ID Email Design

I finished the proposal for the new Incidencia Democratica email layout. I put an image of the email we currently send out, along with my suggested redesign, in the Projects section of the photo page. Please send me your critiques and suggestions. If two heads are better than one, think of what all of our heads thinking together can do! (Oooh, I just got a chill.)

Article: Racism and Inequality

UN mission to Guatemala signs off with warning about racism and inequality

UN News Centre – Guatemala has taken great strides forward since the 1996 peace accords ended decades of civil conflict but it is still beset by corruption, crime and a deep-seated legacy of racism and social inequality, the United Nations peace-building mission to the Central American nation says in its final report before it is wound up.

In a report to the General Assembly on the UN Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA), Secretary-General Kofi Annan says the political process has matured to the point where Guatemala should now be able to deal peacefully with all of its unresolved issues. State-sponsored human rights abuses have stopped, the military has been reduced and brought under closer control, and democratic and peaceful elections have been held.

MINUGUA is slated to close in December after 10 years of support in Guatemala, where peace accords were signed in 1996 to end a long-running civil war between the Government and rebel groups. UN agencies will continue to operate in the field.

Guatemala has "laid a firmer foundation on which to construct a better future," according to the report.

But Mr. Annan warns that Guatemala still faces entrenched problems when MINUGUA leaves, especially what he described as "the previously taboo topics of racism and discrimination" against the country's indigenous population - the Mayan, Xinca and Garifuna peoples. A historical commission, for example, found that 83 per cent of people killed during the armed conflict were Mayan.

Despite growing public debate, the Secretary-General says that since 1996 there have been few substantial improvements or efforts to eradicate the barriers that exist. An attempt in 1999 to alter Guatemala's constitution to declare it a multicultural State failed, while rural areas with a predominantly indigenous population still lack many basic services.

The report recommends that multicultural programmes be set up to make Guatemalans more aware of racism and discrimination, and it also calls for bilingual education to be expanded and better funded.

The issues of ethnic division are part of a broader problem of vast social inequality, the report states, calling it "a moral affront and an obstacle to development."

"If left to fester, these problems could be ingredients for social conflict, stunted economic development and the corrosion of democratic governance," Mr. Annan warns.

He also criticizes the slow pace of reparations for victims of human rights violations during the civil war, observing that many of the people responsible for the crimes have not yet been punished.

The report calls for tax reform so that the Guatemalan Government has enough revenue to adequately fund health, education, security and justice services.

In 10 years of operation from 1995 through until this year, MINUGUA's budgets totalled $209.7 million. At its peak in 1999 there were 531 staff in the Mission, comprising civilian police, military observers, and international and local officials.

Deciding designs

It’s the curse of a job well done.

Before leaving for NY I spent roughly a gazillion hours (give or take a trillion) preparing the Incidencia Democratica homepage for its re-launch. Quique’s daughter Elisa, a graphic designer working in Mexico City, had created a gorgeous site to replace the former… mmm… less-than-gorgeous site. My job was to bring it to life.

Along with that came a redesign of our logo, and a change in the layout of the Daily Report. Afterwards, I foolishly thought that I had finally “finished”.

Not so, not so.

Yesterday Quique asked me to redesign the email summary that accompanies the Daily Report. It is fairly ghastly looking right now, and definitely detracts from the quality content of the Report itself.

So I’ve been working on a proposal that I hope to finish tomorrow. I’ll post the before and after shots in the photograph section. I’d love your feedback, applause, and never-ending praise. I will, however, also reluctantly accept your critiques and criticisms.

No, really… let me know what you think! I’m planning on “going public” next Monday, so there’s plenty of time to tweak the design. With all the brilliant minds out there (no need to be modest) we should be able to create something stunning!

Then again, maybe that’s not such a good idea. It’s like the excuse given by people who don’t vote for politicians: “it only encourages 'em!”

Mouse retires, other news

It’s already past bedtime, and I’m still at the office.

“Why”, you ask? Has work become so burdensome that all possibility of LOTO (Life Outside The Office) has been exterminated, eradicated, and obliterated?

Well, no.

Although, I have to admit that there have been some serious technical problems here at Incidencia Democratica lately. Our server has all but stopped working. (It turns out that the little mouse inside just turned 65 and has decided to retire from the rat race. He tells me he plans on trading his treadmill for a life of leisure in a nearby cheese shop.)

