IPS-English GUATEMALA: Indigenous Groups Sceptical about Date: Wed, 17 May 2006 18:00:04 -0700 ROMAIPS LA DV HD PR CS IN MD=20 GUATEMALA: Indigenous Groups Sceptical about Social Dialogue Alberto Mendoza GUATEMALA CITY, May 17 (IPS) - Labour and campesino organisations in Guat= emala are sceptical of recent government calls for a formal national dial= ogue to address the social agenda set out in the 1996 peace accords that = officially ended the country's 36-year civil war. =94The government of =D3scar Berger does not have the necessary leadershi= p to implement the kind of national accord it is proposing,=94 Manuel Pab= lo Quino, executive secretary of the Confederacion General de Trabajadore= s de Guatemala (CGTG), a national labour federation, told IPS. =94The cur= rent lack of governability will hamper the plan.=94=20 Berger plans to initiate a broad national dialogue on Thursday in order t= o make progress towards commitments contained in the peace agreements, sp= ecifically focusing on challenges related to land reform, poverty, health= , indigenous groups and transparency in government. The peace accords specifically outline commitments to respect indigenous = rights, strengthen the country's democratic institutions and foster socio= economic development in all areas, including agriculture. A tax package a= greement could also be on the agenda, as the State looks for ways to rais= e the funds needed to implement related social and economic reform.=20 Representatives from the country's political, social, academic and econom= ic sectors, Congress and the judicial branch have been called to particip= ate, although they have yet to receive official invitations. =20 Sources in the vice president's office told IPS that the proposed nationa= l dialogue also aims to bring Guatemala closer to meeting the United Nati= ons Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). As such, a top priority will be = eradicating poverty, hunger and systemic social exclusion, which prevents= full participation in society. According to Guatemala's National Statistics Institute, 56 percent of the= country's citizens live below the poverty line; of these, 15.7 percent l= ive in extreme poverty.=20 The vice president's office has said that indigenous groups - who officia= lly make up 41 percent of the population - stand to gain the most from th= e proposed national dialogue. A U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) report = on ethnic diversity found that more than 80 percent of indigenous people = are concentrated in the lowest socioeconomic strata. =20 Norma Quixt=E1n, the government's secretary for peace and a prominent ind= igenous activist, reiterated the necessity of building =94a plural and mu= ltilingual State,=94 given that =94racism is still a daily fact of life.=94 Ricardo Cajas, who heads the Presidential Commission Against Racism, adde= d that =94Guatemala was built on a foundation of discrimination, and raci= sm still rears its head in every State institution.=94 This comes as no surprise to anyone, and is backed up by statistics. Twic= e as many indigenous people as members of other Guatemalan groups live in= extreme poverty. Of the 158 members of Congress, only 12 are indigenous,= and only one of 13 cabinet portfolios =FB the Culture Ministry =FB is he= aded by an indigenous person. Cajas further noted that indigenous groups are also excluded from the edu= cational system, given that it is =94monolingual in areas where the popul= ation is multilingual.=94=20 Guatemala's Academia de Lenguas Mayas (Mayan Language Academy) estimates = that half of Guatemala's 13 million people speak at least one of the 22 M= ayan languages, but only at home, because Spanish is required to gain acc= ess to public services.=20 Magdalena P=E9rez, the academy's Linguistic Planning director, said that = the situation will only improve =94with significant consciousness-raising= among officials and public employees, and political will.=94 In addition to greater social inclusion, better education and increased r= espect for the culture of indigenous groups, participants in the national= dialogue are to discuss land issues and reparations for victims of the a= rmed conflict. Rosalina Tuyuc, head of the National Reparations Commission, said indigen= ous populations have suffered under =94policies of extermination, such as= the more than 200,000 victims of the armed conflict. The latifundium [la= rge estate] is one of the country's major structural problems, as those w= ho do not work the land own most of it, and many of those who do work the= land do not own any,=94 added Tuyuc, whose background is Kaqchikel, a Ma= yan nation.=20 According to the UNDP report, in 2000 a mere 1.5 percent of the populatio= n controlled 62.5 percent of the land, while 94 percent of property owner= s held only 18.6 percent. Ten years after the signing of the peace accords, progress has been slowe= st in the area of rural and agrarian issues. The agreements themselves es= tablished that campesinos must have access to land to overcome poverty an= d marginalisation. In the wake of various failed initiatives to redistrib= ute income and land, this remains one of the most disputed pending issues= , and one of the most difficult to accomplish. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) had recommended agrarian= reform as a strategy for combating hunger and meeting the MDGs. However,= two years into President Berger=B4s term, land redistribution has not ye= t made it onto the agenda.=20 Rafael Gonz=E1lez, spokesman for the Committee for Campesino Unity, is fr= ustrated that the government =94has left land issues off the agenda while= there have been more than 75 violent evictions of campesinos since it ca= me to power.=94 On Aug. 31, 2004, an eviction carried out at the Nueva Linda estate in Gu= atemala's western province of Retalhuleu resulted in the deaths of nine c= ampesinos, including three minors, and four police officers. As a condition for participating in the national dialogue, indigenous and= campesino organisations have demanded that those responsible for these c= rimes be brought to account. The National Coordinator of Campesino Organisations has not confirmed its= participation in the government's proposed dialogue. The head of the umb= rella group, Carlos Arriaga, told IPS that =94the government is issuing t= his invitation after 27 months of ignoring the peace accords and campesin= o demands.=94 On Apr. 20, campesinos, students and teachers demonstrated throughout the= country and threatened a national uprising. Guatemalan Vice President Ed= uardo Stein responded with a promise to create sectoral roundtables to ad= dress their grievances and demands. In the eyes of trade unions and campesino organisations, the proposed nat= ional dialogue is a concrete fulfilment of that promise. However, the gov= ernment categorically denies that the initiative is a response to the pro= tests. But that may be a moot point; the national dialogue will go nowhere if so= cial sectors refuse to participate.=20 Guatemalan analyst V=EDctor Ferrigno said the process is not about coming= to the negotiating table with a list of problems, but rather =94meeting = to discuss a political agenda for implementing solutions with measurable = goals and indicators.=94 *****=20 +RIGHTS-GUATEMALA: Indigenous Lawyers Declare War on Racism - June 2004 (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=3D24223) +GUATEMALA: Gov't Backs Down in Face of Social Protest - June 2004 (http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/print.asp?idnews=3D24124) (END/IPS/LA DV PR MD IN HD CS/TRASP-SS-SW/AM/AC/DCL/06) =20 =3D 05180230 ORP002 NNNN