Election Observation in Guatemala

The following post was written by Linda McKim-Bell, a UUSC regional coordinator and participant in our recent Election Monitoring JustJourney in Guatemala.

I just returned from a JustJourney delegation that visited Guatemala to monitor the national elections as international observers, and to visit UUSC's human rights partners. Winds of change were blowing there. Last Sunday about six million Guatemalans went to the polls to elect Alvaro Colom as president. He ran on the slogan "Fight crime with intelligence." He ran against former general Otto Perez-Molina, a military man who was one of the masterminds of the genocides in Guatemala in the 1980s. He ran on the slogan: "A strong hand," to deal with rising crime. It was satisfying to know that Guatemalans rejected the rule of the military.

We were official election observers in the Guatemalan highlands in the farming town of Rabinal, in the region of Alta Verapaz. This region suffered greatly in the massacres of the 1980s. The army killed 400 people here in six massacres perpetrated as part of a scorched earth policy to rid Guatemala of guerrillas and sympathizers. When the villagers of Rio Negro demanded just compensation for lands flooded by the World Bank-funded Chixoy Dam project, many were murdered. The perpetrators have never been brought to justice.

We visited our human rights partners. We met with Juan de Dios, director of the Association for the Integral Development of the Victims of Violence in the Verapaces, Maya Achi (ADIVIMA). Our partners have been struggling for justice for 25 years. They are asking for fair compensation for their lands flooded by the dam, recognition of their cultural rights, economic development, and education for their children. When their land was flooded by the dam, they were relocated to slums where they had no means of making a living.

I saw the fruits of UUSC's work here when I sensed a new confidence in Juan de Dios. He was a stronger protagonist. UUSC had put him in touch with the Holland Knight law firm, which helped him prepare a case against the World Bank. This leveraged him into negotiations that will bring compensation. This case has world-wide significance. There are 500 World Bank-funded dams around the world and many people have been displaced without just compensation. It was gratifying to see big changes for ADIVIMA and the local community.

Indeed, I could feel a new spirit growing in Guatemala and the state of Alta Verapaz. Evidence of greater democracy in this region was seen in our visit to the mayor-elect of Rabinal, Jose Solano. His supporters gathered around us in the lovely courtyard of his party headquarters. The fresh paint and hanging baskets of flowers were hopeful signs of what Solano plans to do in Rabinal.

Solano's agenda includes health care, access to clean water, irrigation projects, an agricultural cooperative, development of womens' businesses through microcredit, a program for seniors, and a planning department for Rabinal. It was gratifying to see that the long-term work of UUSC and its partners in Alta Verapaz has helped create empowerment so that people would have the hope and political power to elect a leader like Solano.

A big surprise at the end of our delegation was that Rafael Espada, the vice president-elect of Guatemala, was aboard the plane to Miami. Wayne Smith of UUSC and I greeted him and congratulated him. He graciously allowed us to take a picture with him. Wayne told him that we had been international election observers and about UUSC having projects in Rabinal. Wayne added that he and UUSC President Charlie Clements might be at the inauguration. Espada said he had been an admirer of John Kennedy and that he had inspired him to go into politics. This unexpected and enjoyable meeting suggested that something new was stirring in Guatemala.
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