Fear not, we should hopefully be upgrading soon to a next-generation computer… I hear that it comes with a shiny new hand-crank and a state-of-the-art sundial for keeping time.

But that isn’t why I’m still here. I’m still here because I’m an idiot. An idiot who promised to put a photo a day, in addition to his journal entry a day, on his website.

Just because I love you.

One a Day, they say

I sent an email every once and again, and you said “more”.

So I built my own homepage, and you said “more”.

So I wrote in my online journal every day. And still you said “more”.

So today, I make the bold and unprecedented promise of adding one new photograph to my website, every single day of the week (except Saturdays and Sundays. And holidays.)

Hmmm. Now that I think about, I can’t recall anyone actually saying the word “more”. It was more of an “implied” request.

Well, ok, to be completely honest… it was the voices in my head. But I have found, on the whole, that it’s a wise decision to listen to the voices in my head. Well, except for that time with the … um, nevermind.

So there you have it! A photo a day. And it’s completely 100% free. (Until I can find a way some money off this darn thing… whoops, there go the voices again.)

McUnbelievable

Another sign that the Apocalypse may be closer than you think:

McDonald’s malignant spread throughout Guatemala has undergone a new mutation: coffee shops grafted onto the fast food restaurants. So now you can wash down your super-sized fries with a grande cappuccino!

Do I really have to tell you what they are calling these new coffee shops? Yep, you guessed it… McCafes. (Although “McStarbucks” would've been a good guess, too.)

Will this new McTrend catch on? Well, walking by the brand new McCafé in the zona viva, an upscale part of Guatemala City, I wasn’t surprised to see the McPlace McPacked with McPeople.

McSigh.

I prefer escaping to Sophos, a café-bookstore in zona 10. It's a sweet place: classical music, all sorts of teas served in a teapot at your table, outlets to plug in the laptop, and a nice garden in back… occasional hummingbird, included. And even though it’s in the zona viva, the prices aren’t bad. I had two complete teapots (one with Japanese Genmaicha tea, one with African red tea) and an apple cobbler… over the very leisurely span of four hours… and it came to $6 total, tip included.

During that time, I worked on my homepage some, mostly behind-the-scenes stuff that I had to fix. I did edit another photo of the Empire State Building that came out pretty cool; I’ll add it to the site tomorrow.

I’m toying with the idea of promising to add a photo a day to the homepage. I’m not sure I’ll have the time, but it might force me to not be such a damned perfectionist with the photos. We’ll see…

Time for the Times

From the “Best of Both Worlds” files:

Talk about relaxing… I spent three hours this afternoon reading the Sunday NY Times while sipping delicious cappuccinos in a quiet café in Guatemala City. It was last Sunday’s edition, a parting gift from Mom & Bob when they dropped me off a week ago at LaGuardia airport.

I had saved it just for this weekend!

Do you know why New York is the “city that never sleeps”? It’s because the city is trying desperately to finish reading the Sunday NY Times. The paper is immense. The paper, in the wrong hands, could be a weapon of mass destruction. It has more sections than Seattle has rainy days. It’s like a portable library.

The irony, of course, is that whenever I’m in NY I don’t usually have the time to read the NY Times. Here in Guatemala, I have the time, but not usually the Times.

Today I had both. And since three hours was just enough to get me through the first four sections, there’s plenty of Times for tomorrow.

Kiss me, you fool!

There are definitely benefits to being a single, unattached guy in the Big City on a Friday night. You know what I’m talking about… going to the Europa Bar and Restaurant… checking out the scene… and then ordering an enormous portion of garlic spaghetti.

Yep, the Europa makes a mean plate of “espagueti con ajo”, garlic spaghetti. And I when I say “mean” I mean “mean” in the most literal sense of the word: cruel, brutal, ruthless, harsh, and unforgiving. In other words, a garlic lover’s delight. In fact, the spaghetti itself is basically decorative. It’s there to keep people from having to feel silly while ordering “a plate of fried garlic, please.”

And while it is mouth-watering, it is also eye-watering. It is definitely not to ordered if you plan on kissing someone else later. Or even talking to someone else. Or even being in the same room as someone else. (My poor elevator operator was sobbing by the time we reached the 16th floor.)

In fact the Europa’s garlic spaghetti should be ordered only if:

You don’t mind being alone, or…

You don’t like the person you’re with.

