VZCZCXYZ0027
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGT #1199 1691923
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181923Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY GUATEMALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3031
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO 4341

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 001199 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KJUS SNAR KCRM KDEM EAID GT
SUBJECT: COALITION OF U.S.-BASED NGOS IN GUATEMALA 
EXPRESSES HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERNS 
 
Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect accordingly. 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  The Ambassador met with representatives of a 
coalition of U.S.-based NGOs with a significant presence in 
Guatemala to discuss human rights.  The NGOs expressed 
concern over recent threats against human rights defenders 
and discussed the impact of mining in indigenous populated 
areas where foreign corporations have investment interests. 
They viewed "femicide" as part of the larger problem of 
impunity and urged the establishment of the International 
Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG).  The 
Ambassador assured them that the Embassy is continuing to 
press the Guatemalan Congress for approval of CICIG and is 
following the mining disputes closely.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) The Ambassador met June 13 with Rights Action, Network 
in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA), Sister 
Parish, and STITCH, four U.S.-based NGOs that have worked in 
the region for over a decade.  They expressed concern over 
recent threats against human rights defenders, including the 
Executive Director of the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of 
Guatemala (FAFG), as well as concern over areas where U.S. 
corporations have significant or potential investment 
interests, particularly areas with mining concessions and 
potential hydroelectric projects. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Juliana Bird, Co-Director of Rights Action, 
expressed particular concern over the human rights situation 
in San Marcos and the Canadian-owned Marlin gold mine, 
recalling that a security guard who had killed a protester in 
2005 had not been prosecuted, and that legal actions taken 
against community leaders protesting allegedly fraudulent 
land acquisitions were politically motivated.  The Ambassador 
said the Embassy has been monitoring areas where foreign 
corporations have investment interests and that studies show 
that the gold mine is not adversely impacting the community. 
He noted he was in contact with the influential Roman 
Catholic Bishop of San Marcos, a highly visible critic of 
mining operations.  The Ambassador said some of the 
opposition to the mining was driven by opportunists who view 
the mine as a ready source of money and that the problem, as 
with other problems in Guatemala, was part of a larger 
governability issue. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The Ambassador noted that the U.S. House of 
Representatives passed a resolution on "femicide" and asked 
for their views.  In his view, gangs and "femicide" were 
examples of complex issues that are easily misunderstood by 
those who do not have a complete grasp of the situation in 
country.  While gangs do exist, they are part of the larger 
problem of impunity, involving narcotrafficking and organized 
crime.  Bird agreed, saying that organized crime uses gangs 
and that the larger issue is impunity.  In that sense, she 
said the establishment of CICIG, long delayed, is a very 
important process to support.  The Ambassador assured that 
the Embassy is continuing to press for its approval. 
 
¶5. (U) On the issue of "femicide," Bird commented that while 
violence against women is a big problem, it is part of a 
larger societal problem.  She focused on the need to combat 
the high level of violence in Guatemala, which is second only 
to Colombia.  She noted that Rights Action has been working 
to improve the lives of women through better access to 
education. 
 
¶6. (SBU) When asked who might be making the threats against 
human rights defenders, Bird suspected that the perpetrators 
were the same people who had committed human rights 
violations in the 1980s and were probably linked to organized 
crime.  NISGUA's Brehan asserted that lack of accountability 
for atrocities committed in the 80s was now allowing crimes 
to flourish with impunity. 
Derham