Guatemala Resists: a webcast on the current crisis in Guatemala

On October 18th Guatemala will celebrate its (non-violent) Democratic Revolution of 1944 with a new, democratic revolution, one that has arisen to defend their newly elected president, Bernardo Arévalo.

President-elect Arévalo does not take office until January 14th – nearly five months after his election on August 20th – and corrupt forces within the existing Guatemalan government have sought to use this long transition period to derail his administration before it even begins. But Guatemalans have risen up to oppose them, mounting a powerful, nationwide campaign of resistance demanding the resignation of the corrupt officials behind what Arévalo calls a “slow-motion coup.”

The resistance campaign, buoyed by the critical leadership of “Ancestral Authorities” of Indigenous communities has been costly but resilient – even in the face of repression like the deadly armed attacks in Malacatan last Monday.

Édgar Gutiérrez who is a former Foreign Minister turned journalist. For years, his opinion columns and analysis published in many media outlets have helped the public better understand how corruption structures operate, as well as the links between corrupt officials, corrupting elites, and organized crime. This has earned him constant legal and media attacks, which is why he now lives in exile in Mexico.
Gregorio “Goyo” Saavedra is a young journalist and lawyer who has specialized in analyzing and denouncing “Lawfare” the corrupt manipulation of the legal system to attack political opponents. He will explain the “absurd” legal tactics being deployed by the losers of last August’s election as they attempt to undo its clear mandate for deep, institutional reform.

Global Exchange will be investigating, observing, and reporting on Guatemala’s historic (run-off) presidential elections.
Tune in here for updates and news.

The August 20th election is in the international spotlight because emergent democratic forces represented by the Semilla Movement and their candidate, Bernardo Arévalo, won a run-off spot in the general elections that took place last June and then successfully defended it against trumped-up legal attacks that sought to disqualify their party and close the door on democracy.

Hundreds of observers are expected to be in the country during the election.

Tension between Guatemala’s authoritarian ruling structures and the democratic impulses of its people are nothing new.

In 1944 (during the final days of WWII) Guatemala had a popular uprising that brought Bernardo Arevalo’s father, Juan Jose Arevalo Bermejo out of exile and into the Presidency, where he built a broad consensus, modernized education, established the first ever labor code and created the social security system that still exists today.

When Arévalo’s successor, President Jacobo Arbenz, sought to expand those gains with a land redistribution program he came up against an implacable oligarchy that welcomed the notorious CIA led coup of 1954 that snuffed democracy and led to generations of terror, repression, civil war, and the genocide of Indigenous communities –much of it with the direct or implicit support of the United States.

Things began to improve in Guatemala following the signing of the 1996 Peace Accords, but recent decades have seen an upsurge in criminal violence, environmental destruction, and rampant corruption, while the structures of extreme wealth and enforced poverty continue much the same as in1944

History may or may not be repeating itself as the candidacy of Bernardo Arevalo takes center stage, but there is no doubt the Movimiento Semilla has created high expectations and infectious positive energy throughout Guatemala and Latin America.

Our delegation is being convened by CESJUL, the Bogota, Colombia based legal training and human rights organization. They have assembled a stellar group of journalists, human rights specialists, scholars, and elected officials from Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and the United States.

Our observers will be just that, observers. And they will report on what they see. That’s where you come in. Working closely with [Prensa Comunitaria] the journalists on our team will deliver contextual analysis and up to the minute coverage of this hotly contested event.

For the latest on upcoming pre, during and post election webcasts and live updates please visit our webpage.

¡Viva la democracia!

Guatemala’s June 25th (first round) elections surprised pundits who had expected a sweep by right wing forces who had tilted the electoral playing field by cracking down on free speech and dissent – jailing journalists and sending others into exile.

Nevertheless, a relatively new party called Semillas — that had emerged from the student-led mobilization of 2015 and 2016 — came in second place, stunning even its own party activists. Their candidate, Bernardo Arévalo (son of Guatemala’s first ever democratically elected president), is now in the runoff elections scheduled for August 20th.

Challenges emerged immediately as conservative elements of the power structures that have ruled Guatemala for decades sought to use their influence over the country’s judiciary to discredit the election tally. But to date those efforts have failed, and Guatemala looks to be headed toward an August 20th runoff.

