Tuesday, November 18, 2003

Good News from Guate FEATURED ARTICLES - Guatemala voters snub ex-dictator - Rios Montt trails two presidential rivals - Guatemala: Rios Montt stripped of immunity - Amnesty International Report On Guatemalan EMP (Presidential Guard) Abolishment QUOTE OF THE DAY "It is easier to disintegrate an atom than a prejudice."    - - Albert Einstein KNOW YOUR HISTORY - NOVEMBER 18th 1909 -- U.S. invades Nicaragua, later overthrows President Zelaya. 1964 -- Cross-Dressing FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover calls Martin Luther King, Jr.,"the most notorious liar in the country."  MLK counters that Hoover "has apparently faltered under the awesome burden, complexities, & responsibilities of his office." RHINO HERE: Over the last year or so, former military dictator and School Of The Americas (SOA) graduate, Efrain Rios Montt, has been threatening to resurface into Guatemalan & world politics. Having orchestrated in the 1980's, the massacres of tens of thousands of Mayan Indians, murders carried out with methods even more gruesome than those taught at the SOA, Rios Montt in 2003 was running for President. Very scary, until last week when he was dealt an electoral landslide blow. Guatemala voters snub ex-dictator - Rios Montt trails two presidential rivals New York Times, 11/1103 Guatemala City -- The people of Guatemala, long plagued by war, corruption and poverty, have sent their former dictator into political retirement, and perhaps to a war crimes court, with a resounding vote against him, presidential election returns showed on Monday. With about two-thirds of the vote counted, retired Gen. Efrain Rios Montt, was trailing badly behind the former mayor of Guatemala City, Oscar Berger, 57, a wealthy and conservative businessman, and Alvaro Colom, 52, a textiles executive and political centrist with some leftist support. Berger and Colom face a runoff election on Dec. 28. The right-wing governing party, which some voters said ran the most corrupt and least effective government they had known, appeared to be losing control of Congress as results trickled in... Whoever ultimately wins Guatemala's presidency will confront a long standing legacy of repression by the military and the new challenge of organized crime cliques that hold great sway and control shipments of Colombian cocaine bound for the United States. The new leader will also face the question of what to do about Rios Montt... MORE AT: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/11/11/MNGCA2URDG1.DTL The dictators' dictator, Rios Montt, now the electoral loser, may also have to face legal charges due to a recent Guatemalan Supreme Court ruling, and well he should. The havoc wreaked under his watch is symbolic for the decades long linage of military dictators that ruled over Guatemala after the C.I.A coordinated coup in the early 50's. These dolls of U.S. diplomacy were responsible for over 200,000 deaths, 50,000 disappearances, uprooting of 500,000 Mayan Indians, their communities destroyed, their leaders systematically tortured, all just as taught at the SOA. Guatemala: Rios Montt stripped of immunity BBC News, 11/5/03 The Supreme Court in Guatemala has removed the immunity from prosecution of the former military ruler and current president of Congress, General Efrain Rios Montt. The move also applies to twenty-three ruling party legislators... MORE AT: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1205031.stm But there's good news, even besides Montt getting his whopin' at the polls, and besides The Supreme Court ruling against him, Amnesty International reported last month that The Guatemalan Congress voted to abolish the Estado Mayor Presidencial (EMP or Presidential Guard) with its responsibilities shifting to the Security Administration Secretariat (SAAS), a civil organization. Today's RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE is that Amnesty report along with a call to action. 8:12:24 AM    comment

RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE - Amnesty International Report On Guatemalan Presidential Guard Abolishment Amnesty International Report On Guatemalan EMP (Presidential Guard) Abolishment We have great news to share! After tremendous pressure from thousands of activists in the US, Guatemala and around the world, and from governments who joined in our calls to action, on September 24, 2003 the Guatemalan Congress passed a law to abolish the EMP (Estado Mayor Presidencial or Presidential Guard). The law transfers its legitimate functions to the Secretariat of Administrative Affairs and Security of the Presidency (SAAS). Thank you for taking action on this case. Your efforts have made a difference! While Amnesty International and other human rights organizations welcome the signing of this law as a crucial first step to intelligence reform in Guatemala, serious concerns remain about various shortcomings in this new legislation. Now more than ever, it is crucial for the international community to closely monitor the transition process of the EMP's legitimate functions to the SAAS and to push for not just superficial, but substantive reforms to military intelligence structures in Guatemala. Please send an email to President Portillo expressing your satisfaction with the passage of this legislation but urging him to make sure it paves the way for the real reforms that Guatemala so urgently needs. To take action, click on this link or paste it into your Web browser: http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/ctt.asp?u=610577&;l=6910 ABOUT THE EMP The Estado Mayor Presidencial (Presidential General Staff, also translated as the Presidential Guard or Presidential High Command), and generally referred to as the EMP, has been implicated in many of Guatemala's high profile human rights cases. While officially charged with providing security to the president and the vice-president, the EMP has in practice served as one of the most notorious military intelligence agencies. The 1996 Peace Accords, which officially ended Guatemala's three-decade-long conflict, identified the abolition of the EMP and other reforms to military intelligence as integral components of demilitarization. WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT Our work on behalf of human rights in Guatemala is part of our worldwide effort to defend human rights and uphold human dignity. We need your support now more than ever. Please give generously today. Make a donation: http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/ctt.asp?u=610577&;l=6914 Take action to demand real intelligence reforms in Guatemala: http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/ctt.asp?u=610577&;l=6910 Learn more about human rights in Guatemala: http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/ctt.asp?u=610577&;l=6912 Online Action Center - Amnesty International USA http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/ctt.asp?u=610577&;l=6913 "RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com) Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES / SURF RHINO'S LINKS, AT: http://www.rhinosblog.info RHINO'S OTHER WEB SITES: http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher. Tell a friend about Rhino's Blog 7:11:31 AM    comment

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