paddaniels's blog

Yuri Melini, Director of CALAS, is an environmental campaigner for many years in Guatemala. Here in this film by Nicolas Bergeron about when he suffered an attempt on his life. Video is in Spanish with French subtitles.

We've just received the following message from Kathy Dill - more info in taking part in this urgent action.

On the afternoon of September 14th, 2009, human rights defender Jesus Tecú Osorio received a telephone call on his personal cell phone from an unidentified extortionist who threatened to kidnap, torture and dismember each of Jesus' children, one-by-one, if his demands are not met.

The caller demonstrated that he knows where Jesus lives with his wife and children, as well as the location of the school where his eldest son studies. Like most human rights defenders in Guatemala, Jesus has received many death threats over the years, none of which have been properly investigated. But Jesus has never let intimidation tactics deter him from continuing his human rights work.

This latest threat of barbarism against Jesus' children is an especially heinous act. It is clear that the perpetrator is counting on Guatemala's legendary culture of impunity to shield him from prosecution. Please join us in urging Guatemalan authorities to identify and prosecute the person(s) responsible.

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Flickr: photos.robert 

Flickr: Surizar 

"Uno de los tres murales pintados en la parroquia de San Sebastián, en conmemoración del undécimo aniversario de la muerte de monseñor Juan Gerardi. 
Los murales son obra de la artista italiana Alessandra Vecci y el pintor guatemalteco Máximo Curruchich."

This is also available as a poster- see attached.

We were recently contacted with information about this interesting archaeological project:

"The project's research focuses on a major, hitherto overlooked, and very long-lived ancient Maya city located in the heart of the seminal Southern Maya Zone (SMZ). At an elevation of from 550-1000 m HAE, Chocolá is located in the upper limits of the piedmont or Bocacosta of southwestern Guatemala. The remains represent an ancient city or of associated communities extending conceivably through 6 by 4 kilometers or more than 9 square miles.

Jose Marti has to be one of those cultural enigmas you come up against as an outsider in Guatemala. When you read or hear the poem 'La niña de Guatemala', perhaps like the hundreds of Guatemalan school kids who learn it, you might find yourself wondering: 'what's the human story behind this?'.

I like the way Francisco Goldman explains this issue, which kind of touches on the mysteries of Latin America and how they form, grow or disappear.

"And then one day I hear Mario Montefiore (sic) Toledo, who at that point was Guatemala's most revered writer. At the time he was ninety-three or something. He's still writing a weekly column in the best paper. He's got a PhD. He's a very serious guy. He was in exile for many years, returning after the signing of the peace accords. And someone tells me they had heard him tell a story at the dinner of the home of the owner of the best newspaper in Guatemala. I go to talk with him. He says, "Yes, my grandmother knew Martí." It makes perfect sense. He's ninety-three now. And he said that "when Martí came to Guatemala they had never seen anyone like him. He was just so dazzling and charming and brilliant." And, according to this guy, he [Martí] was engaged to be married but he was apparently not that in love with the woman with whom he was engaged. And he was loose in this city where all the woman adored him.

Source: CAIG and NISGUA
Date: 04/24/2008

The historic hearings in the genocide case continue. To date, seven eyewitnesses from three regions (Baja Verapaz, Quiché, and Huehuetenango) have testified to Judge Eduardo Cojulun Sánchez in the genocide case hearings. Their excruciating testimonies describe massacres and torture committed by the Guatemalan military.

While three of the men - Jesús Tecú, Tiburcio Tiuy, and Domingo Raymundo - had already testified in Spain this February, this was the first time for most of the witnesses to be able to stand in front of a judge and describe the heinous crimes that they experienced first-hand.
You can access updates on the genocide case here. Also see below for a summary of the testimonies.

Dates and witnesses:

April 17

Jesús Tecú Osorio - Jesús gave testimony about the massacre in Río Negro, Rabinal, Baja Verapaz on March 13, 1982 that left 177 people dead. He explained how he was captured by a civil patroller who took him to work as a slave in his home. When Jesús refused to be separated from his younger brother, the patroller killed his brother by slamming him against a rock.

News coverage:

Prensa Libre - 18th April

El Periodico - 18th April

Foreign Office Minister, Meg Munn, visits Guatemala as part of her official visit to Belize and Guatemala. Seems the Foreign Office is going Web 2.0 crazy with the YouTube videos and  Meg Munn's Flickr set. Foreign Office website is currently down- so we'll be posting on this visit to Casa Alianza later.

Douglas Alexander (Secretary of State, Department for International Development; Paisley & Renfrewshire South, Labour) | Hansard source