Exploring Volunteering

Guatemalan Peace Accords: 10 Years Later Panel Discussion with Dr. Rachel Sieder, Yolanda Aguilar and Guillermo Chen – Thursday December 7th 2006, 6:30pm – 8.30pm

Canning House, 2 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PJ (www.canninghouse.com)

On December 29, 1996 the Peace Accords were signed, ending Guatemala's 36-year civil war which left 200,000 civilians dead or “disappeared”, primarily indigenous Mayans.  The Peace Accords were supposed to provide a comprehensive framework for transforming Guatemala into a more participatory, pluralistic and equitable society. 10 Years later, we ask the question: what has changed? Speakers will discuss conflict and post-conflict resolution, human rights and the current situation for Mayans and women in Guatemala.

* Dr. Sieder is Senior Lecturer in Politics at the Institute for the Study of the Americas.
* Yolanda Aguilar is a Guatemalan Anthropologist and Human Rights Activist.
* Guillermo Chen represents Fundacion Nueva Esperanza, Rabinal, Guatemala.

Supported by the Embassy of Guatemala, Canning House and Guatemalan Solidarity Network (GSN).

In the preceding weeks are the following events on Guatemala:

Documentary: “Killer's Paradise” (2005) directed by Giselle Portenier – Wednesday November 22nd 2006, 7:00pm – 9.30pm

Impunity: Photographs by Carlos Reyes-Manzo – Tuesday 28th November 2006, 6.30pm – Friday 8th December 2006, 5.00pm

“When the Mountains Tremble” (1983) Directed by Pamela Yates and Newton Thomas Sigel. – Tuesday December 5th 2006, 7:00pm – 9.00pm

All events are to be held at: Canning House, 2 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PJ (www.canninghouse.com)

KateÅ™ina Karásková, an artist who volunteered as an international accompanier in Guatemala through GSN, has opened her first exhibition in Prague called “People of Maize“, depicting people from her time in Guatemala. KateÅ™ina explains on her website:

The painting above is called Juana II. KateÅ™ina says: “Juana was lucky, she managed to survived along with the rest of her family. When the soldiers came they were not in the village. She is well respected because she is a midwife helping women to give birth to more local children”.

Kateřina talks about her time in Guatemala and the historical context to these paintings in more detail here on her website.

The Embassy of Guatemala in the UK presents the concert: Marimba of Guatemala – Singing Woods. It's taking place 9th & 10th October 2006 at the Bolivar Hall of the Venezuelan Embassy, 54 Grafton Way, London, W1T 5DL at 7.30pm.

Tickets cost £10 and you can book tickets through 0207 351 3042.

A team of 11 marimberos are directed by Alfonso Angel Bautista. The event is sponsored by the BlueOil Company and supported by the Anglo Central American Society. There is also an acknowledgement to the Embassy of Venezuela on the invitation. The print invitation links to an interesting text on marimba by Rebecca L. Buckham – there's a low quality version available online.

I can't find any info about the supporting organisations or the event itself online. Anyone know anything, we'd be happy to hear from you.

It's great when these types of volunteering stories get into the UK press.

We often get asked by people interested in volunteering in Guatemala about opportunities there. You can find more opportunties here. Please note these are opportunites with external organisations- any queries please take them up with the relevant organisation.

GSN itself recruits potential volunteers for international accompaniment with ACOGUATE. You can find more information here.

A talk by Sister Dianna Ortiz has just been posted on the internet. It is a moving and compelling account on torture and how it can be overcome. Sister Ortiz relates her personal experiences and tell us that U.S. personnel were present in interrogation and torture rooms,” in Guatemala in 1989 when she was kidnapped, taken to a secret prison and repeatedly raped and tortured by troops commanded by General Hector Gramajo (a CIA asset and graduate of the U.S. Army School of the Americas- see below). Speaktruth.org has this biographical information about Sr. Dianna Ortiz:

Dianna Ortiz has written a book: “The Blindfold's Eyes” is reviewed here on Salon.com. Sister Dianna Ortiz has testified last year for a mock trial of Bush administration officials for breaking laws on torture held during the “Call for Justice Weekend” in September. This is shown on Democracy Now!

You can find more information from Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International (TASSC)- a coalition Sr. Dianna Ortiz helped to set up.

One of the grandest of the Guatemalan killers, General Héctor Gramajo, was rewarded for his contributions to genocide in the highlands with a fellowship to Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government — not unreasonably, given Kennedy's decisive contributions to the vocation of counterinsurgency (one of the technical terms for international terrorism conducted by the powerful). Cambridge dons will be relieved to learn that Harvard is no longer a dangerous center of subversion.

