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US aid to the Guatemalan military
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Date: Wed, 16 Aug 1995 13:46:41 -0700
From: Witness for Peace
This ad appeared in the New York Times West Coast Edition,
Wednesday, August 9, 1995
Our Tax Dollars Paid Their Killers and Torturers...
Photos of: Ann Louise Kerndt. volunteer from Iowa murdered in 1976, Father Stanley Rother, missionary from Oklahoma shot to death in 1981, Michael DeVine, hotel owner from Kansas murdered in 1990, Myrna Mack Chang, Guatemalan anthropologist, stabbed to death in 1990; Efrain Bamaca Velasquez, Mayan insurgency leader tortured and murdered in 1992, Sister Dianna Ortiz, nun from Kentucky tortured in 1989, Carmen Valenzuela, Guatemalan pediatrician tortured in 1990.
IT HAS TO STOP!
Like many others, these Americans and Guatemalans were victims of the Guatemalan Army. Some were tortured and escaped death. The rest were murdered in cold blood. And, all the while, our own government was supporting their killers and torturers with our tax dollars. As citizens and taxpayers, we believe this policy must come to an end!
The Guatemalan Army is widely recognized as one of the most brutal in the hemisphere. Since 1980, its savagery has resulted in the death of over 150,000 civilians, primarily members of indigenous communities, the destruction of over 400 villages, and the displacement of over 1,000,000 people from their homes. Its intelligence network of infiltrators and assassins has targeted Mayan community organizers, human rights monitors, students, unionists, priests, opponents of deforestation, and land reform activists. The repression continues to this day, as over 130 people have been found executed so far this year in circumstances suggesting security force involvement. Yet this Army, and in particular its notorious military intellilgence unit, the "G-2", has been a recipient of millions of our tax dollars!
This secret funding by our government of the Guatemalan military goes back years, even decades. We now know that our tax dollars continued to flow to the Guatemalan Army via the CIA even after 1990 when Congress prohibited further military aid. It was only when reports surfaced earlier this year about the involvement of one of the CIA's paid informants, a Guatemalan colonel, in the murder of Michael DeVine, a US citizen, and of Efrain Bamaca, the Guatemalan husband of US citizen Jennifer Harbury, that this operation was exposed.
Investigations into the matter have begun, but, unfortunately, recent reports by the CIa Inspector General and by the Intelligence Oversight Board raise more questions than they answer. They do not address the role of CIA informants in human rights violations or the role of the CIA in supporting institutions that violate human rights, such as military intelligence units. And, the contention of the Inspector General that CIA officials violated no laws, while failing to inform Congress and while continuing to funnel our tax dollars to the brutal Guatemalan military, against Congressional directives, "leaves a lot to be desired," as Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, has noted.
We are also disappointed by the fact that, despite the pleas of the relatives of the victims pictured above, not one of the 56,000 pages of documents that the CIA Inspector General reviewed in the course of his investigation has been declassified. As a result, these documents remain inaccessible to persons, such as Jennifer Harbury and Carlole DeVine, who are entitled to know the full truth about how their loved ones died and the extent of CIA involvement.
Our government's funding of murder and torture must stop! The secret funding of human rights violators compromises the moral integrity of our nation and does nothing to enhance our national security. We demand a fundamental review of the role of our intelligence services in Guatemala and elsewhere in Latin America. Now is the time to re-affirm human rights as a basis for our foreign policy.
President Clinton, we demand the truth. We ask that you:- Ensure that the continuing investigations cover all abuses by US government-paid assets, cover the period of time from the late 1970s to the present, and delve into the nature of the US relationship with Guatemalan military intelligence;- Make full, public disclosure of the results of the inquiry and declassify documents concerning abuses in Guatemala; and- Order an investigation into CIA ties with human rights abusers in other parts of the hemisphere, in particular in Honduras, Peru and Haiti, where the CIA also has close ties to intelligence units involved in torture and murder; and- Rescind the visas of human rights violators, denying them entry to the United States.
Representatives Robert Dornan (R-CA), Jerry Lewis (R-CA), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Julian Dixon (D-CA), Norman Dicks (D-WA), and James Hansen (R-UT), and Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Slade Gorton (R-WA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Mark Hatfield (R-OR), Bob Packwood (R-OR), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Hank Brown (R-CO), and Richard Bryan (D-NV), we urge you to:- End all forms of US aid to the Guatemalan military, whether public or secret;- Prohibit US intelligence agencies from funding institutions, in Guatemla or any other country, with a record of gross human rights abuse, halt payments to anyone engaging in torture, extrajudicial executions or abductions; and require the referral of such persons to the US or foreign authorities for criminal prosecution;- Abolish the Directorate of Operations, the CIA's liaison with the Guatemalan military and with repressive militaries around the world, whose covert activities involve it in human rights abuse as well as violate principles of open, accountable government; and- Schedule public hearings on these urgent matters.
Neighbors and fellow citizens, let's end this policy of complicity with murder and torture!- Join with us in urging President Clinton and members of Congress to take the important steps we have outlined.
Together, we must insist that our hard-earned tax dollars are not used for actions that violate our nation's highest values. You can be part of our campaign by calling or writing President Clinton (Comment line: 202/456-1111) and your representatives in Congress (202/224-3121). Your call or letter can make a diffeence! We owe it to these Americans and Guatemalans to finally get at the truth and end our nation's complicity with repression.
Yes! I want to help end our government's suport for human rights violators in Guatemala. Send me more information about Guatemala and let me know how I can get involved. (tax-deductible contributions to support our work can be make payable to WFP/SCEC and sent to WFP, 8124 West 3rd St #208 Los Angeles, CA 90048)
This advertisement was organized by Witness for Peace, Pacific/Southwest Region (213/655-6680, email: wfpla@igc.apc.org) and the Guatemala News and Information Bureau (Tel/fax: 510-835-0810, email: gnib@igc.apc.org) as part of a national campaign organized by The Campaign for Peace and Life in Guatemala, an interfaith network seeking a just and lasting peace in Guatemala (202-461-3935, email: epica@igc.apc.org), 1470 Irving St NW, Wshington DC 20010.
To organize an ad campaign in your area, contact the Campaign for Peace & Life in Guatemala. ```
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