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Guatemala

Of all the nations of Central America, Guatemala's society is the most unequal, and its history the most tragic. The 1954 US-sponsored coup against a leftist, nationalist government paved the way for four decades of repressive government. In a thirty-six year armed conflict, some 200,000 people were killed; according to the United Nations Truth Commission, 90% of them by the Guatemalan government or associated forces. In 1996, historic peace accords were signed which provided a blueprint for a more just and equal society.

Today, many of the reforms promised by the accords are still a dream deferred. Repressive military structures, such as the Presidential Guard, have not been dismantled. Tax collection remains inadequate to fund basic health and education programs for the majority of Guatemalan citizens. Tremendous levels of corruption affect all levels of government. The judicial system is weak and even the most important historic human rights cases move slowly through the courts, if at all. And threats and attacks against judicial personnel and human rights workers have increased.

While US policy in the 1980s funded the Guatemalan military and denied abuses, US policy in recent years has been much more constructive. Since 1996, US aid has focused on peace accord implementation. Military aid was banned by Congress in 1990 and that ban is in force today, although CIA funding for the Guatemalan military intelligence service continued until it was uncovered in a 1995 scandal. The US embassy in Guatemala in the last several years has played a positive role in human rights, judicial reform and anti-corruption initiatives.

LAWG Efforts. The Latin America Working Group helped organize efforts that led to a massive declassification of US documents on Guatemala, which were provided to the Guatemalan truth commission. The LAWG advocated for and monitored US aid for peace accord implementation. LAWG has advocated successfully for maintaining the ban on US military aid to Guatemala since 1990. The majority of LAWG efforts have been devoted to ensuring that the US State Department and US Embassy in Guatemala consistently urged the Guatemalan government to implement the peace accords, and carry out essential judicial and military reforms.

Currently, the LAWG focuses on encouraging the Guatemalan government to take effective steps to investigate and prosecute attacks against human rights defenders and judicial personnel. "Clandestine groups" that include current and retired military are believed to be behind many of these attacks as well as corruption and drug trafficking. LAWG joined other human rights groups in urging the Guatemalan government to set up an international commission to investigate the clandestine groups, which it pledged to do in March 2003. This pledge remains unfulfilled.