There were two side benefits to my having ordered the garlic spaghetti this evening:

1. While I was dining, Ceasar the bartender put the Yankee game on TV, so I was able to watch New York thrash Boston at Fenway. (Thanks to Marisa for telling me about the game!) Although there were Red Sox fans in the room, I noticed that they kept their distance.

2. Tonight I can sleep with the apartment windows open without the slightest fear of being bitten by Guatemalan vampires.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to brush my teeth before going to bed. Twice.

Article: Berger at the UN

Representatives of war-torn countries
urge stepped-up UN peacekeeping

(UN News Centre. 22 September.) Addressing the General Assembly's high-level debate this afternoon, leaders from countries ravaged by conflict - both ongoing and resolved - urged broad support for enhanced United Nations peacekeeping…

The President of Guatemala, Oscar Berger Perdomo, described how his country was working to cut back on its armed forces and to professionalize them. "This programme is consistent with the function the armed forces are to perform in times of peace," he said. "It has included, at the international level, greater participation by the Guatemalan army in United Nations peace operations."

He also stressed the importance of fighting crime, juvenile gangs and organized crime, as well as drug trafficking, terrorism, smuggling, money laundering, human trafficking and the illegal gun trade, "all of which are a huge challenge that cannot be met without the support of the international community." In addition, he paid tribute to the UN Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA), which, after 10 years of "fruitful" work, is coming to the end of its mandate. "MINUGUA has left behind a significant legacy in our country," he said.

Read the complete speech in English

Watch the video in English

Days like these

Long, but excellent day. This morning four of my co-workers presented an Incidencia Democratica investigation on security issues to the Association of Women Journalists. Which, you know, was great. The catch was that there were only three of us left in the office to put out today’s Daily Report!

But we got it done… and fairly quickly, too. Which was very good news because I needed the extra time to prepare my current events analysis for the volunteers of the Guatemalan Accompaniment Project.

Normally I don’t panic (too much) before having to give a presentation, but this one was a bit tricky. Why? Well, trying to make sense of Guatemalan current events is always difficult… but even more so when you’ve been in another country for the past two weeks.

So I had to hit the books (well, ok, not books exactly: the internet, newspapers, and, of course, our Daily Reports.) Thankfully, Quique was also able to give me a mini-analysis to help me bring me up-to-speed.

At 2pm (having skipped lunch for last-minute cramming) I headed to the Nisgua-GAP offices. I guess the conversation went well, because we were still going strong at 4:30pm. (So much for my one-hour time slot!) I have to admit that it was easy talking with the GAP volunteers because of their knowledge of, experience in, and commitment to Guatemala. Sometimes “preaching to the choir” can be fun!

And, because these accompaniers all live in rather remote communities in the Guatemalan countryside, I was able to learn a great deal from them about life outside of the big city.

The final good news is that I was presented with the latest issue of Nisgua’s “Reporte on Guatemala” which included three of my photographs…one of them on the front cover!

So, all in all, a terrifically satisfying day. Now it’s time for a terrifically satisfying sleep.

Scorpion Queen does it!

Woman Endures 32 Days With Scorpions

AP: Kuala Lumpur - A Malaysian woman has broken a world record by enduring 32 days enclosed in a glass box with 6,069 scorpions, suffering seven stings in the process.

Nur Malena Hassan, 27, will remain in the case, on display in a shopping mall, until Saturday.

Late Monday, Nur Malena surpassed the previous record held by a woman from Thailand, who spent 31 days in a glass box with 3,400 scorpions.

Malena left the room on Saturday for two minutes to cut a cake and celebrate her 27th birthday.

Otherwise, she has left the room only once a day for a 15-minute bathroom break.

Thousands of Malaysians have visited the mall to observe Nur Malena in the room, where she sleeps, eats and performs Muslim prayers, moving very carefully to not upset her dangerous roommates.

********

Forget the scorpions! You know what really impresses me about this story? She only goes to the bathroom once a day! Now THAT is remarkable.

Safe & Sound & Soaked

Having successfully dodged a hurricane on my flight to the States, and having spent two weeks in NY unwinding in the wonderfully warm late-summer sunshine, I guess that the weather gods were waiting to get even.

I had just carried my two suitcases into the living room, when the skies exploded. Hammering rain, blinding lightening, and rumbling thunder welcomed me back to Guatemala City. I called home from inside my clothes closet, because the rain falling on the tin roof of my “penthouse” apartment sounded like the beat of a thousand angry snare drums.