Global Exchange has been watching closely – consulting with our trusted contacts in Guatemala and with the team of Latin American observers we sponsored to report on the first round.

To deepen our understanding of what is happening and what may be in store during next month’s final election round, we held a webcast (in English) with former Guatemalan Congresswoman Sandra Moran and researcher Megan Thomas.

Sandra Moran is Guatemala’s first openly lesbian member of the Congress. She organized the country’s first lesbian group in 1995, and was elected in 2015. She is well-known for her vocal support for women’s rights, Indigenous women’s rights and LGBTQIA+ rights in Guatemala.

Megan Thomas is a political analyst, social science researcher and development worker in Guatemala. She was born in New York City of US parents and raised in Guatemala, where she has lived most of her life. She participated in the Guatemalan revolutionary movement between 1970 and 1992 and is currently part of the FOCO action research collective working on generating information and analysis on and for social organizing in Guatemala.

Ted Lewis, Global Exchange co-Executive Director hosted the conversation.

Escalating mass protest in Guatemala turned celebratory this week as President Otto Pérez Molina resigned, facing charges of criminal conspiracy, fraud and accepting bribes as the ring leader of a customs fraud.

Guatemala’s vibrant civil society deserves this moment of victory after decades of struggle against brutality and impunity. And their success echoes across regional borders, especially in neighboring Honduras where a similar mass movement against corruption is under way.

Nevertheless, the struggle against impunity is far from over. With national elections looming on Sunday, some fear that jubilation could be short-lived.

In this New York Times article, Eric Olsen, who worked alongside Global Exchange in supporting Mexican democracy in the 1990s, explains how elections could, ironically, reinforce the status quo:

“At their finest moment, Guatemalans are faced with this really difficult choice between candidates who may not lead to the kinds of changes that people have been fighting for… It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that a new president may try to impose a new attorney general and return to the status quo.”

This is a key moment; be alert to how we can support Guatemala’s brave and resilient resistance to illegitimate power.

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Don’t forget: Global Exchange is currently planning a caravan for peace that will travel through Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and the United States early next spring. Sign up here to receive news about the Caravan.

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Note: This article originally appeared on The Huffington Post

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Last June, I traveled to Honduras to confer with civil society leaders about organizing a five-nation, “end the drug war” caravan — all the way from Central America to New York City.

The “caravan” aims to stir debate in places profoundly damaged by the drug war and to bring people and their stories from those regions along the route to New York City just prior to the convening of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Drug Policy (UNGASS) next April.

We knew this trip was guaranteed to be challenging. Honduras has been hit very hard by the drug war. The dramatic profits available to those who traffic in prohibited drugs have fueled the growth of criminal organizations, spurred violence, underwritten pervasive corruption, and bolstered the institutionalized impunity that enables all of it.

But there was a big, hopeful surprise awaiting us in Honduras: the stunning emergence of a powerful civil revolt against government corruption that took to the streets while we were there, and that has been calling for the President’s resignation ever since.

As I was preparing to travel I had read of allegations that funds were pilfered from the country’s social security and health system. This seemed really bad, but I was so focused on travel details and our safety that I failed to understand the depth of discontent that this would unleash.

We were, after all, mapping out an itinerary that included San Pedro Sula — currently one of the world’s most violent cities. From there we’d head to a community meeting with Garifuna leaders, seven hours (and hundreds of kilometers east of my comfort zone) in the sweltering, mafia-dominated lowlands near the Caribbean coast.

On reflection, it’s not really surprising that discontent has boiled over in Honduras. Extreme poverty is widespread and just a few oligarchs control most of the country’s lands and wealth.

Decades of a heavy U.S. military footprint in the country — and more recently, Hillary Clinton’s back-channel support of a 2009 military coup — have encouraged the enemies of democracy in Honduras.

Since the 2009 coup, gang violence has surged — adding to the economic pressures that prompt thousands of desperate families to emigrate, or sometimes even send their kids north alone, despite the terrible risks involved.

But the trigger for this summer’s peaceful uprising was the revelation that hundreds of millions of dollars were stolen from the national health system, much of it channeled directly to ruling party political campaigns. Thousands of Hondurans died needlessly due to shortages of medical personnel and medicines. These are the facts behind the outrage that has propelled multitudes of discontented, torch-carrying citizens into the streets.

As we traveled and spoke with organizations and leaders across Honduras we encountered deep opposition to the militarization and corruption of public life that have accompanied the drug war.

