Guatemalan military steps up harassment

Guatemalan military steps up harassmentBy Gabriel Torres On November 4, two-year-old Juan Carlos Velasquez Menchu was snatched from his mother's arms by heavily armed men, believed to be from the military, a block a way from peasant leader Rigoberta Menchu's house in Guatemala City. It seems that the kidnappers took Menchu's nephew believing he was her son. Menchu and her family have become targets for such intimidation because of her important role in denouncing the regime's repression including the massacre, carried out by the army, three weeks ago in Xaman in the north of Guatemala. The kidnapping took place just before the Guatemalan general elections on November 12 in which the New Guatemala Democratic Front, supported by all the mass democratic organisations such as the Rigoberta Menchu Foundation, is participating. It is clear that the military has launched an intimidation campaign designed to affect the electoral outcome and the peace negotiations, both of which offer important opportunities for real and lasting democracy. International solidarity is vital to help end the repression and to force the military to respect the election results. The New Guatemala Democratic Front is demanding that: the Guatemalan authorities guarantee the safety of Rigoberta Menchu Tum, her family and the Rigoberta Menchu Tum Foundation in Guatemala City; investigate Velasquez Menchu's disappearance and prosecute those responsible for the kidnapping. Messages should be sent to: Presidente de la Republica Ramiro de Leon Carpio and Ministro de la Defensa, General Marco Antonio Gonzalez Taracena, Palacio Nacional, Guatemala, CA. Fax: 502 2 537 472 and Ambassador Edmund Mulet, Embassy of Guatemala, Washington, DC. Fax: 202 745 190.

From GLW issue 211