Guatemala News Update: March 17-21

Human Rights Ombudsman to reprimand institutions for noncompliance with Access to Information Law

The Human Rights Ombudsman, Jorge de León, announced that his office will present a report to the Public Ministry that will list institutions which have failed to comply with the Access to Information Law. 

Format of elections for Supreme Electoral Court questioned

Last week, Guatemalan parliament chose five judges and five alternate judges to comprise the Supreme Electoral Court until 2020. The judges were chosen in private meetings and some are now questioning the secretive format of the elections, fearing that the chosen judges may have to return favors to the election committee. 

Weekly News Roundup

August 31-Sept 13

• President Otto Pérez to attend dinner hosted by the Obamas During his visit to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, President Otto Pérez will attend a gala dinner put on by President Obama and the First Lady on September 24th. He is also scheduled to meet with former President Bill Clinton on the 24th about the program Habre Cero. The following day he will speak at the UN General Assembly.

• Guatemalan court rules to extradite former President Portillo to the US Guatemala has announced that former President Alfonso Portillo will be extradited to the US, removing any possibility of him using the country’s notorious injunction, the “amparo”, to halt future proceedings.

• Military march in favor of Rios Montt  According to the General’s defense lawyer the purpose of the march is to demand an independent judiciary, that judges do not interfere with the proceedings and that the Law of National Reconciliation be applied and forgiveness be given. Rios Montt’s defense attorney has filed a claim of unconsitutionality  before the Constitutional Court to prevent his prosecution for the Dos Erres massacres.

• US military aid: yesterday and today Plaza Publica studies the training, military aid, and arms sales between the US and Guatemala and the legal conflicts and barriers established by both countries since 1976.

• Court authorizes Prosecutor’s Office to investigate military members for fire at Spanish Embassy The Court B of High Risk authorized the Public Prosecutor’s Office to investigate ten members of the military who have been accused of impeding the access of firemen to the Spanish embassy during the fire in 1980 in which 36 people, mostly indigenous Guatemalans protesting atrocities in their communities, died.

• Human rights violations in development projects The authors of the book “Public Policies, Human Rights and Popular Resistance Processes between 2003-2011” stated that since 2003 more than 1 million people have participated in community consultations, every time rejecting the installment of mining and development projects in their area.

• Guatemala approves first US-bound adoption in 5 years Guatemala has authorized the first adoption of a Guatemalan child by a US family after a five-year moratorium to investigate alleged corruption and irregularities in the process.

• Guatemala denied jurisdiction of the IACHR to rule on human right violations which occurred before 1987 With two sentences pending that could result in the payment of a Q150 million, the Government has denied the IAHRC’s jurisdiction to rule on human rights violations that occurred before 1987.

Weekly News Round-Up

National News

• Transparency International reports Guatemala’s score has fallen from 3.2 to 2.7 out of 10 for public’s perception of transparency within government for 2011.  The country is now ranked 120 out of 182 countries, only above Nicaragua, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic within Latin America.
• The U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala, Arnold Chacon, commented Tuesday that the U.S. would guarantee the safety and security of Alfonso Portillo through the extradition process, but reminded Guatemalan authorities that his transfer is their responsibility.  Chacon also hailed the recent successful captures of narco-traffickers by Guatemalan authorities, mentioning U.S. involvement in the operations and his support for the continuation of such activities.  The new ambassador commented that it would be ideal to approve the implementation of a C4I system in Guatemala to prevent the flow of narco-trafficking.  Chacon met with Otto Perez Molina Wednesday.
• Yuri Melini, environmental activist and director Center of Legal, Environmental and Social Action (CALAS), announced that, during this past presidential term, human rights violations against environmentalists increased by 12%.  A report released by CALAS documents 96 total cases of attacks, threats, assassinations, injuries, defamation, illegal detention and unlawful searches.  Melini argued that actions against environmentalists frequently go unreported or underreported.
• The Public Prosecutor’s office announced the creation of an agency to investigate crimes committed by “non-state armed groups” during the armed conflict as part of the Special Cases Unit for Human Rights.
• Groups such as the Association of Military Widows (Asomilgua) continue to carryout out public attacks against Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz, demanding investigation of 36 supposed guerilla members, which include her aunt, Laura Paz y Paz, and her deceased father, Enrique Paz y Paz.  The supposed guerrilla members are being accused as the intellectual authors and directors of more than 45 acts of violence committed between 1978 and 1982.
• Through a poignant case-study of the San Jose Calderas community in Guatemala, Plaza Publica analyzes the factors pushing and pulling migrants to the United States, the failures of the Guatemalan government to provide adequate support, and how the migrant flow has impacted the local economy.
• 800 families from 14 different communities remain displaced in the Polochic Valley after the violent evictions carried out by the sugar cane company Chabil Utzaj last year.  Communities whose land was taken and crops destroyed have now reached a level of starvation and desperation. Now community members find themselves insulted and infuriated by the State’s meager food distribution which comes 6 months after the Inter-American Court of Human Rights called for measures to ensure food, health, housing, and security for the 800 families.  The food delivered by the State is barely enough to last 2-3 days for the average family.  The community believes that if such trends are a signal of a return to the violent, abusive past, they will not hesitate to take up arms to defend themselves and their land.

