By Rigoberta Menchu and - -
MEXICO CITY, Aug 1 2003 (IPS)

Once again Guatemala has become a test case for building a democracy, writes Rigoberta Menchu, who received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1992. Guatemala\’s high court recently declared legal the candidacy for president Efrain Rios Montt, who came to power in a coup in 1982. The decision, influenced by the ruling party, violates the basic juridical principles of any nation and the Guatemalan constitution. Elections are set for 9 November with a run-off on 28 December. In this article for IPS, the author writes that Montt should be behind bars for the crimes against humanity committed when he was in power. The most serious element in this new chapter of Guatemala\’s permanent crisis is the extension and strengthening of clandestine structures of power which have hijacked the state and placed it in the service of its own criminal activities. There is a very real threat that the ruling party will attempt to keep itself in power through fraud and intimidation. Strict vigilance is the only way to guarantee free elections.

Once again Guatemala has become a test case for building a democracy — a democracy characterised not only by the rite of elections but also the participation of all sectors of society and the oversight of all state powers.

What we have seen since January 2000, when President Alfonso Portillo took office, is a demonstration of how to corrupt a democracy through nepotism, the abuse of power, institutional weakness, impunity, and the intimidation of opposition voices.

The crowning of this plan to take over the state was the recent decision of Guatemala’s high court, the Court of Constitutionality (CC), declaring legal the presidential candidacy of Efrain Rios Montt, who came to power in a coup in 1982 and ruled the country until 1983.

Until now the CC was the country’s last moral and legal reserve. It should be remembered that the CC blocked the sinister plan of then-president Jorge Serrano Elias in 1993 to lead a self-coup in the manner of former president of Peru Alberto Fujimori, currently a fugitive from justice.

On two previous occasions –in 1990 and again in 1995– the CC barred the nomination of Montt as a candidate because article 186 of the Guatemalan constitution prevents him from serving as president. These decisions were on unambiguous legal grounds.

But thanks to the influence of the ruling party, Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG), the CC has now approached the matter in a political manner and handed down a decision that goes against the basic juridical principles of any nation and violates Guatemalan law.

This development seriously jeopardises the political, juridical, and institutional stability of the country. It is a clear demonstration that there are forces capable of driving the country’s institutions down shady paths and deals a serious blow to the principles of legality, justice, and certainty, which it bends to its own partisan political ends.

The most serious element in this new chapter of Guatemala’s permanent crisis is the extension and strengthening of these clandestine structures of power which, allied together, have hijacked the state and placed it in the service of its own criminal activities.

Now Guatemalans, with the support of the international community, must promote unity as the only mechanism adequate to restore the rule of law, strengthen the institutions that guarantee democracy, and fulfil the peace agreement signed in January 1996 to finally end the 36 years of civil war.

The governments and organisations that are friends of the Guatemalan people should begin immediately to closely monitor the development of the electoral process leading up to the 9 November elections and the subsequent run-off on 28 December.

There is a very real threat that the ruling party will attempt to keep itself in power through fraud, manipulation of voter roles, vote-buying, the enlistment of members of the Civil Self-defense Patrol as an electoral force, and the use of public resources and intimidation against citizens to discourage voting.

Strict vigilance is the only way to guarantee free and transparent elections and insure that Guatemalans can vote without pressure or fear.

Responsibility for the violent acts of July 24 and 25, when armed mobs in the employ of Rios Montt assaulted independent journalists, lies directly with the government and the ruling party. This was a clear demonstration of the lengths to which they will go to achieve their objectives.

It is inconceivable that Rios Montt is running for president when he should be behind bars, condemned for the crimes against humanity committed when he was in power.

Guatemalan society has shown its elevated civil and democratic spirit, which are the animating force behind the Civil Front for Democracy, an alliance of 50 organisations. Its objective is clear: to revive and strengthen the rule of law. This is the way for Guatemala to vindicate its institutions, which were contaminated by the interference of the FRG.