It rained long and it rained hard. It rained so much that the Guatemalan newspapers had to point out that it wasn’t actually hurricane-related, but “simply sucky” (a loose translation) weather.

As for the “being back in Guate” part, I’ll let you know how that goes. The two weeks I spent with my family flew by so quickly, that if it weren’t for the photographs on my computer and the extra pounds on my waist (Chinese Buffet! Whoo-hoo!) I’d hardly believe it happened.

I miss you all already, and I’m counting the days until Christmas vacation! (89, by the way. And with all this rain… hopefully the time will shrink!)

Life Lesson #4,337

If, on the very night before your international flight, the one where you have to be at the airport by 5am, and you haven’t finished packing yet, ok, haven’t begun packing yet, you are invited to a friend’s birthday party, dear as she may be, the correct response to said invitation should always be: “no, thanks.”

Article: Land Conflict (5)

Guatemala to seek justice if police killings proven

By Frank Jack Daniel

Champerico, Guatemala, Sept 3 (Reuters) - The Guatemalan government vowed on Friday to use the full force of the law if claims that police summarily executed at least three peasant squatters on a ranch this week are true.

The government-appointed human rights ombudsman told Congress that police may have shot dead three unarmed peasants in cold blood while evicting thousands of squatters from a ranch on Wednesday near the southern town of Champerico.

Journalists say they saw police execute unarmed squatters.

Frank La Rue, the presidential human rights secretary, said the government was awaiting the results of forensic tests.

"I am waiting for clear and verified information. If there were extrajudicial killings we will look for justice with the full force of the law," he told Reuters by telephone.

The three allegedly executed by police were among nine people who died when police and peasants, some armed with AK-47 assault rifles, clashed at the Nueva Linda cattle ranch.

"There is evidence that extrajudicial killings occurred during the eviction and the necessary documentation is being sent to the public prosecutors' office," Sergio Morales, the human rights ombudsman, told Congress on Thursday.

President Oscar Berger has tried to clean up Guatemala's poor human rights record since he came to power in January.

He has cut the size of the army and apologized for past rights abuses, including the infamous 1990 killing by the military of anthropologist Myrna Mack.

But security forces in rural areas are often a law unto themselves.

A Guatemalan press photographer said police shot an unarmed elderly man in the head during the ranch eviction, then threw his corpse in some bushes.

"They had beaten him and he was on his knees. They told me not to take photos, pulled out a pistol and shot him," said the photographer for a national paper, who asked not to be named.

The squatters occupied the ranch last year in protest at the kidnapping of ranch-hand Hector Rene Reyes, allegedly by the owners. They say his disappearance was never investigated.

Under instructions of prosecutors, workers excavated a suspected mass grave at the ranch on Thursday but found no sign of up to 20 other peasants alleged to have been summarily executed by police on Wednesday and dumped there.

After evicting the squatters, police set fire to their huts and possessions.

This blows

Just yesterday I received this urgent message from David Rhodes, our correspondent Florida, the incongruously nicknamed “Sunshine State”:

“#$%&!!!!”

Which, roughly translated from Floridian, means:

“Un-be-freaking-lievable! Another hurricane is about to hit, and I still haven’t removed the upside-down tractor-trailer filled with Payless shoelaces and funky-colored socks that the previous hurricane dumped in my swimming pool. Now I’m back in our basement bunker with my children, and quite possibly with my wife Cathy. I haven’t actually decided whether or not to let her in. (You remember Cathy, right? Would YOU want to be trapped underground with her?!?!) Anyway, I’ll probably open up once the winds start to hit 100mph. What can I say? I’m a softie. Besides, her constant pounding on the door is beginning to give me a headache.”

So, there it is. News from the Florida front lines… And all I can say is: thank goodness I don’t live there! Hahahahaha. Yep, and mighty glad that I’m flying to NYC this weekend and not Mia… uh-oh… wait a sec… let me check that ticket again…

Guatemala to Miami to NYC
Depart: Guatemala City, Saturday, Sep 04 at 7:00am
Arrive: Miami, Saturday, Sep 04 at 11:34am

“#$%&!!!!”

Ok, then, let me check the latest news …

Monster Storm Roars Toward Florida
Hurricane Frances, a 300-mile-wide menace, lashed the southeastern Bahamas with 140 mph winds on Thursday and was expected to slam into the capital Nassau on Friday. It threatens to deliver a huge blow to Florida by Saturday morning… At Miami International Airport, chaotic on the best of days, the scene was approaching full-scale frenzy. Anxious travelers checked their watches, fretting they would miss their flights as the afternoon waned and lines grew longer. "People are desperate," said David Gomez, an American Airlines agent.