We were especially interested in speaking with Garifuna and other indigenous leaderswho have been among the most outspoken critics of the drug war — even as they have confronted smugglers encroaching on their ancestral lands.

The Garifuna are descendants of escaped African slaves and indigenous peoples who intermarried and settled along Central America’s Atlantic Coast in the 1700’s. They were once isolated, but in recent years have come under intense pressure from unscrupulous tourist development and sprawling African Palm plantations.

Last year, Garifuna in the tiny settlement of Vallecito found a drug-smuggling airstrip built and being operated on their territory.

Miriam Miranda, leader of the Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras (OFRANEH) stepped in to document and protest the intrusion. OFRANEH pressured the government to shut down the airfield. The army eventually complied, dynamiting large holes to disable the dirt runway.

But that was not the end of the story. The smugglers returned and started filling the hole with logs and dirt.

When OFRANEH leaders began to document the refurbishing of the airfield, they were seized at gunpoint by sicarios on motorcycles. They were released long hours later, but only because other members of their party had eluded the gunmen, alerted media, and triggered an international campaign for their freedom.

Now, a year later, OFRANEH boldly maintains a permanent encampment on the site to keep traffickers away.

This year, as protests were mounting across the country, OFRANEH held their national leadership meeting at the remote encampment. They invited us to come there to talk with them about working together to end the drug war.

We agreed about a lot of things: The drug war is a disaster and it is past time to break the taboo on speaking honestly about its impact on people, families, communities, countries, and entire regions.

They explained how parasitic criminal organizations that grew from the hyper-profits of the prohibited drug trade now run other enterprises, like extortion rackets and human trafficking. They launder ill-gotten funds through investments in mining, hotels, agriculture and other superficially legitimate industries.

The OFRANEH leaders are interested in promoting an international discussion of how we could starve the beasts of the drug war through realistic regulation of drugs that aims to dramatically reduce the illegal trade.

We talked about how human rights, public health, and harm reduction practices should be the guideposts of any new, reformed drug policies. But to be clear, no one thought ending the drug war or dismantling the powerful criminal organizations whose money and influence derives from it would be easy. Nor will it be easy for Hondurans to restore democracy and curb the power of the oligarchy.

Open public debate and scrutiny is needed to reveal the truth about the drug war: it is a deadly, decades-long international mistake that cannot be solved by any country on its own. Pragmatic drug policy reforms require concerted international cooperation.

Such reforms will not resolve all the deep tensions roiling Honduras and other countries, but freezing the drug war profit machine via incremental regulation of today’s illicit markets is a critical step toward reducing violence and weakening the networks of corruption and impunity that undermine democracy and deny justice.

The morning I left Honduras I took a taxi from my hotel in San Pedro Sula to the airport. I was in the mood to chat and asked the taxi driver if he ever felt scared doing his job in this most violent of cities. He told me that, “Yes,” he was often afraid and that (pointing to a police car), “the worst part is that you can’t rely on the authorities for help because many of them were working with the criminals. Do you know about the war tax (impuestos de guerra)?” he asked.

“Every business in this city”, he explained, “has to pay a tax to the gangs.”

“Everybody pays”, he emphasized.

“Whether you run a sandwich stand, a dry cleaning shop, a hotel, or a travel agency, you have to pay–or die. In our case, we have about 150 members in our taxi collective and we have to pay 10,000 Lempira [about 500 dollars] a week.”

“What terrifies me,” he continued, “is that the authorities are involved.”

“Let me explain,” he said.

“Every week we take our ‘contribution’ to the local jail. I am not joking,” he insisted.

“But it is even worse than that.” he told me. “One week we had trouble getting our payment together and we arrived late to the jail. The guards told us visiting hours were over and we could not enter. We started freaking out because a missed payment can mean sudden death. So, we called the cell phone of our contact inside the jail. A few minutes later the guards came back out and invited us in to deliver the ‘tax’ payment.”

“So,” he said, “You can see who is really running the show.”

As he dropped me off to catch my flight I was still thinking over the nightmarish implications of what he’d told me. For people trapped in this criminal maelstrom there is really no way out.

The enduring lesson of the 13 years of alcohol prohibition in the United States in the early 20th century is that, whether we approve or not, people will seek out mood-altering substances. We can regulate alcohol, but trying to eliminate it simply incentivized crime and fueled the growth of domestic mafias.