Only through national dialogue can Guatemalans continue to move towards a real and fully inclusive democracy, with justice and equality. (END/COPYRIGHT IPS)

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By Rigoberta Menchu and - -
MEXICO CITY, Mar 1 2003 (IPS)

The war US President Bush is waging against Iraq is the most senseless and illegitimate war in recent history, not only because none of the arguments presented as justification are valid but also because it is a violation of the law and of the consensus of the majority of the peoples and governments of the world, writes Rigoberta Menchu, 1992 Nobel Peace Prize recipient and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. The offensive now destroying Iraq places the United States, its top government officials, and their allies in the dock for violation of international law. The United Nations should defend not only its code of law, tainted by the capriciousness and arrogance of the US; it must also take concrete steps to translate the universal condemnation into an exemplary moral and political sanction. With the world dominated by the hegemonic muscle-flexing of a government that has proclaimed itself the sole Global Power, it is necessary that people unify and mobilise to oppose the New Imperial Disorder with a new order of harmony, understanding, and intercultural respect. And we must hope that the world\’s democratic governments restore the validity and authority of the multilateral institutions, which have been gravely damaged by the unilateral declaration of war by the Bush administration.

The war US President Bush is waging against Iraq is the most senseless and illegitimate war in recent history, not only because none of the arguments presented as justification are valid but also because it is a violation of the law and of the consensus of the majority of the peoples and governments of the world.

The offensive now destroying Iraq places the United States, its top government officials and their allies in the dock for violation of international law. The United Nations should defend not only its code of law, tainted by the capriciousness and arrogance of the US; it must also take concrete steps to translate the universal condemnation into an exemplary moral and political sanction. The United Nations cannot go back to playing the tiresome role of world’s fireman forced upon it by the dead-end errors of Bush.

One of the major fears of these days is that this assault on an Arab country will reinforce racism and prejudice. The campaign can bring nothing good to the world, particularly regarding the fight against existing forms of discrimination. Rather it will derail the fledgling attempts at dialogue between different civilisations that have been initiated up to now.

For two decades the international system has worked to bring about the eradication of racism and all other forms of discrimination, recognised as an unacceptable denial or limitation of the rights of peoples, a demeaning legacy from a miserable colonial past. We have made progress, but we have seen regression as well.

The Other has been demonised — those who are foreign, or different. Since September 11, 2001, the international dynamic has changed for the worse. In the United States, Arab immigrants and people of Arab background are labelled ”undesirable”. All Arabs who enter the US must register with immigration authorities, as if the mere fact of being an Arab makes one a potential terrorist, criminal, or follower of Bin Laden. In France we saw the murder of a seventeen-year-old African immigrant boy by the police. His crime: having a dark complexion. The proof: he came from Africa. His sentence: to join the other condemned of the world.

We are also seeing other equally appalling phenomena, such as the tightening of immigration law in Europe. There we find growing xenophobia, particularly against minorities and immigrants of particular cultural and religious origins. In the United States, Hispanic and indigenous people are increasingly turned away at the border. These grim trends work directly against efforts to build a society built on a universal, diverse, and responsible citizenry.

The fight against all forms of discrimination requires new social, economic, and educational models. This may be the area where the greatest possible investment is needed. We need, for example, an educational model that respects cultural and linguistic diversity and fights discrimination. An educational programme of this nature must also include the affirmation of equal rights of all people, anti-racist practices and attitudes, respect for the socio-cultural diversity and of the identities and rights of other peoples, ethnic groups, and forms of cultural expression. This is the reason that official recognition of the multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, and multi-lingual nature of every country is so crucial.

The permanent battle against racism and discrimination must be a part of the day-to-day existence of all people. The participation of all sectors of society is necessary to avoid any confrontation, racism, or discrimination. Now more than ever, marginalisation, inequality, and inequity must be stopped.

