Guatemala Solidarity Network

It is rare that Guatemala gets any attention in the chambers of Westminster, so I was pleased to see that a parliamentary question has been asked about it recently. During the fourteenth session of the UN Human Rights Council a motion was passed relating to enforced disappearances, interestingly one of its sponsors is Guatemala. The motion calls on states, among other things, to "continue their efforts to elucidate the fate of disappeared persons".

It cannot have escaped your attention that Guatemala has been afflicted by natural disasters recently, reflecting its position in both a tectonically active and hurricane prone region. It is rare that Central America features in the news on Radio 4, but it was mentioned in relation to Tropical Storm Agatha, and has been mentioned in parliament. A donation of £100,000 has been made to the Guatemalan Red Cross.

In a recent question asked to mark International Women's Day in the House of Lords Guatemala was mentioned a couple of times.

The recent political turmoil in the UK had many casualties, one of whom was Michael Martin, the speaker of the House who was forced out of office, the first time this has happened in more than 300 years. After a many horse race the new speaker has been elected, and the new one is already being given short odds for a short term by some. John Bercow, a conservative who apparently got the grand total of three votes from members of his own party might well be member for Herpetology representing the Chameleon Party given the complete change in his political views over his career. Many commentaries can be found elsewhere on his merits, his faults and political manoeuvring for his election.

However, my personal reason for taking special note of his election is that he is one of the few MPs who seem to know where Guatemala is, having asked several questions about the country: Hurricane Stan, death squads, extrajudicial executions. He is also currently the chair of the Genocide Prevention All Party Parliamentary Group, which raises awareness of the issue and tries to ensure the UK government does all it can to prevent it. 

Expenses, or more properly allowances, are much in the news presently. It is perhaps, though, just a coincidence that recently a question was asked in parliament about the hardship allowance paid to diplomatic service employees, the Diplomatic Service Compensation Allowance.

Every year members of the House of Commons devote time to a short debate about Latin America and the relations between the United Kingdom and the continent.

A recent parliamentary question on training of members of foreign armed forces obscured as much as it revealed. It showed that between 2003 and 2007 some military personnel from Guatemala had received training in the UK. However, despite the column heading being “total numbers of students trained by financial year” all the columns showed only an asterisk or a dash.

Mark Lancaster (MP for North East Milton Keynes, Conservative) Link to this | Hansard source