In the early 1930s the U.S. ratified an amendment to the Constitution to rectify the mistake.

Today, there is a growing consensus that the international war on drugs is a similar fool’s errand.

The United Nations Special Session next year is a good forum to push this conversation ahead, but it will take a longer, concerted effort to democratically change minds, hearts, and policies.

That’s why we will travel from Honduras to NYC next year. We invite you to join us, in-person, on-line, and around the world.

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For more information: ted(at)globalexchange.org or caravana2016@gmail.com

Kara Roguly

It is 6am on Sunday, I am in Panajachel on Lake Atitlan. A chorus of roosters, church bells and fireworks have become my alarm clock. I arrived in Guatemala six days ago, I leave from Antigua tomorrow.

I came to Guatemala to:

Attend the New World Crafts Conference in Antigua;
Work on product development with the producers who make Global Exchanges’ tire bags;
Meet with artisan groups where Global Exchange sources Guatemalan woven products.

Fabric for aprons

During the first part of my trip, I met with the artisans who make hand woven aprons for Global Exchange, in Xetonox outside of Antigua.

Then I moved on to San Antonio, 20 minutes outside of Panajachel on Lake Atitlan, to meet with the family where Global Exchange sources scarves.

Here’s more about my visit with the artisans in San Antonio:

Jennifer, an ex-pat from Canada, lives in Panajachel. She (like all ex-pats’s I have met on this trip) fell in love with the amazing grace and culture of the Mayan people while visiting almost 20 years ago.

Jennifer is Global Exchange’s connection to the artisans in San Antonio and my translator/guide for the day.

We met at her house. After breakfast we walked to the corner of the road and jumped in the back of a pick-up truck (pick-up trucks are used as taxi-buses around the lake) headed for San Antonio.

San Antonio + Lake Atitlan

Jennifer knew which truck to get into by the way the women (in the back of the pick- up) were dressed. The majority of Mayan women in Guatemala wear traje, traditional indigenous clothing.The Mayan women from San Antonio wear bright indigo traje.

The truck dropped us off in front of San Antonio’s church, the last stop from Panajachel. The village of San Antonio rests in the side of a mountain and runs down to the docks of Lago de Atitlan.

I see vibrant color. Indigo traje’s, emerald green foliage and dark silhouettes of three volcanos protecting the deep blue of the lake.

The village itself is small and has little infrastructure. Homes are close together and are primarily made of concrete walls and metal roofs. The village is grey accented with burnt orange from rust.

Jennifer lead me down a small path off the main road, to meet Santos and his wife Candeleria.

Thread prep before loom + Santos’ windows

Santos’ home/work space is different from the other homes in San Antonio. He built his home with wood beams and glass.They have a panoramic view (of the lake) in their main work/live space. It is open and lovely.

Miguel

The main room has two foot looms (which men and women weave on) and one beam that supports a back strap loom (only women weave with a back strap). They live simply and work hard.

I spoke with Santos and Candeleria (Jennifer translated) about the process of weaving scarves. It goes like this.

Rosario prepping thread for a back strap loom

1. Thread is bought by the pound then hand spooled into color blocked cones.

2. The cones are strategically organized by color to create a pattern for the foot loom prep. (women do the thread prep)

3. The organized cones are transferred to the foot loom prep (using a large square spool, the preparation is impressive and time consuming)

4. The prepped thread is then transferred to the foot loom, where Miguel begins to weave

Cotton thread hand spooled onto a cone

When we arrive, Miguel, Rosario and Vivian are working on indigo scarves for Global Exchanges’ order.

Miguel is on the foot loom while the women are sewing final touches. Miguel (who is from San Antonio) is studying at a nearby university, and weaving enables him to pay for his education. Rosario (Candeleria’s sister) pays for her daughter’s education at the university thru weaving, and Vivian is studying eco-tourism at the university.

Miguel weaving on foot loom

Global Exchange (paying Santos and Candeleria upfront) sells the beautiful, hand woven scarves in San Francisco and Berkeley shops.

We offer their scarves in indigo blue, harvest orange, crimson magenta and sage green. I see and feel the fair trade of this collaboration and know the direct impact our purchase has on this family.

I spent time with the weavers. Taking pictures, asking questions and watching their artwork magically come to life.

