Guatemalan candidate's daughters injured in election-related violence

[Judi Lynn]

Source: International Herald Tribune/Associated Press

Guatemalan candidate's daughters injured in election-related violence
The Associated Press
Published: August 8, 2007

GUATEMALA CITY: Assailants shot at the home of a congressional candidate from Nobel Laureate Rigoberta Menchu's political party, injuring two of the candidate's daughters, party officials said Wednesday.

The attack came amid a wave of campaign-related violence ahead of the September election. At least 38 politicians, activists and their relatives have been killed in some 50 attacks since the electoral campaign began in May.

Olga Lucas' 17-year-old daughter was hospitalized in intensive care, said Armando Sanchez, another congressional hopeful from the Encuentro Por Guatemala Party, which is running Menchu for president. Lucas' other daughter, aged 20, suffered minor injuries.
(snip)

On Tuesday, a bodyguard of Cesar Montes, the party's secretary for agricultural affairs, was injured in an attack that Montes said was aimed at him. A day earlier, a city council candidate in a northwestern Guatemala town was found shot dead inside the trunk of his car. No arrests have been made in either attack.



Read more: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/08/america/LA-GEN-Guatemala-Election-Violence.php

[Judi Lynn]

1. Guatemala to Try Legislator in Murder Case

Guatemala to Try Legislator in Murder Case

Guatemala, Aug 7 (Prensa Latina) Guatemala will hold a preliminary trial of Congressman Manuel Castillo for the slain of three members of the Central American Parliament and their driver.

Police reports indicate that Castillo called "Montana-3" -considered coordinator of the slain- on February 19, the very day of the crime, and after, from a phone assigned by Congress.

He also communicated with ten other people involved in the murder of PARLACEN members Eduardo D'Aubuisson, William Pichinte and Jose Ramon Gonzalez, and driver Gerardo Ramirez.

Since Castillo sheltered in his immunity to refuse to cooperate with the Police, he will be submitted to preliminary trial for covering up, said Prosecutor Alvaro Matus.

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[Judi Lynn]

2. Honduras/Guatemala: Attacks on rights activists reaching 'worrying proportions'

Honduras/Guatemala: Attacks on rights activists reaching 'worrying proportions'
Posted: 08 August 2007

The level of threats, intimidation, attacks and killings of activists in Honduras and Guatemala who campaign to defend the rights of marginalised communities is reaching 'worrying proportions' said Amnesty International today (8 August) as it published its new report.

Amnesty International's report - Persecution and Resistance: The experience of human rights defenders in Guatemala and Honduras - exposes a systematic pattern of attacks against those who defend the rights of marginalised communities, including indigenous peoples and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Director of Amnesty International's Americas Programme, Susan Lee, said:
'Those who protect others from suffering human rights violations end up suffering abuses themselves. The insecurity of human rights activists in Honduras and In Guatemala is reaching worrying proportions.

'Threats, intimidation, unfounded criminal charges and killings of activists in Honduras and Guatemala are designed to stop them from protecting people's rights, particularly when their work goes against powerful economic interests,' said Susan Lee.
(snip/...)

http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=17426

[David__77]

3. The wrong side won Guatamala's civil war.

Same with El Salvador. These class antagonisms will merely continue to simmer until they explode once again. The Latin American oligarchy is the most vicious, bloody, fascist class, and deserves a crushing defeat.