US embassy cable - 04GUATEMALA2248

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 002248 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, KJUS, ASEC, SNAR, KCRM, GT 
SUBJECT: GUATEMALA: ATTEMPT TO DISLODGE SQUATTERS LEAVES 
TEN DEAD 
 
 
 1.  (SBU) Summary:  At least ten persons, including four 
police, were killed in an August 31 police attempt to remove 
several hundred squatters from a farm in southwestern 
Guatemala.  The squatters had occupied the farm to protest 
GOG inaction following the apparent disappearance last year 
of the farm administrator after an alleged dispute with the 
farm owner.  According to initial media and police reports, 
the squatters opened fire on police (who did not initially 
have firearms) with AK-47s and other weapons, thus provoking 
a melee that ended with four police and six squatters dead, 
and more than two dozen persons wounded, including fifteen 
police.  The Congress is summoning cabinet members to explain 
the government's handling of the incident and the police are 
conducting an internal investigation.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (SBU) According to police officials, the confrontation 
began when members of the Civilian National Police (PNC) 
attempted to evict squatters from two farms in Retalhuleu 
Department.  When the PNC contingent neared the Nueva Linda 
farm, it encountered barricades consisting of downed trees 
and burning tires.  The PNC Southern District Commander then 
reportedly pulled back his men and called PNC Headquarters in 
the capital to request reinforcements.  The PNC commander 
also summoned the judge who had issued the eviction order, 
the local prosecutor, an official of the office of the 
Guatemalan Human Rights ombudsman, and the Department 
governor.  The PNC commander claims that gunfire (which he 
recognized as AK-47 fire) erupted from the squatter ranks 
while he and the other GOG officials were meeting with five 
squatter leaders.  The GOG officials and the PNC forces 
immediately fled the scene.  Following the arrival of 
requested police reinforcements, PNC personnel attempted to 
surround the Nueva Linda farm to drive out the squatters, 
thus leading to multiple individual firefights between the 
two sides. 
 
3.  (SBU) The GOG also sent between 80-100 soldiers, one 
armored personnel carrier, and a water cannon to reinforce 
the PNC forces at the farm.  Several media reporters claimed 
to have been beaten by the police during the melee, and there 
is one unconfirmed media account of an extrajudicial 
execution of a squatter by PNC personnel.  The PNC internal 
affairs (OPR) office is investigating the entire incident. 
Congress is summoning Minister of Government Carlos Vielman 
to explain the police handling of the incident as well as 
Agriculture Minister Alvaro Aguilar and Human Rights 
Prosecutor Sergio Morales for their testimony. 
 
4.  (SBU) Upon learning of the outbreak of violence, the GOG 
dispatched a delegation that included Minister of Government 
Vielmann, Human Rights Commissioner Frank LaRue, and Roving 
Ambassador Rigobertu Menchu.  The delegation managed to 
persuade the squatters to withdraw from the farm.  Human 
Rights Commissioner LaRue told the Embassy's human rights 
officer that while he deplored the violence, he supported the 
GOG action because the government "could not allow armed 
groups to fire on the police" and had "a responsibility to 
reestablish law and order."  LaRue said he believed the 
campesinos initiated the violence with homemade pipebombs and 
gunshots.  He said the police initially went in only with 
batons but required armed reinforcements when campesino 
resistance turned violent. 
 
5.  (SBU) A leading human rights activist told poloff that 
130 farms are currently held by squatters, and 40 have 
pending eviction orders.  As a result of negotiations with 
several campesino organizations, the GOG had suspended all 
eviction orders for a 90-day period due to expire next week. 
The Nueva Linda squatters did not, however, belong to any of 
these campesino organizations.  They were reportedly 
occupying the Nueva Linda farm not to lay claim to the land 
or to protest labor conditions but to draw attention to the 
GOG's alleged failure to investigate the disappearance of the 
farm manager, who was also a campesino leader. 
 
6.  (SBU) Comment:  We are following these events closely, 
and in touch with government officials, human rights 
activists and labor leaders to get as full and accurate 
picture of the Nueva Linda tragedy as possible.  Competing 
versions of events make reliable information elusive, and we 
are awaiting further details before reaching conclusions 
about the handling of this incident.  The confrontation at 
Nueva Linda received intense media scrutiny, and the GOG is 
appropriately seized with the issue. 
 
HAMILTON