EPICA
1470 Irving St., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20010
(202) 332-0292
TWO GUATEMALAN REPRESENTATIVES OF THE COMMUNITIES IN RESISTANCE TO
VISIT U.S.
Washington, D.C.-- For the first time two representatives of the
Guatemalan Communities of Population in Resistance (CPRs) will be
visiting the U.S. to seek support for their demand to be recognized
as civilians and to end military campaigns which attack or harass
their communities.
From October 7 to 21 the Guatemalans will be visiting five
U.S. cities (Santa Fe, New Mexico; Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona; San
Francisco and Los Angeles, California) and will be meeting with
faith-based groups, university representatives, the media,
solidarity organizations and Native American groups.
The Communities of Population in Resistance are made up of
dozens of indigenous communities in northern jungles and mountains
of Guatemala with a population of approximately 25,000 people. For
the past ten years they have suffered scorched earth campaigns,
bombings and attacks by the Guatemalan Army. Two weeks ago
Guatemalan Defense Minister Mario Enriquez called the CPR
communities "instruments of subversion" by the URNG guerrillas.
The CPR communities in the Ixc n jungle (Department of El Quich)
and the Petn jungle (Department of El Petn) were settled in the
1960s as Church-sponsored agricultural cooperatives. As the social
conflict in Guatemala worsened in the late 1970s, the Army launched
offensives against these communities which the Army considered
"communist." All of the cooperatives were destroyed and the Army
committed a number of massacres including the assassination of more
than 300 people at Cuarto Pueblo on March 14, 1982.
Since that time the CPR communities have survived by fleeing
from the Army and hiding where the dense jungles of the Ixc n or
Petn or the steep mountains of the Ixil region (Department of El
Quich) protect them. The CPRs's cause has found support inside
Guatemala, particularly from the Churches and popular
organizations.
Monsignor Julio Cabrera, the Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of
El Quich, who has visited the CPR communities several times,
recently said, "I am absolutely convinced that the CPRs are
civilians. For a long time the Army has tried to eliminate the
indigenous population, but the Army is going to confront a Church
which will not let that happen, even if it means risking our
lives."
The two CPR representatives are Teodora Martinez Vasquez and
Francisco Raymundo Hernandez. Martinez Vasquez, 45, is ladina and
a member of the CPRs of the Ixc n. She is a founding member of the
Organization of Women in Resistance which is dedicated to training
of CPR women and organizing self-help projects. She is married
with four children.
Francisco Raymundo Hernandez, 32, is Ixil, one of 22
indigenous groups in Guatemala. He is a member of the Coordinating
Commission of the CPRs of the Sierra which are located near the
Ixil Triangle in the Department of El Quich. The Coordinating
Commission is an elected body which represents the governing
councils of each CPR community in the Sierra. He is married with
two children.
Both CPR representatives will speak about their personal
histories and the struggle of their communities for survival and
for recognition as civilians. They will also share updates on the
current situation of the CPR communities, including the dramatic
600 person march/caravan of CPR members who journeyed to Guatemala
City to press their demands and the plans of the CPRs to establish
temporary settlements.
An excellent resource on the struggle of the CPR communities
is "Out of the Shadows: The Communities of Population in
Resistance," a 28-page report on their struggle produced by the
Center for Human Rights Legal Action and the Ecumenical Program on
Central America and the Caribbean. It is available from EPICA
(1470 Irving St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20010 for $3.50 postpaid.)
Local sponsors of the tour include:
Ixcan Productions, Santa Fe, NM (505) 983-6206
Tucson Ecumenical Council, Tucson, AZ (602) 321-7760
Cambio, Phoenix, AZ (602) 265-9800
Guatemala News and Information Bureau, Oakland, CA (510) 835-0810
S. California Interreligious Taskforce on C.A., Los Angeles, CA
(213) 653-4221
The tour is being coordinated nationally by the Ecumenical
Program on Central America and the Caribbean, based in Washington,
D.C.