Son of Guatemalan Candidate Murdered

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Prensa Latina

Son of Guatemalan Candidate Murdered

Guatemala, Jul 30 (Prensa Latina) Violence during the ongoing election campaign is escalating in Guatemala, where Carlos Enrique Mijangos, the son of Daniel Mijangos, who is running for the mayor"s office for the Patriotic Party in the municipality of Palencia, was murdered.

Three unidentified individuals shot 28-year-old Mijangos Jr. to death as he was leaving home for work.He died on site of three chest wounds, according to emergency workers.

Mijangos is the third relative of a politician murdered during the ongoing election campaign, which is considered one of the most violent races over the past few years in Guatemala.

Cesar Leonel Soto del Valle, the son of Deputy Leonel Soto Arango, of the Nationalist Change Unity, was murdered in the department of Quetzaltenango last week.

The son of lawmaker Herman Herstenberg, of the Guatemalan Republican Front, was assassinated on July 12 in the northern department of Alta Verapaz.

According to the civil organization Mirador Electoral, 38 people have been killed for political reasons in Guatemala during the ongoing election campaign.




Read more: http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID={8316CF2B-B222-48B0-A0BF-6953103AF133})&language=EN

[dipsydoodle]

1. Makes you wonder if

"The Boys Are Back In Town"

