DATE=5/13/99
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-249349
TITLE=GUATEMALA KILLING (L-O)
BYLINE=GREG FLAKUS
DATELINE=MEXICO CITY
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A PROMINENT LEFTIST POLITICIAN WAS MURDERED IN FRONT OF
HIS HOME IN GUATEMALA ON THURSDAY, JUST TWO DAYS BEFORE A
NATIONAL REFERENDUM IS TO BE HELD TO IMPLEMENT HUMAN RIGHTS
REFORMS. VOA'S GREG FLAKUS HAS MORE FROM OUR MEXICO CITY
BUREAU.
TEXT: WITNESSES SAY ROBERTO BELARINO GONZALEZ WAS LEAVING HIS
HOME WITH AROUND 20 OTHER POLITICAL ACTIVISTS WHEN GUNMEN FIRED
FROM A PASSING PICKUP TRUCK. THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL
OF GUATEMALA'S DEMOCRATIC FRONT FOR A NEW GUATEMALA WAS KILLED
INSTANTLY. BULLETS HIT AT LEAST ONE OTHER PERSON, A WOMAN
NEIGHBOR, BUT SHE WAS NOT SERIOUSLY WOUNDED.
THE WIFE OF THE MURDERED POLITICAL LEADER, ELIZABETH DE
GONZALEZ, TOLD REPORTERS THAT HER HUSBAND HAD RECEIVED DEATH
THREATS IN RECENT WEEKS.
HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS IN GUATEMALA CONDEMNED THE KILLING AS A
FRIGHTENING RETURN TO THE KIND OF POLITICAL VIOLENCE THAT WAS ALL
TOO COMMON IN THE CENTRAL AMERICAN NATION DURING ITS 36-YEAR-LONG
CIVIL WAR. AROUND 200 THOUSAND PEOPLE, MOSTLY RURAL INDIANS,
WERE KILLED IN THAT CONFLICT, WHICH ENDED WITH A PEACE ACCORD IN
1996.
ON SUNDAY, VOTERS IN GUATEMALA GO TO THE POLLS TO APPROVE A
PACKAGE OF 50 CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS WHICH WERE CONTAINED IN THE
PEACE ACCORD AND WHICH WERE SUBSEQUENTLY PASSED BY THE GUATEMALAN
LEGISLATURE.
THE REFORMS WOULD GIVE SPECIAL RECOGNITION TO THE RIGHTS OF
GUATEMALA'S INDIGENOUS INDIAN PEOPLE, WHO, ALTHOUGH THEY ARE IN
THE MAJORITY, HAVE NEVER HAD ACCESS TO POLITICAL OR ECONOMIC
POWER IN THE COUNTRY. THE REFORMS WOULD ALSO BRING ABOUT THE
MODERNIZATION AND PROFESSIONALIZATION OF THE ARMED FORCES, WHICH
WERE ACCUSED OF CARRYING OUT THE MAJORITY OF KILLINGS AND OTHER
HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES DURING THE NEARLY FOUR-DECADE-LONG WAR
AGAINST LEFTIST GUERRILLAS. (SIGNED).
NEB/GF/PHW/PT
13-May-99 6:35 PM EDT (2235 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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