“#$%&!!!!”

Well, there goes the vacation. And the worst part… the very worst part… is that my trip home is being thwarted by a hurricane… named FRANCES! What the heck kind of wussy name for a nefarious force of ruin and wreckage is “Frances”?

“Rocco”, I could understand. Or “Spike”. Or even “George W” would be ironically appropriate.

But how am I supposed to look my imaginary grandchildren in the eye and say “Yep, I remember the time I had to cancel a trip to New York City because I was afraid of Frances.” Oh, the shame.

So I decided to call the American Airlines office here in Guatemala City (aka: “Ah-meh-ree-con”).

Me: Hi, I’m flying into Miami this Saturday and would prefer not to, what with the hurricane and all.

AA: No problem. When would you like to change your departure date to?

Me: Actually, I don’t want to change the date. Can I change the route instead? Maybe fly through Dallas?

AA: Ummmm… let me check with the supervisor on that one.

Remarkably, impressively, and thankgodfully… American found seats for me on a flight to Dallas and then another to NY. No extra charge. And I arrive at LaGuardia a mere one hour later than my previous flight.

So Frances can kiss my #$%&!!!! I’m coming home!

[In all seriousness, I don’t know if Dave and Cathy and their children are among the 2.5 million Florida residents who have had to evacuate their homes. I would ask that you keep them all in your thoughts and prayers.

And for the record: Dave would never lock Cathy out, and neither would I. Mostly because once the storm was over, she’d beat me silly.]

Article: Land Conflict (4)

Extrajudicial Executions and Clandestine Graves in Guatemala

By Max Gimble

A clash between police officers and armed campesinos occupying the Nueva Linda plantation in Champerico, Retalhuleu, left nine dead and many questions unanswered as investigations begin.

Mid-day on August 31 approximately 800 police officers descended on a group of farming families that have been occupying the land since last September in protest of the disappearance of campesino leader Hector Rene Reyes. At least three police officers were killed in the confrontation, and at least six campesinos were shot dead, including two minors. Twenty-four individuals suffered injuries, at least twenty-five campesinos are still missing.

Homes were illegally entered and burned. Journalists, who were beaten and threatened by police during the forty-minute skirmish, allege that three of the six campesinos were executed extrajudicially, and campesinos leaders report that their missing family members are buried in a clandestine mass grave.

Interior Minister Carlos Vielmann immediately blamed the incident on the presence of clandestine groups, and classified the campesinos as "members of organized crime." Nobel Laureate and current Goodwill Ambassador, Rigoberta Menchu agreed with Vielmann's position and added that the farmers are "bandits." Her comments were poorly received by many Guatemalans who feel that the human rights defender and peace activist is a turncoat.

Vielmann and Menchu's statements reflect the fact that the Nueva Linda farmers were allegedly armed with automatic rifles. According to a Prensa Libre editorial from Sept 2, authorities knew as early as last December that the campesinos were armed with AK-47s, but chose to send in police regardless.

A statement released by the Mutual Support Group, claims that campesinos may have purchased the weapons to protect themselves from heavy drug trafficking that takes place in the region.

Campesino organizations strongly denounce the claim that the evicted families have any ties to organized crime, and insist that the government is to blame for not investigating the September 5, 2003 disappearance of campesino leader, Hector Rene Reyes. Rene Reyes was allegedly abducted by the private security of the owner of the Nueva Linda plantation, Spaniard Carlos Vidal Fernandez Alejos. In protest to the disappearance, the campesinos occupied land on Nueva Linda and stated firmly that they would stay there until the Rene Reyes case was clarified. The government did not attempt to negotiate with the campesinos, but rather issued a court order and deployed police to violently evict them from the land.

Further consequences of the conflict were the arrest of thirty-two campesinos, including one women, Julia Cabrera, a single mother of ten children. According to Cabrera she was selling vegetables on the plantation when the police arrived and started throwing tear gas canisters. She witnessed her sixteen-year-old son David Natanael Lopez shot twice in the back and killed. "But I did not see who took my six-month old baby, because the police grabbed me by the hair and began to hit me," Cabrera stated.

When she came to, she found herself inside a car and in police custody. Cabrera has been denied the right to attend her son's funeral and she is concerned for the health and safely of her infant child.

