16 September 2003
U.N. Seeks One-Year Extension of Peace Verification Mission in Guatemala
Extension is recommended to ease country's peace process
By Eric Green
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- The United Nations has recommended a one-year extension of its peace verification mission in Guatemala to help ease the peace process in the Central American country.
In a September 15 statement, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said the coming year will be "decisive" for the future of Guatemala. The country is scheduled to hold general elections in less than two months, which will bring about a third successive new government since 1996. At stake in the elections are the presidency, all 158 congressional seats, and positions in 331 municipal governments.
The November election in Guatemala, Annan said, will be held "in an increasingly tense and polarized atmosphere."
Annan spelled out his recommendations in a new report released the same day about the U.S.-supported Verification Mission in Guatemala, known by the acronym MINUGUA. Annan described a "complex and precarious" political situation in Guatemala that has slowed implementation of the 1996 agreements that ended the last and longest of Central America's conflicts. That conflict cost more than 100,000 lives.
Following consultations, Annan has recommended MINUGUA's extension until December 31, 2004, the U.N. said.
The U.S. State Department says that the United States, as a member of the "Friends of Guatemala," played an important role in the U.N.-moderated peace accords in that country. The Department said the United States strongly supports the six substantive and three procedural accords, which -- along with the signing of the 1996 final accord -- form the blueprint for political, economic, and social change in Guatemala.
On a side note, the White House said September 15 in an annual process required by U.S. law that the Bush Administration has determined once again, as was the case in 2002, that Guatemala is one of 23 countries on its "Majors List" of major drug-transit or drug-producing nations.
President Bush added, however, in his "Presidential Determination on Major Drug Transit or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries for 2004," that "in the eight months since my January determination that Guatemala had failed demonstrably in regard to its counter-narcotics responsibilities, the Government of Guatemala has made efforts to improve its institutional capabilities, adhere to its obligations under international counter-narcotics agreements, and take measures set forth in U.S. law. These initial steps show Guatemala's willingness to better its counter-narcotics practices, but the permanence of these improvements has yet to be demonstrated. I expect Guatemala to continue its efforts and to demonstrate further progress in the coming year."
Regarding the U.N. peace mission in Guatemala, MINUGUA was to be phased out by the end of 2003. But the U.N. said that in light of the efforts to implement the 1996 peace agreements, which are being "repeatedly frustrated by false starts and failed expectations," Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo requested that the mission be extended to cover the new government's first 12 months in office.
In his report, Annan writes that when the new government assumes power, "it will face the weighty responsibilities of advancing the broad agenda for democratization laid out in the peace agreements." Annan said those future responsibilities make it all the more crucial that the upcoming elections take place in a climate of tolerance, non-violence, and transparency, "with absolute regard for fairness and legality of the proceedings."
Annan said he was concerned that implementation of the peace accords has repeatedly fallen short of expectations and of "the urgent needs of the people." Advances in the peace process, he added, tend to be overshadowed in the public eye by a worsening security situation, persistent corruption, and ongoing persecution of human-rights activists.
Annan said Guatemala's new government, together with civil society and the private sector, must work with "increased energy and commitment" to lead the country into a new period "characterized by the rule of law and full human development."
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