By the way - I have feeling that links to Prensa Latina timeout. If so then ignore the registration bit and click on Central America to find the details.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Thanks for the tip. It will work if I do this to the link:

~~~~ Prensa Latina ~~~~

I don't know enough about computer "stuff" to understand what it means, but this should work.

I hadn't tried your idea before you mentioned it. Had simply given up. Your suggestion works just fine! Thanks.

[Judi Lynn]

3. EU to send Election Observation Mission to Guatemala

Brussels, 30 July 2007

EU to send Election Observation Mission to Guatemala

Following invitations from the Guatemalan state and electoral authorities, the European Commission has decided to deploy a European Union Election Observation Mission (EOM) to Guatemala to observe the Presidential, Legislative and Municipal elections, scheduled to take place on 9 September 2007. The EU EOM will be led by Wolfgang Kreissl-Dörfler, Member of the European Parliament.
Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, said: “These elections should mark a further step towards the consolidation of democracy in Guatemala. I am convinced that with its presence through out the country, this election observation mission will play an important role in enhancing transparency and public confidence. At the same time, this initiative is a renewed sign of our commitment towards stability and development in Central America, as recently shown by the start of the negotiation process for a bi-regional Association Agreement”.

The EOM Core team will consist of the Chief Observer and seven experts who will arrive in the country at the end of July. The Chief Observer will immediately take up contact with the country’s national electoral authority (the Tribunal Supremo Electoral), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and all key players in the election process. They will be joined shortly thereafter by 48 long-term observers (LTOs), who will be deployed throughout the country to follow the campaign period and pre-election preparations, as well as election day and the post-election period.

An additional 50 short-term observers (STOs), together with Members of European Parliament and diplomats from EU Member State embassies in Guatemala, will join the mission over the election day period to observe voting, counting and the tabulation of results. If a second round of the Presidential election is required, the EU EOM will remain in country until this has been completed.

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/1194&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

[Judi Lynn]

4. Guatemala's shadowy presidential race

Guatemala's shadowy presidential race
Dirty tricks, a vulgar innuendo and the dark influence of drug money combine to cast a pall over the campaigning.
By Héctor Tobar, Times Staff Writer
July 31, 2007


EL ASINTAL, GUATEMALA — In a presidential race already tinged with foul language, accusations of murder and the dark shadow of drug money, a suspected campaign dirty trick doesn't get many people excited.

When front-runner Alvaro Colom arrived in this town in western Guatemala, the plaza in the center of town had gone dark. Coincidence? Perhaps, but cutting off the power and rendering an opponent's sound system inoperable is a common campaign tactic.

"The things we've been through," said campaign official Fernando Barillas, shaking his head. A generator was procured, and the rally went off without a hitch.

Colom, a veteran centrist politico, is the favorite in the Sept. 9 election, according to most polls and observers. But with as many as 19 men and women on the ballot, a clear victory for any candidate is far from likely.

More:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-guatemala31jul31,0,7858897.story?page=1&coll=la-home-world

[Judi Lynn]

5. Guatemala timeline, prepared by BBC News

~snip~
1944 - Juan Jose Arevalo becomes president following the overthrow of Ubico and introduces social-democratic reforms, including setting up a social security system and redistributing land to landless peasants.

1951 - Colonel Jacobo Arbenz Guzman becomes president, continuing Arevalo's reforms.

1954 - Land reform stops with the accession to power of Colonel Carlos Castillo in a coup backed by the US and prompted by Arbenz's nationalisation of plantations of the United Fruit Company.

1963 - Colonel Enrique Peralta becomes president following the assassination of Castillo.

1966 - Civilian rule restored; Cesar Mendez elected president.

1970 - Military-backed Carlos Arena elected president.

Human rights violated

1970s - Military rulers embark on a programme to eliminate left-wingers, resulting in at least 50,000 deaths.

1976 - 27,000 people are killed and more than a million rendered homeless by earthquake.

1981 - Around 11,000 people are killed by death squads and soldiers in response to growing anti-government guerrilla activity.

1982 - General Efrain Rios Montt gains power following military coup.

1983 - Montt ousted in coup led by General Mejia Victores, who declares an amnesty for guerrillas.

1985 - Marco Vinicio Cerezo Arevalo elected president and the Guatemalan Christian Democratic Party wins legislative elections under a new constitution.

1989 - Attempt to overthrow Cerezo fails; civil war toll since 1980 reaches 100,000 dead and 40,000 missing.

1991 - Jorge Serrano Elias elected president. Diplomatic relations restored with Belize, from whom Guatemala had long-standing territorial claims.

1993 - Serrano forced to resign after his attempt to impose an authoritarian regime ignites a wave of protests; Ramiro de Leon Carpio elected president by the legislature.

1994 - Peace talks between the government and rebels of the Guatemalan Revolutionary National Unity begin; right-wing parties win a majority in legislative elections.

1995 - Rebels declare a ceasefire; UN and US criticise Guatemala for widespread human rights abuses.

End of civil war

1996 - Alvaro Arzu elected president, conducts purge of senior military officers and signs peace agreement with rebels, ending 36 years of civil war.

1998 - Bishop Juan Gerardi, a human rights campaigner, murdered.

1999 - UN-backed commission says security forces were behind 93% of all human rights atrocities committed during the civil war, which claimed 200,000 lives, and that senior officials had overseen 626 massacres in Maya villages.

2000 - Alfonso Portillo sworn in as president after winning elections in 1999.

2001 December - President Portillo pays $1.8 millon in compensation to the families of 226 men, women and children killed by soldiers and paramilitaries in the northern village of Las Dos Erres in 1982.

Border talks

2002 September - Guatemala and Belize agree on draft settlement to their long-standing border dispute at talks brokered by Organization of American States (OAS). Both nations will hold referendums on draft settlement.

Border talks

2002 September - Guatemala and Belize agree on draft settlement to their long-standing border dispute at talks brokered by Organization of American States (OAS). Both nations will hold referendums on draft settlement.

2004 December - UN mission, set up to monitor post-civil war peace process, winds up. But UN says Guatemala still suffers from crime, social injustice, human rights violations.

2005 March - Government ratifies Central American free trade deal with US amid street protests in capital.

Storm deaths

2005 October - Hundreds of people are killed as Tropical Storm Stan sweeps through, triggering landslides and floods.

2005 November - Guatemala's leading anti-drugs investigator is arrested in the US on charges of drug trafficking.

2006 July - A Spanish judge issues a warrant for the arrest of former military leader Efrain Rios Montt and other former officials over atrocities committed during the civil war.

2006 December - Government and the UN agree to create a commission - to be known as the CICIG - to identify and dismantle powerful clandestine armed groups.

2007 February - Three El Salvador politicians and their driver are murdered near Guatemala City. The trio were members of the Central American Parliament, based in the capital.

2007 July - Amnesty International urges the government to ratify the CICIG as a first step towards tackling the culture of impunity it says has contributed to Guatemala's soaring murder rate.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1215811.stm





If you'd like to scan only one of so many articles written about Guatemalan massacre under Reagan's beloved right-wing dictator, Efraín Ríos Montt, here's a quick one:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/5158116.stm

It notes, as is so typical, "An official government report blamed the state and its repressive apparatus for more than 90% of the human rights atrocities that had taken place over the previous three decades."