[NYTr] Guatemala army parade turns ugly
 
Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2007 16:33:04 -0400


Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
sent by Steven Robinson

al Jazeera - Jun 30, 2007
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/CB7062C2-81C2-4077-AD20-ECC7A004735B.htm

Guatemala army parade turns ugly

Al Jazeera

Protesters in Guatemala have disrupted an Army Day parade, which they
said was an insult to the memory of the war's 200,000 mostly civilian
victims.

Police on Saturday used tear gas to disperse protesters, members of the
Children's Collective, whose relatives died or disappeared in the
1960-1996 civil war.

Protesters tossed red paint on some of the marchers and later scuffled
with soldiers and their relatives.

Only minor injuries were reported.

"They fought and some were hurt," but none accepted medical treatment,
Carlos Salazar a spokesman for the firefighters, said.

Wendy Mendez, a member of the Children's Collective, said military
police sprayed the demonstrators with tear gas and pepper spray.

"We believe that an institution that committed genocide should not be
honored at the national level," she said.

A 1998 report by the Roman Catholic Church's human rights office blamed
Guatemala's military for the overwhelming majority of atrocities
committed during the civil war.

       
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