GUATEMALA | Carlos Chen Osorio is the sole survivor of a Maya Achi family whose members were brutally murdered by the army in five separate massacres perpetrated against Black River residents in the northeastern department of Baja Verapaz, during the 36 years of armed conflict in Guatemala. Chen lost 40 family members and currently chairs the Association for the Integral Development of Victims of Violence in the Verapaz Maya Achi (ADIVIMA) based Baja Verapaz, seeking compensation for victims. According to Chen, are not sufficient symbolic actions taken by the government, such as having admitted that the State applied genocidal policies against the country's Mayan communities. "He has apologized but this did not buy land or build houses," he said. President Alvaro Colom is the nephew of Manuel Colom Argueta, a former mayor of Guatemala City, killed in 1979 during the stage height of military repression, and has tried to present his center-left government as heir to the revolution of 1944, uprising against dictator Jorge Ubico which marked the beginning of a decade of democratic rule under Presidents Juan Jose Arevalo and Jacobo Arbenz. This period, known in Guatemala's history as "democratic spring," ended abruptly with the coup sponsored by the banana company United Fruit Company and the U.S. government who feared the spread of communism in Central America. government rhetoric often refers to these historical facts, and administration of Colombia, which motto is "time of solidarity," has made numerous public apologies for atrocities committed during the armed conflict. Last March, Colombia apologized to the relatives of the poet Otto René Castillo guerrilla fighter and his partner Nora Paiz, who were tortured and disappeared by the army 44 years ago. But during the ceremony there was an embarrassing moment for Colombia when a group of peasant activists stormed the National Palace demanding the government to end land evictions in rural areas, which laid bare the gulf between rhetoric officer, which emphasizes peace, justice for the victims of war and the need to combat poverty and inequality, and the harsh reality of the country. For victims of war and Chen, public apologies ring hollow when very little progress has been made to compensate the survivors and end the same awful misery in rural areas led to desperate peasants to join guerrilla groups. repair underfunded plans has been assigned to the National Reparations Programme an annual budget of U.S. $ 13.3 million: $ 3.9 million for administrative expenses and $ 9.1 million in restitution, including the construction of basic housing (a small concrete structure of a room with tin roof and toilet outside), agricultural production plans or craft designed to provide sources of income to communities, compensation of up to $ 5,200 per victim and brief counseling sessions to help survivors to overcome their ordeal. According to Cesar Davila, director of the program, the amount is only a third of the budget established by the Law of the National Compensation Policy, adopted during the administration of President Alfonso Portillo (2000-2004). Davila said that this means that you can not comply with the order of 3,000 homes in what remains the government of Colombia, which ends in January 2012. regard to projects aimed at achieving self-sustainability of the communities, 130 have been carried out feasibility studies, but due to lack of funds only 20 of the proposed projects will be implemented. When questioned the priorities of the administration of Colombia as the compensation program are desperate for funds, Davila said the budget requested for this year was $ 28.8 million, but the opposition parties in Congress reduced it to less than half, $ 13 million. However, inside sources who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, said that although the program's budget is clearly inadequate, yet often wasted funds. For example, in one week the program office spent $ 9.800 in striking propaganda published in national newspapers with high-class urban readership, touting the achievements of the program. These funds could have been used to build five houses for rural families who have gone years on a waiting list seems endless. Did civil war in Guatemala? For victims of armed conflict, atrocities committed against defenseless civilians are hard to forget. However, for the new generation of Guatemalans who were born after it signed the peace accords in 1996, the war never happened. So far, the national curriculum states vaguely that teachers should explain why he signed the Peace Accords, but usually the issue is treated in a superficial and not to mention the main reasons why the war happened. "I have 20 years of teaching in college and I've noticed how new generations are totally unaware of the subject, do not even know there was war here," says Professor Rodolfo Arévalo. that supposed to be changed this year after the compensation program produced a series of teaching materials relating to armed conflicts to be used in all schools, including snakes and ladders games for youngsters , where each square on the board contains a question about Guatemala's history that the student must respond, and a guide for teachers on how to address and respond to questions that may arise in the classroom. But those efforts which are aimed at ensuring that the Holocaust is not forgotten Maya, have been criticized by veterans of the Army and right sectors who refuse to admit that atrocities were committed. "Some people insist that is not good to talk about this issue. The signing of the peace was symbolic, it remains the domain of the oligarchy. In some private schools teach and what Parents complain. Nationally, at bottom, no interest in what happened, "said the teacher Rossana Pinillos. -Latinamerica. |
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