On the national level, congressional representatives passed a resolution yesterday condemning the acts of violence, most of who believe that the police "acted in an erroneous manner." Independent congressman, Pedro Palma Lau, expressed that the confrontation left the 1996 Peace Accords behind. Today, congress will hear reports on the Nueva Linda incident from Vielmann, Defense Minister Cesar Mendez Pinelo, and Human Rights Ombudsman Sergio Morales.

Mass Graves and Extrajudicial Executions in the "Victory" at Nueva Linda

So far in the investigation, authorities have names, photos, and possibly know the whereabout of the few armed campesinos, and one weapon has been recovered. Yesterday, with a court order, representatives from the Human Rights Ombudsman's Office (PDH) and three congressmen visited the site to verify the existance of a clandestine mass grave. Alexander Toro Maldonado from the regional PDH office in Retalhuleu received the allegation from campesinos that, "within the plantation a mass grave was dug where they [the police] buried the bodies of the campesinos and children killed in the confrontation."

Sergio Morales said, "[the campesinos] showed us a place where the earth has been moved. They say that it is a grave and that between seven and twenty people are buried there." While no graves were found, Damian Vail from the National Indigenous and Campesino Coordinator (CONIC), directed justice of peace Hugo Flores and congressmen Raul Robles (UNE), Luis Arguello (GANA) and Alfredo de Leon (ANN) to an area where they found an arsenal of weapons and a septic pit covered over with heavy machinery.

Morales added that campesinos had claimed bodies were thrown in a river but investigators had found no evidence of that. Toro Maldonado, announced that the PDH will request a court order to investigate four sites on the plantation for mass graves.

In addition to investigating claims of mass graves, authorities will investigate allegations of at least three extrajudicial executions on the part of the police. One journalist witnessed an elderly man being shot in the head after he was captured. Police proceeded to shoot the man five more times, kicked and trampled the body and then according to the account, officer Boris Morales yelled, "Victory!" while standing over the dead body. Journalists recount two other incidents of extrajudicial executions.

Reporters claim that after the police discovered that members of the press witnessed them, they chased the reporters down, and beat and verbally abused them. One reporter was hospitalized. Police stole their equiptment and destroyed it, most likely to erradicate evidence of extrajudicial execution.

A History of Nueva Linda and Agrarian Conflict

Three years ago, in need of land, a group of campesinos originally from twenty-two different communities, occupied territory by the side of a highway between the towns of Retalhuleu and Champerico (on the Pacific coast). After two years and with the assistance of a number of land rights and campesinos organizations, the roughly 1,500 campesinos were granted rights to the Monte Cristo farm by the Guatemalan Land Fund.

Among the farmers that received access to Monte Cristo was Hector Rene Reyes, who, in spite of working as the administrator for the Nueva Linda Plantation, became a campesino leader not only at Monte Cristo, but also throughout the region. The owner of the Nueva Linda Plantation, Carlos Vidal Fernandez Alejos, opposed Rene Reyes's decision to live and work at the Monte Cristo farm.

On August 5, a few days after the Monte Cristo farm was turned over to the campesinos, Fernandez Alejos' private security visited Rene Reyes with the pretext of picking up shotguns and other arms that were on the Nueva Linda plantation. The security officers asked Rene Reyes to accompany them on a visit of the plantation. Hours later the bodyguards returned without Rene Reyes, saying that they had left the campesino in the nearby town of Retalhuleu.

Since then Rene Reyes has not been seen again. The crime was not investigated, and in order to pressure the National Civil Police and the Public Prosecutor's Office, the campesinos took action by settling on the Nueva Linda plantation. Authorities never attempted to negotiate with the campesinos, or to further investigate the disappearance. Instead, the plantation owner and authorities sought out a court order to evict the campesinos.

Guatemala has a long history of agrarian conflict, and on June 8th, the country was paralyzed by a nationwide strike organized by a diverse coalition of groups to protest recent violent evictions of indigenous families from disputed land which left 1,500 families homeless. The protesters surrounded government buildings and blocked roads in twenty of the twenty-two departments of the country.

Although the strike was originally planned to last two days, only eight hours into the strike an agreement was reached, ending the strike peacefully. In the agreement, the Supreme Court, agreed to investigate the legality and process of the recent land evictions. President Berger agreed that his administration would promote concrete measures to deal with the agrarian conflict. President Berger also promised to halt land evictions during a ninty day period to review agrarian policy. In exchange for these concessions, the protesters agreed to a moratorium on protests and strikes during those ninty days, after which time they would reconvene with the government to evaluate what, if any, progress that had been made.

