Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08GUATEMALA249
2008-02-28 16:19:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Guatemala
Cable title:  

AMBASSADOR REES HIGHLIGHTS MULTILATERAL SOCIAL ISSUES DURING GUATEMALA VISIT

Tags:  ESOCI PHUM KJUS KDEM PGOV KCRM EAID UNGA GT 
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RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGT #0249/01 0591619
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 281619Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY GUATEMALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4871
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0866
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0202
UNCLAS GUATEMALA 000249 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR IO/FO
DEPT PASS TO USAID FOR LAC/CAM KSIENKIEWICZ

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ESOCI PHUM KJUS KDEM PGOV KCRM EAID UNGA GT
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR REES HIGHLIGHTS MULTILATERAL SOCIAL
ISSUES DURING GUATEMALA VISIT

REF: GUATEMALA 190

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 000249

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR IO/FO
DEPT PASS TO USAID FOR LAC/CAM KSIENKIEWICZ

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ESOCI PHUM KJUS KDEM PGOV KCRM EAID UNGA GT
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR REES HIGHLIGHTS MULTILATERAL SOCIAL
ISSUES DURING GUATEMALA VISIT

REF: GUATEMALA 190


1. (U) Summary: Ambassador Grover Joseph Rees, Special
Representative for Social Issues, visited Guatemala February
19-21. Rees met with senior government officials, civil
society, and press to discuss human rights and other key
social issues. He also visited a USG-funded community health
center. He thanked the GOG for its support on U.S.
multilateral initiatives, urged Guatemala to play a
leadership role on promoting human rights, and emphasized the
importance of action-oriented assistance efforts, especially
for vulnerable populations. End Summary.

Support for Democracy and Human Rights
--------------

2. (U) International Organization Affairs Special
Representative for Social Issues, Ambassador Grover Joseph
Rees, discussed human rights and other key social issues in a
multilateral context during a brief visit to Guatemala
February 19-21. Rees thanked Acting Foreign Minister Ibarra
for Guatemala's co-sponsorship of the recently adopted UN
resolution on the use of rape as a political instrument. He
welcomed Guatemala's continued support and participation on
similar multilateral initiatives, and urged Guatemala to play
a regional leadership role to promote human rights, including
human rights in Burma and Cuba. Rees underscored the
importance of recognizing Kosovo's independence. He also
highlighted the importance of results-based, action-oriented
efforts to reduce poverty, prevent human rights violations,
and protect victims. He urged government transparency to
ensure that donor support reaches the intended populations,
and stressed the need for a fair, independent, and
transparent justice system.


3. (SBU) Ibarra assured Rees that Guatemala shares his
concerns. He expressed GOG support for Kosovo's independence
and right to self-determination, pending official GOG
recognition (reftel). He stressed the government's
commitment to promote respect for human rights and the rule
of law, ensure transparency, and end Guatemala's culture of

violence and impunity. He noted that the Executive will
respect the independence of the Supreme Court. He welcomed
USG support to help implement fair and prompt justice and to
improve living conditions for the poor.

Advances and Challenges on Social Issues
--------------

4. (SBU) Archbishop's Human Rights Office Executive Director
Nery Rodenas raised three issues of concern to the Catholic
Church with regard to impunity. He expressed concern that
clandestine groups involved in the 1998 murder of Bishop Juan
Gerardi were still operating and that the alleged
masterminds, former members of the Presidential Guard,
remained at large. He also expressed concern over the
existence of child trafficking networks and called for strict
control of the adoption process. Regarding Guatemala's
recently reinstituted death penalty, Rodenas commented that
the Catholic Church opposes the measure and that Guatemala,
like most countries in Latin America, is a signatory to the
American Convention on Human Rights which forbids instituting
new death sentences. Ambassador Rees responded that the
issue is a difficult one, agreeing with Rodenas on the risk
of error in applying the death penalty, but expressing doubt
about the argument that the death penalty does not deter
crime.


