Here’s an update on the recent natural disasters that have hit Guatemala from Kelsey Alford-Jones of the Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA (GHRC/USA):
A week after Guatemalans experienced a dual assault from Pacaya Volcano and Tropical Storm Agatha, volcanic ash still hangs in the air. Over 80,000 people wait in emergency shelters—the homes, crops and livelihoods of many completely destroyed.
The pursuit of justice “is a challenge that we have been called to take on, and we have no idea how far this journey will lead us,” said Guatemalan human rights defender Jesús Tecú Osorio at a reception in his honor on May 17th, 2010. Human Rights First and the Guatemala Human Rights Commission (GHRC) organized this gathering to celebrate Tecú’s selection as winner of the 2010 Roger N. Baldwin Medal of Liberty Award for international human rights defenders.
President Obama was elected with a campaign of hope, and change. Those
of us who care about Latin America hoped that U.S. foreign policy
towards the region, too often unilateral and focused on military
solutions, would also change.
A year ago, at a summit of Latin America’s leaders, President Obama hit a
note that resonated well with his counterparts: “I pledge to you that
we seek an equal partnership. There is no senior partner and junior
partner in our relations.”
After that hopeful moment, though, the new administration stumbled at
the starting gate. 2009 was a rough year for U.S. policy toward Latin
America and the Caribbean. Latin American governments and civil society
groups were disappointed by the Obama Administration’s inattention,
vacillation on democracy and human rights, and failure of imagination in
creating more humane policies, especially after it secretly negotiated a
defense agreement with Colombia and backed off from efforts to urge
resignation of the coup regime in Honduras despite an admirably united
Latin American and OAS response to protect the democratic order.
As an official “Truth Commission” was inaugurated May 4th in
Tegucigalpa, Honduras, leading Honduran human rights groups expressed
serious concerns and announced an alternative commission.
Saying that a real truth commission “should provide a space which has
been denied to the victims, in which they can be heard and injury to
their rights repaired,” the groups criticized the official commission
for “exclusion of the victims” and the “lack of processes to ensure
effectiveness and impartiality.”
“Each of us represents a force that has a great capacity to create.” These words rang out on the colorful and majestic voice of Honduran activist and musician Karla Lara during an empowering concert at Busboys and Poets in Washington, DC on April 23rd, where she taught us about the values that are central to the movement of peaceful, civic resistance that has been ongoing since the June 2009 coup. Lara, who for years has been making music that inspires people to be a part of constructing a better reality in places across Central America, now is a leader of the feminists-in-resistance and artists-in-resistance who are a part of the struggle for human rights, justice, and democracy going on in her own country.
Extremely serious human rights violations have taken place since
the inauguration of Honduran President Porfirio Lobo on January 27th.
Since that date, there has been a notable increase in attacks against
people opposed to the June 28th coup d’état and their family members, as
well as a surge in attacks against journalists. A teacher was slain in
front of his class. Three campesino leaders from the community of Aguán
were assassinated.
Hoy, como todos ustedes saben, nos une en este lugar el recuerdo
imperecedero de Monseñor Óscar Arnulfo Romero, guía espiritual de
nuestra Nación.
Me conmueve profundamente poder compartir este día con ustedes, porque
muchas veces en mi vida pensé que nuestra Patria no alcanzaría nunca la
paz si no recuperábamos la memoria de Monseñor Romero.
Lo que jamás había imaginado era que yo mismo sería uno de los
protagonistas de esta recuperación, al conducir los destinos del país.
On the 30th anniversary of the murder of Archbishop Oscar Romero, Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes apologized for the role of the Salvadoran government in this cataclysmic event.
His words are so moving they require no further introduction.
I just listened to a group of Honduran lawyers, who were exhausted,
frustrated and in fear, as they explained their efforts to defend
citizens’ rights in their country.
The lawyers were here to ask
for help from the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights.
Their message was:
In Guatemala, violence against women has reached staggering levels in
recent years. Since 2000, over 4,700 Guatemalan women have been
brutally murdered with almost no accountability for a single
perpetrator of these crimes. On March 3rd, 2010, American University
hosted an event with the Guatemala Human Rights Commission (GHRC)
called “Stop Femicide in Guatemala!” Internationally acclaimed human
rights advocate Norma Cruz spoke with students and professors about the
increasing rate of violence against women in Guatemala. The following
quotes were taken from that event.
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