Sometimes the translation went from english to spanish to kaqchikel and back. At 11am Rosario stopped weaving to start making tortillas for lunch, and it was time to go.

Cones of thread, organized in a pattern

Jen and I walked down to the Lake and on our return up to wait for the next pick-up back to “Pana” (in front of the Catholic Church) my stomach began to twist, so I bought a Sprite.

Perhaps it was the combination of foreign smells; car exhaust mixed with fragrant onions sitting in the sun, corn tortillas being made and wafts of sewage. Or guilt from thinking of how much I was looking forward to “getting back” to a hot shower.

Trying to calm my belly by slowly sipping carbonated sugar, I took a moment to reflect on the day. I thought about San Antonio’s simple way of life, the warmth of the people I met and the remarkable craft and cultural importance of Guatemalan weaving.

Looking out at the lake, over a sea of tin roofs tucked into a beautiful mountain of rich natural resources, I ask Jennifer what she sees, she replies “I see prosperity”.

I hope so.

Jennifer on the truck ride back to Panajachel

This is my first time in Guatemala. It has been an eye-opening and life altering experience. Meeting the artisans has given real meaning to my definition of Fair Trade and a deeper connection and pride in my work.

I have many more photos and stories. Come into our shops, see these scarves for yourself and I can tell you more about my trip!

The following is written by Catherine Sagan, who participated in a professional educators tour in March 2013. Here she shares her perspective on visiting Cuba for the first time.

Catherine Sagan (middle with hat) dances at the Muraleando community project in Havana

Going to Cuba has been a back burner dream of mine ever since my years in Guatemala in the 60s when I had worked among the poor in the Cuchumatanes Mountains, and then had to leave for political reasons. The 60s were the beginning of the Guatemalan Civil war, and a group of us religious, priests, and lay people got enthusiastically involved in wanting to make a difference in the lives of the oppressed poor. It was the era of John F. Kennedy and Pope John XXIII’s call to individual responsibility and response to the problems at hand.

Even though the parish in Guatemala in which I worked as a Maryknoll missionary sister had many excellent social programs: a coffee cooperative, a credit union, literacy classes for adults, courses on better farming methods, and an ungraded school for children from distant villages where there were no schools for them, the priest and sister that I was working with at the time became convinced that our efforts were only helping a minimally few people, that the vast majority of poor Guatemalans, in particular, the indigenous people, were being sucked dry by the exploitative system prevalent in Guatemala then, practices to a certain extent that continue to exist today.

Prior to these events, I had been hearing about the Literacy campaign in Cuba via Guatemalan radio and the gossip that happens among foreigners. In Fidel Castro’s speech of 4 hours at the United Nations assembly in 1960, he vowed that Cuba, in one year, would become the first Latin American country to be totally alphabetized, that is, literate – capable of reading and writing in Spanish. This boast intrigued me. Our efforts with the ungraded school and the literacy classes we were providing in Guatemala were successful, but only to a point. Those poor children and adults who had attended our classes did learn, but what about the hundreds of thousands of others? Our efforts were really just a drop in the bucket of need.

The successful Cuban literacy campaign of 1961 was what I was most interested in and wanted to learn more about. For Cuba to go from a 60-76% literacy rate to 96% literacy rate in one year was a marvel that seemed to belong in “Ripley’s Believe it or Not.”

Reflecting on this recent trip to Cuba, viewing the country and its present challenges, I saw many areas of progress, for example, in the area of education. Everyone has access to a free education and is guaranteed a job after graduating. In order to avoid degree glut in some professional areas, some of these academic opportunities to pursue are limited, so that there is not what is now happening in the United States, too many lawyers, doctors, teachers, nurses, etc. and no jobs in these fields. Coming from our ingrained individualism as Americans, we might say that the Cuban government is interfering with free choice. Yet, it is something to consider that American graduates in many of the above mentioned fields of expertise are worried about how they are going to pay back their huge student loans on a salary of minimum wage.

Would I ever go back to Cuba? Yes, in a heartbeat! The times I had an opportunity on this recent trip to visit Cubans in their homes or in a relaxed environment have convinced me that there is something special about Cuban people. I admire their resilience in making lemonade with rum when the United States gave them sour lemons through the blockade. Perhaps it could be said that they thought “outside the box” of how to survive in their given social system, a little, little country only 90 miles from the shores of one of the most powerful countries in the world.