While earning his degree at Harvard, Gramajo gave an interview to the Harvard International Review in which he offered a more nuanced view of his own role. He took personal credit for the “70 percent-30 percent civil affairs program, used by the Guatemalan government during the 1980s to control people or organizations who disagreed with the government,” outlining the doctrinal innovations he had introduced: “We have created a more humanitarian, less costly strategy, to be more compatible with the democratic system. We instituted civil affairs [in 1982] which provides development for 70 percent of the population, while we kill 30 percent. Before, the strategy was to kill 100 percent.” This is a “more sophisticated means” than the previous crude assumption that you must “kill everyone to complete the job” of controlling dissent, he explained.

It is unfair, then, for journalist Alan Nairn, who had exposed the US origins of the Central American death squads, to describe Gramajo as “one of the most significant mass-murderers in the Western Hemisphere” as Gramajo was sued for horrendous crimes. We can also now appreciate why former CIA director William Colby, who had some firsthand experience with such matters in Vietnam, sent Gramajo a copy of his memoirs with the inscription: “To a colleague in the effort to find a strategy of counterinsurgency with decency and democracy,” Washington-style.

Given his understanding of humanitarianism, decency, and democracy, it is not surprising that Gramajo appears to be the State Department's choice for the 1995 elections, according to the Guatemala Central America Report, citing Americas Watch on the Harvard fellowship as “the State Department's way of grooming Gramajo” for the job, and quoting a US Senate staffer who says: “He's definitely their boy down there.” A “senior commander in the early 1980s, when the Guatemalan military was blamed for the deaths of tens of thousands of people, largely civilians,” Gramajo “is seen as a moderate by the U.S. Embassy,” Kenneth Freed reports, quoting a Western diplomat, and assuring us of Washington's “repugnance” at the actions of the security forces it supports and applauds. The Washington Post reports that many Guatemalan politicians expect Gramajo to win the elections, not an unlikely prospect if he's the State Department's boy down there. Gramajo's image is also being prettified. He offered the Post a sanitized version of his interview on the 70 percent-30 percent program: “The effort of the government was to be 70 percent in development and 30 percent in the war effort. I was not referring to the people, just the effort.” Too bad he expressed himself so badly — or better, so honestly — before the Harvard grooming took effect.39 [more information from Zmag].

A clip from a documentary comparing the overthrow of Mosadek in Iran and Arbenz in Guatemala.

“It is better to remain quiet and to forget. That's the only thing we must do. We must forget.. FOR-GET.”  General Pinochet.

Questors Theatre that recently produced Goat Boy, a play that touched on some of the human rights issues in Guatemala, has a new production called “Tejas Verdes”, continuing on the theme of human rights issues in Latin America.

Tejas Verdes means “Green Tiles” or “Green Gables”. This was the name of a sea-side hotel in Chile that became a notorious detention centre and torture house under Pinochet's brutal regime.

We meet several characters whose lives were eaten up by that evil: the Disappeared, the Friend, the Doctor, the Gravedigger, the Informer, the Spanish Lawyer and the Soul in Torment. They speak to us without bitterness. They are almost casual in their telling of the horrors that consumed them. Through their eyes we see how the tentacles of evil reach down into the heart of society, corrupting everything they touch. Everyone has a part to play ” the victim, the collaborator, the oppressed, the survivor.

Robert Shaw's eloquent translation of this stirring play, highlights beautifully the poetic motifs and hard prosaic truths of Cabal's original text. It is tough and compelling, but a deeply moving piece of theatre. We are silent witnesses to some disturbing truths about the ruthless efficiency and systematic brutality of military regimes ” but above all there is a compassion that uplifts us and gives us hope and a belief in justice, ensuring that we never forget!

Zyg Staniaszek has brought together five of our most powerful and experienced actresses in what promises to be an unforgettable studio experience.

More information from Questors Theatre website.

Guatemala, Sep 19 (Prensa Latina) Every month in Guatemala, an average of 31 children under 18 are murdered, the highest rate in Central America, revealed the Casa Alianza humanitarian organization on Tuesday.

Hector Dionisio, representative of Casa Alianza Guatemala, told Prensa Latina that the criminal acts committed against children in that Guatemala are becoming much more serious due to the indifference of the different state organisations.

He referred to recent cases that rocked the nation, like the murder of three minors in front of their parents, as a way of torturing them.

The Casa Alianza representative declared that Guatemala is the most violent nation in all of Central America, and its capital is the most dangerous zone for minors.

Because of the manifest indifference of the justice system, Casa Alianza Guatemala has signed an agreement with the Human Rights attorney to investigate the causes of these murders. Casa Alianza will continue to denounce the situation to international justice institutions to pressure the State into taking action against such a grave situation.

For more information contact: Fred Shortland at Casa Alianza UK casalnzauk [at] gn.apc.org