While Berger's promise to halt evictions was broken on August 7 when 113 families were peacefully evicted from a plantation in Escuintla, the eviction at Nueva Linda will redefine relations with campesino groups. The violence in Champerico took place just over a week shy of the ninty day evaluation period. President Berger responded yesterday that this group did not belong to any of the campesino groups who negotiated the moratorium, tacitly implying that this justifies the eviction.

The events of August 31 will intensely shake Guatemala, its internal security policy, and the way it reacts to land takeovers and agrarian conflict. There is supposed to be a march today by the campesino sector and campesino groups have also stated that they will return to the use of massive blockades next week (when the 90 day period ends) to pressure the government to work out a solution that does not include violent evicitons.

While investigations are underway, various land and campesino rights groups have requested that investigations be conducted with transparency, and that the Berger administration settle the root causes of the conflict: the lack of investigation into the disappearance of the Rene Reyes, and poor land distribution and agrarian policy. Unless the latter is reconsidered and readjusted, Guatemala may find itself in another internal conflict that reflects 1980s era mass clandestine graves and extrajudicial executions.

Max Gimbel is the Director of Research at the Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA. GHRC/USA is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, humanitarian organization committed to monitoring, documenting and reporting on the human rights situation in Guatemala while advocating for victims of human rights violations. For more information visit www.ghrc-usa.org or write: mgimbel@ghrc-usa.org.

Article: Land Conflict (3)

Guatemala Prosecutors Dig for Missing Peasants

Champerico, Guatemala (Reuters) - Guatemalan authorities excavated a suspected mass grave on Thursday but found no sign of peasant squatters alleged to have been summarily executed by police this week, prosecutors said.

Farm workers at a ranch near the southern town of Champerico used a tractor to dig into a septic pit where peasants had said up to 20 people may have been buried.

No bodies were found but authorities said they would search other areas for corpses.

"The fiscal assigned to this case is still going to comb the area to see if other sites exist," said Otto Juarez, a representative of the attorney general.

Nine people died on Tuesday in a battle between police and armed peasant squatters at the Nueva Linda cattle ranch and locals have told the government that police killed between seven and 20 other people and threw their bodies in a pit.

The government-appointed human rights ombudsman, Sergio Morales, says up to 40 people are missing.

The squatters occupied the ranch last year in protest at the kidnapping of a ranch-hand, allegedly by the owners. Police eventually evicted the squatters and arrested 30 people.

Article: Land Conflict (2)

Guatemala Probes Mass Grave Claims After Ranch Clash

By Frank Jack Daniel

Guatemala City (Reuters) - Guatemalan prosecutors are investigating claims that riot police summarily executed dozens of peasant squatters in a violent eviction on a ranch this week, the government said on Wednesday.

Deputy Interior Minister Juan Carlos Villacorta said prosecutors had begun digging up a possible mass grave at the ranch, where police and armed squatters clashed on Tuesday.

"I understand they are digging to see if these accusations ... are true," Villacorta told Reuters.

A battle erupted at the Nueva Linda cattle ranch, near the southern town of Champerico, when about 2,000 police arrived to evict some 3,000 squatter peasants, some armed with AK-47 assault rifles.

Police said earlier on Wednesday that the death toll from the clash was nine, while 20 policemen and an unspecified number of squatters were treated for gunshot wounds.

But the government-appointed human rights ombudsman, Sergio Morales, said up to 40 people were missing after the eviction and squatters believed that many had been summarily executed by police and buried in a mass grave.

"(They) showed us a place where the earth has been moved. They say that it is a grave and that between seven and 20 people are buried there, he said."

He said squatters had claimed bodies were thrown in a river but investigators had found no evidence of that.

Three of the dead were policemen. Police eventually evicted the squatters and arrested 30 people.

The squatters occupied the ranch last year in protest at the kidnapping of a ranch-hand, allegedly by the owners.

Guatemalan journalists reported that police beat and then shot to death at least one squatter on Tuesday, and threatened to shoot journalists if they took photographs.

The government blamed the violence on criminals intent on destabilizing the country.

Villacorta said accusations of police brutality would be investigated.

"Any policeman found committing an illegal act will immediately face justice," he said.