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What kind of reparations are you asking the Guatemalan government to pay the survivors of Río Negro? We are preparing a proposal to demand that the government pay direct reparations to the individual massacre survivors and to the community as a whole. … In terms of land, they only gave us two caballerías (128 hectares) to start out with, and the land was terrible. It had steep ravines; we couldn't plant, nor could we raise cattle on it. It was not until 1998 that we were given five more caballerías [as a result of international pressure on the World Bank to urge the Guatemalan government to provide the community with more land. Ed.], and though the land is okay, it is in another department. It takes five hours by car to get there, and longer by bus. We don't have the money to pay the bus fare nor do we have seed money to begin planting. At this point there aren't any houses there, nor running water. And this doesn't even add up to the 22.5 caballerías that we lost. The government still owes us 15 (960 hectares). Also, when the military committed the massacre, they took with them our 300 head of cattle and 20 mules, as well as everything else of value that we had. Over the course of the years they have given us minimal amounts of money to compensate for that loss, which we have used to buy cattle. But in the end we have not been fully compensated, and as a result, the survivors of the massacre truly live in extreme poverty. Are you requesting a similar reparations packet from the WB and the IDB? At first we blamed the situation entirely on the government for insisting on building a dam. But when we began to understand where the money came from to build the dam, we started to see that the WB and the IDB should be held accountable for our current situation as well. The reparations packet we are presenting to the World Bank includes building houses because the few that INDE built in Pacux are falling down, and over 40 families still don't have houses; they are forced to live with other families. We are also demanding more land, compensation for the losses we have experienced by not being able to cultivate much since the massacre, and individual reparations for the widows and orphans, who have suffered severe economic hardships as a result of not having heads of households to generate income. We also want schools and medicines for our children, and we want to build a memorial museum in Rabinal so that future generations know the truth about what happened in our community. What do you hope to accomplish in your upcoming meetings with the WB and the IDB in Washington DC? I hope that the banks will understand that the funding they have provided for projects such as the Chixoy dam has not contributed to development; rather it has served to destroy communities. I want them to understand that the majority of dams they fund only benefit the wealthy, not the poor. I want them to understand how these dams affect poor people, how they sink us deeper into extreme poverty. Unfortunately, our community serves as a good example. We don't have any work, we don't have firewood to cook our food, we don't have palm to make petate. There are ten families that don't even have electricity, the very thing that the dam was supposed to provide. In 1996, the World Bank finally admitted that a massacre had taken place while they were constructing the dam, but they didn't take any responsibility for it. I hope that this new campaign forces the World Bank to understand what they have done, that the people of Río Negro were killed because of our resistance to the project they funded. And then I hope the bank analyzes how they can help alleviate the damage they have caused. In the end the survivors were left with absolutely nothing. I hope that someday we are paid reparations. … What are your plans for future work? … We will also be focusing a lot of our energy on reparations. It saddened me when former president Arzú appeared on the television and radio a couple of years ago asking for forgiveness. That is not reconciliation; it doesn't resolve any problems. So many people in Rabinal were displaced by the violence, their houses were burned, their possessions burned or stolen; they were left with nothing. For me, forgiveness will come only after the clandestine cemeteries have been exhumed, after the damages have been repaired, after the widows and orphans have received help, after the community is paid restitution. For twenty years we have had no answers, we have received next to nothing. Now it is time, and we will continue to fight for reparations and justice, no matter how long the struggle lasts. I know the road won't be easy, but we have to continue fighting.? The Guatemala News and Information Bureau (GNIB) produces the quarterly "Report on Guatemala," a joint publication of the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) and GNIB. To subscribe to GNIB'a e-list, send message to gnib@igc.org and specify if you are local and/or bilingual (Spanish/English). To subscribe to quarterly publication, "Report on Guatemala" ($20), send check to 3181 Mission St. Box 12, San Francisco, CA 94110. Complimentary trial issues available on request. Dear friends, There is much public education and advocacy work to be done with this campaign. Along with the surviving victims of the Chixoy Dam massacres, Rights Action NEEDS YOUR FINANCIAL AND ADVOCACY SUPPORT. WE ENCOURAGE YOU to take on this issue as one that your organization can work on. We will support your efforts in any way we can. For more information about this campaign, and our work, contact our offices. Thank-you. << 1
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GENERAL INFORMATION: CANADA: Contact: Grahame Russell UNITED STATES: Contact: Eva Morales GUATEMALA: |