Thanks Catherine for sharing your thoughts with us!

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Update 5/21/2013: Guatemala genocide conviction overturned.

From CNN.com:

When former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt was convicted of genocide and sentenced to 80 years in prison this month, it was not expected to be the end of story.

Observers knew that an appeal was coming, but it was a separate action — a ruling by Guatemala’s Constitutional Court — that provided the latest twist in the case.

The Constitutional Court on Monday overturned Rios Montt’s conviction and sentence, and ordered the proceedings to return to the trial phase.

The ruling does not annul the entire trial, but everything that happened after April 19, notably the closing arguments and conviction.

Read more about the overturning of the conviction on CNN.

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Genocide and the Trial of the Century in Guatemala: But Where Will It End?

This guest post was written by human rights activist and lawyer, Jennifer K. Harbury, whose husband was disappeared by the Guatemalan government in 1992. Her book, Searching for Everardo, revealed the CIA’s complicity in the fate of her husband and thousands of others. Jennifer was the Director of Human Rights at Global Exchange in the 1990s.

On May 10, 2013 Judge Jazmin Barrios declared former President and General Efrain Rios Montt guilty of genocide in Guatemala, and sentenced him to eighty years in prison. The case sets a historic precedent: this is the first time a President has been tried and sentenced for such war crimes by a domestic court in Latin America. Many hail this as a death knell for the blanket impunity long enjoyed by military leaders throughout the hemisphere for the war crimes they commanded during the “Dirty Wars”.

Even more was at stake in this trial, however, as evidenced by the extraordinary reaction of the audience as the sentencia was read aloud. People erupted into cheers and applause, weeping openly for their own long lost loved ones. Bells rang and cars honked throughout the streets. The Mayan survivors, dressed in their hand- woven traditional clothing, stood and cried out “Tantiq! Tantiq!”, or “Thank You, Thank You!” to the Judge in their ancestral language. As journalists swarmed the stunned General Rios Montt, the audience began to sing the words of Otto Renee Castillo, a young and gifted Guatemalan poet assassinated by army death squads long ago.

Justice is long overdue. Guatemala is much like the old South Africa, with a tiny and wealthy upper class composed of the Conquistador and other European descendents. The indigenous Mayans comprise eighty percent of the population but have long been stripped of their lands and treated as serfs in their own nation, suffering extreme poverty, malnutrition and racism. For nearly 500 years, every attempt at rebellion or dissent has been crushed by a brutal army created to protect the interests of the landowners. Reform efforts of President Arbenz came to an abrupt end in 1954, when the CIA backed a violent military coup. A blood bath ensued, and the army carried out a forty year “counter insurgency” campaign that earned them the title of worst human rights violator in the hemisphere, no small feat given the competition. When the Peace Accords were signed in 1996, the U.N. Truth Commission found that army had systematically engaged in torture, murder and forced disappearances, and bore responsibility for 94% of the 200,000 deaths and 640 massacres that had occurred. The great majority of the victims were Mayan men women and children. Accordingly the Commission also held the army responsible for genocide.

General Rios Montt was the President in 1982, and had commanded some of most frightening campaigns against the Mayan civilian population, declaring entire regions to be insurgents or supporters. One of the worst-hit areas was the Ixil triangle in Quiche highlands. Pursuant to the military “Plan Sofia” the army marched village to village, burning small farms and torturing and killing every Mayan man woman or child encountered. As one soldier testified, it was a matter of “Indio visto, Indio muerto”. The mass cemeteries are still being unearthed.

The genocide trial was based on the 1982 massacres in the Ixil triangle. Despite the constant death threats , nearly 100 survivors, most of them Mayan women, travelled to the Capital and gave their horrific testimonies. One, after recounting her own long torture and rape, and the loss of her family and friends, said simply, “ This happened 31 years ago. For 31 years I have waited to tell the truth. Now I have spoken.”

