Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05GUATEMALA163
2005-01-21 18:55:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Guatemala
Cable title:  

LETTER FROM GUATEMALA (4)

Tags:  PREL ETRD EAID SNAR MASS ASEC PHUM SENV GT 
pdf how-to read a cable
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUATEMALA 000163 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL ETRD EAID SNAR MASS ASEC PHUM SENV GT
SUBJECT: LETTER FROM GUATEMALA (4)

REF: (A) GUATEMALA 0047 (B) 04 GUATEMALA 3211 (C)

GUATEMALA 0162

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUATEMALA 000163

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL ETRD EAID SNAR MASS ASEC PHUM SENV GT
SUBJECT: LETTER FROM GUATEMALA (4)

REF: (A) GUATEMALA 0047 (B) 04 GUATEMALA 3211 (C)

GUATEMALA 0162


1. (SBU) The year got off to a rough start for Guatemalan
President Oscar Berger.

--------------
Campesino Protests Get Ugly
--------------


2. (SBU) Solola, the province best known for the
breathtakingly beautiful Lake Atitlan, became the center of
attention when campesinos hijacked some heavy equipment
destined for a Canadian gold mine in San Marcos, which
borders Mexico. Campesinos in the tiny village of Los
Encuentros detained the mining equipment on December 2.


3. (SBU) As previewed in an earlier letter (ref B),the
protestors at Los Encuentros had refused to allow a bridge
over the highway to be dismantled in order to let the
over-sized mining equipment be on its way to San Marcos. The
well-coached campesinos said they objected to gold mining and
would not budge. In the following weeks, the GOG sought to
get the mining equipment rolling again, first by suasion,
then by force. Things came to a head on January 11, when
the protesting campesinos stopped all traffic going through
Los Encuentros, and the GOG deployed to Los Encuentros a
thousand police backed up by several hundred army troops.


4. (SBU) Having had six weeks to rally their forces, the
campesinos were pumped up for a confrontation and initially
resisted the police intervention. GOG sources claim the
police were unarmed and the soldiers, although photographed
aiming their weapons, had not been issued bullets. Footage
of the confrontation was reminiscent of the August 31
eviction of squatters from the Nueva Linda plantation in
Retalhuleu, which left four police and seven squatters dead.
This time, one campesino died of a gunshot wound. However,
since he was injured about half a mile from the scene of the
riot, speculation is that he was killed by a stray bullet.
And since some of the campesinos were allegedly armed with
AK-47s, the fatal bullet may have been fired by a fellow
campesino. An autopsy was performed, but it only confirmed
that the victim was killed by a bullet, and a large one at

that.

--------------
One Clash Leads to Another
--------------


5. (SBU) Just several months ago, the issue of gold mining
had provoked an acrimonious exchange between Berger and the
Catholic Church's Cardinal Quezada, with Berger accusing
Quezada of resorting to populist demagoguery in questioning
the issuance of licenses for gold mines. Berger and Quezada
patched things up in November, but after the police clashed
with the demonstrators in Solola, Berger resumed his
rhetorical skirmishes with the Church. This time, however,
Berger criticized Bishop Ramazzini of San Marcos for failing
to use his influence to pacify the protestors. Implicit in
Berger's grievance was the allegation that Ramazzini had
encouraged the protestors and their organizers. Ramazzini
has long been a bete noire of Guatemala's landed elite, who
have complained to us for several years that the Bishop has
used rural radio broadcasts to instigate land invasions.
Ramazzini was front and center in photographs of the small
crowd of demonstrators who gathered in front of the Congress
January 14 to protest government policies.

--------------
Just When You Thought It Was Safe
--------------


6. (SBU) Almost simultaneously with the problems at Los
Encuentros, Guatemala's air traffic controllers walked off
the job on January 11, shutting down Guatemala's airports for
20 hours. In this crisis, however, the Berger administration
moved quickly and decisively. Berger fired the controllers,
and the government brought in foreign air traffic controllers
to reopen the Guatemala City airport, but not before the
travel of hundreds of airline passengers was disrupted. The
traffic controllers bore the brunt of public opprobrium for
their precipitous walk-out, and the media reported that the
strikers, as they left the control tower, had flipped off the
runway lights just as a jet was trying to land. (See ref C
for details.)

--------------
First Year's Report Card
--------------


7. (SBU) While the dust from these two crises was still
settling, Berger went to the opening of Congress on January
14 to deliver his State of the Union address. Berger
impressed the Ambassador and others in the attendance with
the brevity of his address. He focused on his efforts to
restore confidence in Guatemala's public institutions,
severely deteriorated as the result of his predecessor
Portillo's kleptocracy. In this connection, he recalled the
new leadership he brought to the corrupt tax collection
service (SAT),the prosecutor's office, the comptroller, and
the superintendent of banks. He dwelt on his efforts to root
out corruption, reduce public spending without cutting social
investment, and make government more transparent
(particularly with on-line procurement system, Guatecompras).
He cited tax reform and military downsizing as the greatest
accomplishments of his first year in office. Critics panned
Berger's address for dwelling too much on the sorry state of
affairs left behind by the Portillo administration and for
not stating clearly what he would do to address Guatemala's
two biggest problems: crime and unemployment.


8. (SBU) In the midst of a rough week putting out fires,
Berger may have found a little comfort in some poll findings
published by "Prensa Libre" and "El Periodico." Although
"Prensa Libre" found that 58% of respondents did not approve
his first year's performance, about 52% thought he had the
ability and leadership to solve the country's problems. "El
Periodico" said Berger was popular with 56%, followed closely
by Rigoberta Menchu with 54% and his opponent in the 2003
presidential election, Alvaro Colom, with 48%. On support
for political parties, the most popular was Berger's GANA
coalition with 19%, followed by 11% for Colom's UNE.
HAMILTON