With the world dominated by the hegemonic muscle-flexing of a government that has proclaimed itself the sole Global Power, it is necessary that people unify and mobilise to oppose the New Imperial Disorder with a new order of harmony, understanding, and intercultural respect. And we must hope that the world’s democratic governments restore the validity and authority of the multilateral institutions, which have been gravely damaged by the unilateral declaration of war by the Bush administration. (END/COPYRIGHT IPS)

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By Rigoberta Menchu and - -
MEXICO CITY, Jan 1 2003 (IPS)

The world has seen the globalisation of capital and communications but not of justice, solidarity, respect, and tolerance because the forces that unilaterally drive globalisation have not permitted it, writes Rigoberta Menchu, recipient of the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize. In this article for IPS, Menchu writes that these forces have opened up the markets of countries that produce raw materials for their own products while blocking these countries\’ access to many of their own markets. They have used security as an excuse to create obstacles to migration. And they have made war into their economic engine. Popular demonstrations against a discredited international system and events like the World Social Forum represent the legitimate endeavour to give globalisation a human face, to transform it into a process that takes into account the interests of the people and not just of giant transnational corporations. Menchu calls for reform that breaks the system of exclusivity that until now has transformed government representatives into servants of the major corporations, corporate mafias, and supranational interests. Such reform must open the way for the participation of social actors that thus far have no representation in the existing institutional systems.

The world has seen the globalisation of capital and communications but not of justice, solidarity, respect, and tolerance because the forces that unilaterally drive globalisation have not permitted it. To the contrary, they have opened up the markets of countries that produce raw materials for their own products while blocking these countries’ access to many of their own markets; they have used security as an excuse to create obstacles to migration; and they have made war into their economic engine.

Popular demonstrations against a discredited international system –like those in Seattle, Genova, Prague, and elsewhere– and events like the World Social Forum, represent the legitimate endeavour to give globalisation a human face, to transform it into a process that takes into account the interests of the people and not just of giant transnational corporations.

Free trade and the ever more visible hand of a market open to a few and closed to most must not be allowed to continue to destroy economies. The scandalous accounting fraud committed by some the largest companies of the world has undermined people’s confidence not only in these firms but also in government regulation. Security cannot continue to be an excuse for aggression, nor can war continue to be the locomotive of the economy.

History has shown that peace, not war, mobilises the economy. The Gulf War of over a decade ago is a clear demonstration of that fact. While the well-being and opulence of a few grows, their insatiable voracity for resources that should satisfy the minimum needs for everyone is growing even faster. Just over two years ago world leaders expressed their commitment to cut the number of people suffering from hunger by 800 million by the year 2015. However, the Food and Agriculture Organisation has warned that the way things are going –with 25,000 people dying of hunger per day– it will take over 100 years to reach that goal. The Horn of Africa is on the verge of a gigantic humanitarian catastrophe (yes, yet another) in which over 10 million people could lose their lives.

The unjust international order imposed on over four-fifths of the world’s population has caused unprecedented movement across borders by people seeking work or merely survival — movement that is largely illicit, as borders have become legally permeable to capital but not to people.

After oil, this phenomenon accounts for the largest international transfer of currency. The human rights of immigrants, with or without documents, are being trampled by government policies and transnational mafias that deal in the smuggling, slavery, and even murder.

It should be noted that globalisation by no means involves the end of sovereignty or state responsibility, which are merely being modified, complemented, and strengthened by the emerging presence of other social actors.

The current economic model is characterised by production designed to achieve the maximum generation of wealth. In the case of the indigenous peoples, we do not aspire to become rich. While we are interested in material development, we are more interested in the spiritual. We want to make economic progress because our needs are urgent, but neither we nor our ancestors have ever aspired to great wealth if this offends our sacred planet.

In Latin America, we see the devastating effects of the economic and political destabilisation of fragile democracies by decisions of the international financial organisations. The evolution of globalisation means the reform of these entities too, as well as of the political institutions of the international system. The latter is an urgent priority, given the fact that their growth and level of complexity has greatly diluted their political role, reduced their efficacy, and converted them into giant bureaucracies.

For globalisation to have a truly human face, what is required is reform that breaks the system of exclusivity that until now has transformed government representatives into servants of the major corporations, corporate mafias, and supranational interests. Such reform must open the way for the participation of social actors that thus far have no representation in the existing institutional systems. Peoples without a state, citizens initiatives, civil organisations, and social movements demand recognition and co-responsibility for major decisions regarding peace, justice, development, and democracy in the new map of the international institutions. (END/COPYRIGHT IPS)

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