5. (SBU) During a luncheon roundtable hosted by Ambassador
Q5. (SBU) During a luncheon roundtable hosted by Ambassador
Derham, civil society leaders and international organization
representatives discussed advances and challenges on a range
of social issues. They agreed on the difficulty of
implementing international agreements. As a preemptive
measure against prospective constitutional challenges,
Congress generally petitions the Constitutional Court to make
rulings on the constitutionality of international agreements
prior to approving implementing regulations. They also
discussed the adverse impacts of insecurity, impunity,
chronic malnutrition, and lack of education. Former
presidential candidate Harold Caballeros observed that
judicial appointments had become politicized, while UNICEF
Country Representative Manuel Manrique complained that laws
exist but, in practice, are not enforced. A significant
problem is authorities' lack of knowledge of legal
instruments, said Rob Wayss, AFL-CIO Solidarity Center
Central American Representative, who is working to educate
workers and authorities on their rights and obligations.


6. (U) On a positive note, Rees pointed out that attitudes
toward human rights have changed dramatically with the
recognition that human rights are universal and inalienable,
and not government-created. In the past, he said, human
rights discussions were political discussions in which many
conservatives focused on communist countries while many of
those on the left focused only on human rights violations by
right-wing dictatorships. Today, people openly discuss human
rights, whether violators are friends or enemies. Former
Vice Foreign Minister Altolaguirre highlighted the new
National Forensic Sciences Institute of Guatemala (INACIF)
and the International Commission Against Impunity in
Guatemala (CICIG) as two key successes. She also noted a
decrease since 1994 in violent crimes committed by former
members of Civil Defense Patrols (PACs) as a result of state
actions.

Economic Development
--------------

7. (U) Rees recommended implementation of economic
development policies, such as micro- and medium-credit.
Acting Foreign Minister Ibarra agreed on the importance of
strengthening medium-size producers, which he estimated
represent 85 percent of the country's total revenues. On
free trade, he noted that Guatemala is open to trading with
all countries.


8. (U) Re-elected Guatemala City Mayor Alvaro Arzu, whom Rees
first met in Guatemala in the late 1990s when Arzu was
president, discussed progress since Rees' last visit. Arzu
noted that Guatemala's mountainous topography, characterized
by an extensive interior dotted with small, indigenous
communities, has impeded economic development. However, he
remained optimistic about Guatemala's future. He viewed
Guatemala as dynamic and evolving, in a stage of development
"between childhood and adulthood," with increased tourism and
global trade opportunities. From its historical focus on
regional trade, Guatemala has emerged as a global player.
Arzu noted that Guatemala is now exporting technology and
that Guatemala City is experiencing a jobs-generating
construction boom.

Press Outreach and Visit to USG-Funded Program
-------------- -

9. (U) In an interview with local print media, Ambassador
Rees discussed his views of President Colom's social
development agenda, the problem of social inequality, the
populist movement in Latin America, and the state of human
rights in Guatemala. He cautioned that redistribution of
income is not the solution to social inequality and poverty
reduction. The government must invest in education to ensure
that all sectors of society have equal access to educational
opportunities, and provide economic incentives to boost free
enterprise. Rees said the United States does not oppose
freely-elected populist governments in Latin America, but
warned that in every election politicians tell people what
they want to hear. Once in power, some modify existing
structures to perpetuate their own power, and this does cause
concern for the United States and other democratic countries.
On the future of social issues in Latin America, Rees noted
that governments have made much progress on human rights in
the last 20 years. He said governments realize that the
ideologies of the past are not enough to solve the problems,
and that a free economy is the "engine of poverty reduction."



10. (U) Ambassador Rees visited USAID-funded Pro-Family
Q10. (U) Ambassador Rees visited USAID-funded Pro-Family
Social Welfare Association (APROFAM),a private,
not-for-profit, Guatemalan NGO that provides for family
health needs, especially for low-income families with limited
access to health services. With 30 clinics, 11 hospitals,
and four mobile medical units, APROFAM is the second largest
provider of family planning services after the Ministry of
Public Health. It attends to an average of 600 patients per
day in its central clinic. According to members of APROFAM's
Board of Directors, the cost of services at APROFAM clinics
is 40-50 percent of costs at other private health care
centers, but APROFAM generates enough revenues to subsidize
community services. In FY2007, APROFAM provided over one
million services, including medical evaluations, counseling
services, immunizations, and maternal and reproductive health
care, to 450,000 people.


11. (U) Ambassador Rees cleared this cable.
Derham