Guatemala's government and leftist guerrillas signed an accord
yesterday to protect the rights of Indians, in a step toward ending
the country's 34-year-old civil war.
Despite the pact, reached after months of U.N.-moderated
negotiations in the Mexican capital, several other subjects remain on
the complex negotiating agenda governing the peace talks, which have
continued in fits and starts since 1990. A final accord to end the
war still is believed to be at least months -- if not years -- away.
Yesterday's accord will not take effect until a final peace pact
is completed.
The agreement appeared to be the result of concessions by both the
government and the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG)
rebel movement, each of which has been under intense diplomatic
pressure to make some progress and keep the talks from collapsing.
The government promised to promote constitutional reforms to
recognize the Maya, Xinca and Garifuna Indians and to adopt legal
reforms to end discrimination and sexual harassment, respect the use
of traditional dress and languages and promote bilingual education.
Also, bilingual judges will be appointed to indigenous
communities, and state-run social services will use the native
languages.
Responsibility for carrying out the pact's provisions lies solely
with the government and Congress. However, the government is widely
believed to have failed to comply by an agreement on human rights,
signed with the rebels in March last year.
The accord failed to meet Indian and URNG demands for ancestral
territory, local political autonomy and measures to combat Indian
groups' extreme poverty.
Hector Rosada, president of the government's peace commission, and
URNG commanders signed the accord in a ceremony at Mexico's foreign
ministry that was attended by diplomats from the talks' sponsoring
nations: the United States, Mexico, Norway, Spain, Venezuela and
Colombia.
The next stage in the negotiations will focus on socioeconomic
reforms aimed at reducing the poverty suffered by 80 percent of
Guatemalans. Another thorny topic remaining on the agenda is reform
of the nation's all-powerful military, which is considered by human
rights groups to be the most brutal in the hemisphere.
Guatemala's Indians have borne the brunt of the civil war in which
an estimated 140,000 people have been killed or disappeared, mostly
at the hands of the army and army-linked death squads.
SATURDAY
4/1/95
PAGE: A10
San Francisco Chronicle