Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03GUATEMALA1015
2003-04-15 22:36:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Guatemala
Cable title:  

LOS CIMIENTOS: A PORTILLO PRESS SPECTACLE AND NEW

Tags:  PHUM PGOV PREL EAID GT 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS GUATEMALA 001015 

SIPDIS

HARARE FOR BRUCE WHARTON

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL EAID GT
SUBJECT: LOS CIMIENTOS: A PORTILLO PRESS SPECTACLE AND NEW
CHALLENGES

REF: 02 GUATEMALA 2785

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 001015

SIPDIS

HARARE FOR BRUCE WHARTON

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL EAID GT
SUBJECT: LOS CIMIENTOS: A PORTILLO PRESS SPECTACLE AND NEW
CHALLENGES

REF: 02 GUATEMALA 2785


1. (U) Summary: On April 8, HROff and EconOff attended
President Portillo's inauguration of a primary school at the
new site of the Los Cimientos Community in San Vincente,
Siquinala, Escuintla. After the flashy Presidential press
opportunity, HROff and EconOff visited the community's
temporary settlement and learned about the efforts of NGOs
and community members to rebuild the lives of the 233 Los
Cimientos families relocated after the bloody land conflict
in the Quiche (Reftel). End Summary.


2. (U) On April 8, HROff and EconOff visited Escuintla
province to witness Portillo's inauguration of a primary
school for the recently relocated group of Quiche families
from the Los Cimientos land dispute in the Ixil triangle.
The school, which is a half hour's drive away from where the
Los Cimientos community is living, is a four-room concrete
block structure complete with a small library of Latin
American literature classics in Spanish. Unfortunately, only
a small fraction of the children (or adults) of the community
actually speak Spanish and even fewer are able to read.


3. (U) Before the President's arrival, EmbOffs toured the
school and congratulated community leaders and government
representatives on both their new land and new school. The
Director of the President's Commission on Human Rights
(COPREDEH),Dr. Juan Fuentes Soria, thanked us for coming and
said that he hoped this event would be included in our 2003
Human Rights Report, having recently been disappointed by the
lukewarm coverage his institution received in the 2002 report.


4. (U) The ribbon cutting ceremony was attended both by
members of the Los Cimientos community and double their
number of patriotic schoolchildren bussed in from neighboring
towns in Escuintla. These clean, well-kempt children in
matching white shirts and royal blue shorts, waving
Guatemalan flags and performing FRG chants, presented a
glaring contrast to the malnourished, unwashed Los Cimientos
children dressed in indigenous Mayan clothing, who appeared
more amused than interested in the event at hand.


5. (U) During Portillo's speech, he thanked AmCit Francia Ala
for her dedication to resolving the Los Cimientos case, as
well as the Embassy for our support of land conflict
settlement. Portillo mentioned that this school would
represent a pilot program for what he called "decentralized
schools," in which communities will be responsible for their
own teachers and curriculum. Portillo also thanked the press
for attending such a milestone event, and pledged to come
back to San Vicente in one month to break ground on a housing
project.


6. (U) After the ceremony, Ala took EmbOffs to see the
abandoned sugar plantation servants' quarters that the Los
Cimientos community is currently using for housing on their
newly-acquired land, as well as the first crops that the
community is beginning to cultivate. Ala showed us the many
children who were suffering from various diseases due to the
new pests and climate to which they must grow accustomed.
Ala also spoke of bright spots, such as the involvement of
many volunteers from the US and Europe, who were trying to
help organize horticulture and medical projects. Community
members all agreed that they will be much better off once the
GOG complies with the rest of their agreement, which is to
provide housing on the land near the newly-built school.


7. (U) COMMENT: While it is encouraging to see the GOG
provide some semblance of a resolution to a century-old land
conflict, the new challenges which the Los Cimientos
community faces are great. Whether the Portillo
administration will come through on its promise to provide
housing to the impoverished community or whether this was
just another chance for Portillo to appear out in the country
doing public works during an election year remains to be
seen. We will continue to follow the case with interest and
help to remind the GOG of their public promises to the Los
Cimientos community. End Comment.
HAMILTON