GUATEMALA INVESTIGATING DEATH OF ANTI-CAFTA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUATEMALA 000766

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ETRD ASEC ELAB SNAR MASS EAID GT
SUBJECT: GUATEMALA INVESTIGATING DEATH OF ANTI-CAFTA
DEMONSTRATOR

REF: GUATEMALA 00699


1. (U) Summary: The Government of Guatemala is investigating
the death from a gunshot wound of a teacher in the March 15
anti-CAFTA demonstration and roadblock in the department of
Huehuetenango. Several other demonstrators were seriously
wounded. It is not clear who fired the shot that killed the
demonstrator. Civil society groups have blamed both police
and army for the shootings. Their accounts, however, are
inconsistent and conflicting. The army was present but
denies firing any weapons. The national civilian police
(PNC) claims that police took fire from demonstrators, but it
does not yet confirm nor deny that police returned fire.
Public Ministry (MP) prosecutors in Huehuetenango and the
PNC's Office of Professional Responsibility (ORP) have
initiated investigations and are working together on the
case. A second casualty of the demonstrations was a woman
who bled to death after giving birth when roadblocks delayed
her reaching a hospital. End Summary.


2. (U) The Public Ministry in Huehuetenango and the ORP
opened separate investigations into the shooting but are also
working together. Our MP source in Huehuetenango confirmed
they had received an autopsy report, a lead investigator had
been assigned to the case, and they had begun interviewing
witnesses. The ORP confiscated police weapons, apparently to
determine which weapons were fired and whether one of those
weapons fired the lethal shot. According to PNC sources, PNC
Director Edwin Sperisen has assumed exclusive responsibility
for communicating with the public on the case. Neither the
ORP nor the MP has released any information to date.


3. (U) In the hours before the March 15 shooting,
demonstrators blocked a section of the Interamerican Highway
at Naranjales bridge at km 284 of the Interamerican Highway.
When police arrived, demonstrators ignored orders to disperse
and may even have pushed the police back. By several
accounts, the shooting was initiated by some person or
persons positioned on one of the hillsides flanking the road,
but it is not clear whether the shots were fired by police or
demonstrators or both. In its official statement, the office
of the Human Rights Ombudsman (PDH) reports that its
investigator counted more than 30 bullet casings at the scene
several hours later. Video footage confirms reports that
police responded with smoke bombs and tear gas, but police
have not yet confirmed nor denied firing their weapons.


4. (SBU) Our sources at the MP believe that Lopez was
probably shot from a distance, not at close range as reported
by some media. The victim's body was sent for an autopsy to
try to determine whether the caliber of the bullets used was
the same as those used by PNC. The results have not yet been
released.


5. (SBU) Several accounts, including a statement by the PDH,
suggested that four police were taken and held hostage by
demonstrators who released the police in exhange for four
demonstrators who had been arrested. A PNC source confirmed
to us that four police were taken hostage and released and
also told us the demonstrators set fire to a police patrol
car.


6. (U) Embassy contacted the People's Labor Action Unit
(UASP),one of the demonstration organizers, and the PDH for
their accounting of events. The PDH issued an official
statement written by a field investigator who arrived at the
scene hours after the events, and who pieced together most of
his report by interviewing demonstrators. In that report,
the PDH concludes the victim was shot by police positioned on
the road to the bridge. UASP, on the other hand, told us
that he was not shot by police, but by an army soldier
positioned on one of the hills flanking the road. According
to UASP, the soldier had infiltrated the demonstrators. The
Mutual Support Group (GAM) is filing a complaint against the
government for the demonstrator's death. In that complaint,
the GAM does not assert that police shot him, but that by
responding with force the government "failed to ensure life."



7. (SBU) We also spoke with the governor of Huehuetenango,
who visited the scene after the violence and spoke with
motorists who had been trapped by the roadblock. According
to those witnesses, demonstrators waited for police to reach
the section of road between two hills, then opened fire from
above. The governor also said demonstrators were charging
cars Q20 ($2.50) to pass the roadblock, a statement confirmed
by the PDH. He said coffee trucks were charged as much as
Q600 ($75.00) to pass. The governor confirmed that four
police were taken hostage and believed they had been
exchanged for four demonstrators who had been arrested. He
also confirmed that a police patrol car had been burned.


8. (SBU) The Army Chief of Staff told us a platoon backing up
the police never fired a shot. He said there was confusion
when tear gas blew back over the police and soldiers, who
were not equipped for it. He said the soldiers hung back
while the police tried to disperse the road blockers. He
thought that command and control may have broken down among
police for a few minutes shortly before the demonstrator was
shot.


9. (U) A 40 year old woman died a few hours after giving
birth to her eighth child when she was delayed an hour at a
roadblock in the department of Quetzaltenango on March 15.
Demonstrators eventually helped the pickup transporting the
woman pass the roadblock, but the help came too late and she
bled to death before reaching the hospital.


10. (U) A statement issued by the Goverment of Guatemala
March 16 lamented the deaths occasioned by the roadblocks.
It said the goverment would make available to the Public
Ministry all resources necessary to carry out an exhaustive
investigation and to prosecute those responsible.


11. (SBU) Comment: It is still unclear who fired the first
or lethal shot. The most likely scenario is that someone on
the hill opened fire, but we have no confirmation that police
returned fire. It is clear that police lost control of the
situation. It is also clear that the demonstrators were not
peaceful; nor did they cooperate with police efforts to clear
the road. The fact that police were taken hostage by
demonstrators suggests that police were mostly reluctant to
use their firearms, even in self-defense. It is encouraging
that both the MP and ORP moved quickly to interview witnesses
and collect whatever ballistic and forensic evidence they
could; however, Guatemala has little forensic capacity.
There is a commitment, if not the resources, to investigate
the shootings. Since the investigation is less than a week
old, the GOG's reluctance to release information may signal
it is proceeding carefully and cautiously.
HAMILTON