The case began more than a decade ago but like all of the other war crimes cases, it had long been obstructed in Guatemala. As the trial date approached, the right wing forced a de facto amnesty through Congress. The bill was passed by President and General Otto Perez Molina, who also participated in the 1982 Ixil massacres. (Although the press declared him popularly elected a year ago, in fact nearly half of the Mayans cannot vote.) International uproar forced the cancellation of the bill. Next, as reported by Allan Nairn, a key official involved in the case was told that he had a choice. Accept one million dollars, to be placed in an offshore account, or, as the visitor explained as he placed a gun on the table, they knew where to find his children. Precisely the same offer had shut down an investigation of President Otto Perez Molina’s involvement in the Bamaca case earlier. For the first time, however, there was an extraordinary team consisting of the Attorney General Claudia Paz, a solid prosecutor under her command, a brilliant and idealistic young private attorney representing the Ixiles, and Judge Jazmin Barrios herself. No one gave in to the firestorm.

Reaction in the court room to the guilty verdict. Photo credit: AP

As the case advanced, the Defense attorneys openly threatened and insulted the Judge, filed endless bad faith appeals for delay purposes, and at one point simply walked out of the court room and refused to answer the Judge’s demands that they return at once. When a soldier testified that Otto Perez Molina was also involved in the Ixil atrocities, a judge in a different court ordered the entire case annulled, spinning it off schedule for weeks. In the end however, the trial reached its conclusion and the General received his verdict. Guilty.

The battle for justice is far from over however. President Otto Perez Molina has long declared that genocide never occurred in Guatemala and that the UN Truth Commission was simply mistaken. He is now urging everyone to remember that the ruling is not final, and that numerous issues remain on appeal. Unfortunately this is true. Traditionally, many human rights rulings have been overturned on appeal months later, once all the internationals have gone home and the public scrutiny has died down. Meanwhile a state of siege has been declared in a number of Indigenous regions and once again there is a massive military presence there. Judge Jazmin Barrio is under a wave of attacks and demands that she be put on trial herself for the abuse of power and corruption. CACIF, the coffee growers association, has publicly demanded that the trial be annulled.

The Ixil survivors have returned home in the highlands. They have spoken and thus honored their dead. But will they survive this time?

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TAKE ACTION!

Support Global Exchange’s Human Rights programs. Join us as a member , and receive a copy of Jennifer K. Harbury’s book, Searching for Everardo: A Story of Love, War, and the CIA in Guatemala.
Travel to Guatemala on a Reality Tour and explore how U.S. fair trade activists and women’s cooperatives in Guatemala are working together to use fair trade to advance local development efforts in Latin America’s most impoverished communities.

This is a cross-post from our People to People blog. It’s Part 4 in an 8-Part “Giving Thanks” series, a Global Exchange exclusive highlighting individuals (chosen by Global Exchange staff members) who are contributing to our social justice work in some way. This series will culminate with a “Giving Thanks” video to be launched right here on Wednesday, November 24th. So please join us in recognizing those special individuals who are helping to make this world a better place.

Today, Global Exchange’s Zarah Patriana thanks two past Reality Tours participants, Anne Kelly and Mark Van Wormer.

I met Anne and Mark on a Reality Tour delegation to Nicaragua in 2008. The delegation focused on Fair Trade and Alternatives to Neo-Liberalism and everyone on the trip was interested in the issue of Fair Trade just like myself, so I knew I would find common ground with my fellow travelers. Little did I know that I would also make some long lasting friendships with fellow social justice activists. On the delegation we shared an incredible experience of meeting with different human rights activists, indigenous groups, labor unionists and even got to slide down a volcano. However, I think the most eye opening part of the delegation was our stay at La Corona, a Fair Trade coffee cooperative where we met with Fair Trade farmers and were able to see first hand the positive benefits of the Fair Trade system. For Fair Trade advocates, this experience really contextualized our work as activists, and gave us fuel to energize the movement back home. Anne and Mark have since strengthened their work as Fair Trade activists at home in New York, even going on another Reality Tour delegation to Guatemala, connecting with more Fair Trade activists and women’s cooperatives. Anne is currently working at the the Labor-Religion Coalition of NY State where she is the Fair Trade Coordinator where she is working with teachers who are engaging a new generation of activists. She has even made strong connections with Global Exchange’s Fair Trade cocoa campaign being participating organizations in both the Give Fair Trade and Reverse Trick-or-Treating campaigns.

I just love that kids are learning what solidarity means – that we are all connected and that injustice in one part of the world impacts us all. That, of course, is central to my work with labor unions too. Social justice and human rights issues – the dignity of the worker, living wage, working against oppression, the right to organize – are union issues too and Fair Trade embodies all these concerns.

