chile After excavating three of more than a hundred reported clandestine cemeteries in the Guatemalan highlands, forensics expert Clyde Snow found similarities to graves he excavated both in Argentina and Chile. Of the 27 bodies identified, Snow said wounds were inflicted by heavy calibre weapons such as those used by the army. Judging by the position of the bodies, victims were lined up along the edge of the grave and shot. The most recent ones found were hand-tied and shot in the head in the same manner as victims in Argentina and Chile, according to the Mexican daily Uno Mas Uno. Assassins Escape with Help of National Police Civil Defense Patrol (PAC) chief Santos Coj Rodriguez, accused of murdering 50 indigenous persons in the department of Quiche, escaped from jail with the help of the National Police. The Mutual Support Group for the Relatives of the Disappeared (GAM) says that victims killed by the PAC chief are buried in a clandestine grave in Tunaja, Quiche. Six police accused of murdering two students in 1988 have also fled the country. ***************** In the U.S. and Canada subscribe to Weekly Briefs by sending check or money order to: ANI PO Box 28481 Seattle, WA 98118 Subscription fees in the U.S. and Canada: $18 for 6 months, $36 for one year. Elsewhere, contact: CERIGUA Apartado Postal 74206 CP 09080 Delegacion Itzapalapa Mexico, D.F. Telephone: 5102320 - FAX 5109061 - Telex (17) 64525 Also please send us your comments and suggestions to the Seattle address or by email to cerisea on PeaceNet. | |
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