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Guatemala No. 425Adopted 1995 The various Guatemalan military regimes that followed the 1954 overthrow of the democratically-elected Arbenz regime have committed heinous violations of the human rights of the indigenous populations, some approaching genocidal proportions. It is estimated that the Guatemalan military have massacred at least 150,000 indigenous people in their scorched-earth policy that also created hundreds of thousands of refugees. The complicity of the CIA and the U.S. embassy in the crimes of the Guatemalan military place a special burden on the US Administration and Congress to contribute to the liberation of the Guatemalan people from the military yoke. We urge the Bush Administration to maximize pressure on the Guatemalan government to re-establish democratic freedoms and end human rights abuses. All U.S. bilateral trade agreements and U.S. economic assistance should be contingent on evidence of movement toward civilian control of the government and an end to human rights abuses by the military. Because of the continuing horrendous human rights record of the bloated Guatemalan military and its threats to annex neighboring Belize, the U.S. should cease military aid, joint military exercises, military education training funds or military sales to Guatemala. # # # No. 425 |