Our delegation at La Corona Cooperative in Nicaragua.

Mark is a photographer and teaches photo, video and digital imaging at Emma Willard, a private independent school for girls. If a picture is worth a thousand words, Mark has produced volumes of novels. Mark has been able to use his photography to share his Fair Trade stories, even having some of his (and Anne’s) photos featured in the 2011 Fair Trade calendar by the Fair Trade Resource Network. See those photos and more at Mark’s photography website. Together, both Anne and Mark have been able to make an impact by engaging the students at Emma Willard to make it the first Fair Trade high school in all of US. A tremendous feat for the Fair Trade Universities movement! And it is these stories from Anne and Mark that I am extending a very warm thank you from me and Global Exchange for being exceptional Reality Tours participants and being a great example of global citizens amongst the Global Exchange community and beyond. They have been able to take their experience on two delegations of meeting the people, learning the facts and then making a real difference. As Anne shares:

I am grateful, so much, for the doors that have been opened to me through my connection with Global Exchange. I continue to be inspired, every day, by the people and places we connected with on our trips. You know about how wonderful our Nicaragua experience was. To be welcomed, deeply, into peoples’ lives and their struggles is humbling beyond words and enriches my life. Our trip to Guatemala has also connected us. We’re now on the board of Mayan Hands, an absolutely wonderful FT organization that works with Mayan weavers in the highlands of Guatemala. We’ve been back (me to learn Spanish!) and folks from Mayan Hands have even come to visit us. It was exciting to bring them to classrooms and to see FT stores here in the US.

I feel very lucky to have met Anne and Mark and am absolutely thrilled to be able to share their stories with you. Thank you! Make your own long lasting connections and go on a Reality Tour delegation. Who are YOU thankful for? Add your own thank you message in the Comments section to recognize someone you think is doing great social justice work. And if you feel so inspired, Retweet and Share this post to help spread the recognition all of our ‘Thankees’ deserve. Thank YOU.

This is Part 4 in an 8-Part “Giving Thanks” series, a Global Exchange exclusive highlighting individuals (chosen by Global Exchange staff members) who are contributing to our social justice work in some way. This series will culminate with a “Giving Thanks” video to be launched right here on Wednesday, November 24th. So please join us in recognizing those special individuals who are helping to make this world a better place.

Today, Global Exchange’s Zarah Patriana thanks two past Reality Tours participants, Anne Kelly and Mark Van Wormer.

On the delegation we shared an incredible experience of meeting with different human rights activists, indigenous groups, labor unionists and even got to slide down a volcano. However, I think the most eye opening part of the delegation was our stay at La Corona, a Fair Trade coffee cooperative where we met with Fair Trade farmers and were able to see first hand the positive benefits of the Fair Trade system. For Fair Trade advocates, this experience really contextualized our work as activists, and gave us fuel to energize the movement back home.

Anne and Mark have since strengthened their work as Fair Trade activists at home in New York, even going on another Reality Tour delegation to Guatemala, connecting with more Fair Trade activists and women’s cooperatives. Anne is currently working at the the Labor-Religion Coalition of NY State where she is the Fair Trade Coordinator and working with teachers who are engaging a new generation of activists. She has even made strong connections with Global Exchange’s Fair Trade cocoa campaign being participating organizations in both the Give Fair Trade and Reverse Trick-or-Treating campaigns.

Our delegation at La Corona Cooperative in Nicaragua.

Together, both Anne and Mark have been able to make an impact by engaging the students at Emma Willard to make it the first Fair Trade high school in all of US. A tremendous feat for the Fair Trade Universities movement!

And it is these stories from Anne and Mark that I am extending a very warm thank you from me and Global Exchange for being exceptional Reality Tours participants and being a great example of global citizens amongst the Global Exchange community and beyond. They have been able to take their experience on two delegations of meeting the people, learning the facts and then making a real difference. As Anne shares:

I feel very lucky to have met Anne and Mark and am absolutely thrilled to be able to share their stories with you. Thank you!

Make your own long lasting connections and go on a Reality Tour delegation.

Who are YOU thankful for? Add your own thank you message in the Comments section to recognize someone you think is doing great social justice work. And if you feel so inspired, Retweet and Share this post to help spread the recognition all of our ‘Thankees’ deserve. Thank YOU.