International News

• The International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) will face a 30% reduction of its staff next year due to a 25% reduction in its budget.  Diego Alvarez, CICIG’s spokesperson, commented that the reductions will not affect the commission’s operations and investigations but will require more assistance from the Attorney General’s Office.  According to InSight Crime, president-elect Perez Molina has said that he will respect the CICIG mandate but has not promised to endorse its renewal in 2013.

Weekly News Round-Up

National News

• Otto Pérez Molina met with the United States Commander in Chief of SOUTHCOM, General Douglas Fraser, earlier this week to discuss plans to improve intelligence services, special forces, paratroopers, kaibiles, the National Civil police and bolster radar capabilities in the fight against narco-trafficking.  During the meeting, General Fraser made promises to provide training and support to high and mid-level Guatemalan command forces, invited Pérez Molina to a Miami command base to learn about radar operations, and agreed to support the implementation of the C4i system.  The C4i system—command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence—is a US-funded and monitored technology project that would provide aerial and satellite photo capabilities, 6 Super Tucano airplanes, three radar systems, and meteorological computer monitoring.
• Amid a series of cabinet appointments announced this week, the president-elect has also announced plans to create a new vice-minister position to serve as a ‘sort-of czar of narco-trafficking’ to oversee all anti-narcotic activities and forces.  Pérez Molina did not provide details as to the financing or possible structure of such a position.
• Plaza Publica provides a lengthy and revealing profile of Rozana Baldetti, the first female to ever be elected vice-president in Guatemala.  The article covers some questionable aspects of Baldetti’s stint as a journalist, her conservative and religious social views, and her political path towards the Patriot Party.
• In regards to the extradition of Alfonso Portillo, the United States government has indicated that it has no responsibility to comply with the requirements of the American Human Rights Convention as requested by the Constitutional Court of Guatemala, because it is not an official signer of the convention.  Portillo has openly criticized President Colom’s decision to authorize his extradition, arguing that it was illegal and arbitrary.
• According to a report released by the Presidential Secretary of Women (SEPREM), 24.5% of women did not report incidents of violence due to feelings of embarrassment, while 17.4% didn’t report because they didn’t feel it was necessary and 15.7% feared retaliation.  In a recent press conference, Sonia Escobeda of SEPREM argued that violence against women in Guatemala has reached an ‘alarming rate’—in the past 10 years, 5,000 violent deaths against women have been recorded.
• Members of the Trans-Border, Migration and Gender Roundtable have expressed concerns over an increase in excessive violence against migrants on the Guatemalan-Mexico border.
• Earlier this week, security forces captured Elio Lorenzana, supposed narco-trafficker. Immediately following the capture, he was transferred to the capital city, where his sentence will be determined and the process of extradition to the United States will begin.
• Alongside Otto Perez Molina, Mauricio Lopez Bonilla will take office as the new Minister of the Interior in January.  In an interview with La Hora, Bonilla discusses some of the new administration’s plans to tackle security in Guatemala including the establishment of inter-institutional working groups, direct collaboration with the Attorney General’s office and Helen Mack, seeking assistance from U.S. intelligence officials, and re-employing kaibiles and paratroopers to bring down the Zetas.

International News

• The Huffington Post provides brief coverage of Portillo’s extradition, including a photo slide-show of the ex-president.  Portillo has been charged with money laundering related to the embezzlement of $1.5 million in foreign donation.
• Check out yet another damning report on the current situation of poverty, violence and corruption in Guatemala, published by IPS. The article focuses on the high child malnutrition rate, increasing murder rate, high level of impunity, and other challenges facing the incoming administration.
• For a more uplifting vignette, the New York Times covers a small but growing project to create Guatemala’s own version of Silicon Valley.  Housed in one simple brick building, Campus Tecnológico is a group of creative social and technology enterprises striving to turn the heart of Guatemala City into an entrepreneurial hub.