US embassy cable - 05GUATEMALA766

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUATEMALA 000766 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, ETRD, ASEC, ELAB, SNAR, MASS, EAID, GT 
SUBJECT: GUATEMALA INVESTIGATING DEATH OF ANTI-CAFTA 
DEMONSTRATOR 
 
REF: GUATEMALA 00699 
 
1. (U) Summary:  The Government of Guatemala is investigating 
the death from a gunshot wound of a teacher in the March 15 
anti-CAFTA demonstration and roadblock in the department of 
Huehuetenango.  Several other demonstrators were seriously 
wounded.  It is not clear who fired the shot that killed the 
demonstrator.  Civil society groups have blamed both police 
and army for the shootings.  Their accounts, however, are 
inconsistent and conflicting.  The army was present but 
denies firing any weapons.  The national civilian police 
(PNC) claims that police took fire from demonstrators, but it 
does not yet confirm nor deny that police returned fire. 
Public Ministry (MP) prosecutors in Huehuetenango and the 
PNC's Office of Professional Responsibility (ORP) have 
initiated investigations and are working together on the 
case.  A second casualty of the demonstrations was a woman 
who bled to death after giving birth when roadblocks delayed 
her reaching a hospital.  End Summary. 
 
2. (U) The Public Ministry in Huehuetenango and the ORP 
opened separate investigations into the shooting but are also 
working together.  Our MP source in Huehuetenango confirmed 
they had received an autopsy report, a lead investigator had 
been assigned to the case, and they had begun interviewing 
witnesses.  The ORP confiscated police weapons, apparently to 
determine which weapons were fired and whether one of those 
weapons fired the lethal shot.  According to PNC sources, PNC 
Director Edwin Sperisen has assumed exclusive responsibility 
for communicating with the public on the case.  Neither the 
ORP nor the MP has released any information to date. 
 
3. (U) In the hours before the March 15 shooting, 
demonstrators blocked a section of the Interamerican Highway 
at Naranjales bridge at km 284 of the Interamerican Highway. 
When police arrived, demonstrators ignored orders to disperse 
and may even have pushed the police back.  By several 
accounts, the shooting was initiated by some person or 
persons positioned on one of the hillsides flanking the road, 
but it is not clear whether the shots were fired by police or 
demonstrators or both.  In its official statement, the office 
of the Human Rights Ombudsman (PDH) reports that its 
investigator counted more than 30 bullet casings at the scene 
several hours later.  Video footage confirms reports that 
police responded with smoke bombs and tear gas, but police 
have not yet confirmed nor denied firing their weapons. 
 
4. (SBU) Our sources at the MP believe that Lopez was 
probably shot from a distance, not at close range as reported 
by some media.  The victim's body was sent for an autopsy to 
try to determine whether the caliber of the bullets used was 
the same as those used by PNC.  The results have not yet been 
released. 
 
5. (SBU) Several accounts, including a statement by the PDH, 
suggested that four police were taken and held hostage by 
demonstrators who released the police in exhange for four 
demonstrators who had been arrested.  A PNC source confirmed 
to us that four police were taken hostage and released and 
also told us the demonstrators set fire to a police patrol 
car. 
 
6. (U) Embassy contacted the People's Labor Action Unit 
(UASP), one of the demonstration organizers, and the PDH for 
their accounting of events.  The PDH issued an official 
statement written by a field investigator who arrived at the 
scene hours after the events, and who pieced together most of 
his report by interviewing demonstrators.  In that report, 
the PDH concludes the victim was shot by police positioned on 
the road to the bridge.  UASP, on the other hand, told us 
that he was not shot by police, but by an army soldier 
positioned on one of the hills flanking the road.  According 
to UASP, the soldier had infiltrated the demonstrators.  The 
Mutual Support Group (GAM) is filing a complaint against the 
government for the demonstrator's death.  In that complaint, 
the GAM does not assert that police shot him, but that by 
responding with force the government "failed to ensure life." 
 
 
7. (SBU) We also spoke with the governor of Huehuetenango, 
who visited the scene after the violence and spoke with 
motorists who had been trapped by the roadblock.  According 
to those witnesses, demonstrators waited for police to reach 
the section of road between two hills, then opened fire from 
above.  The governor also said demonstrators were charging 
cars Q20 ($2.50) to pass the roadblock, a statement confirmed 
by the PDH.  He said coffee trucks were charged as much as 
Q600 ($75.00) to pass.  The governor confirmed that four 
police were taken hostage and believed they had been 
exchanged for four demonstrators who had been arrested.  He 
also confirmed that a police patrol car had been burned. 
 
8. (SBU) The Army Chief of Staff told us a platoon backing up 
the police never fired a shot.  He said there was confusion 
when tear gas blew back over the police and soldiers, who 
were not equipped for it.  He said the soldiers hung back 
while the police tried to disperse the road blockers.  He 
thought that command and control may have broken down among 
police for a few minutes shortly before the demonstrator was 
shot. 
 
9. (U) A 40 year old woman died a few hours after giving 
birth to her eighth child when she was delayed an hour at a 
roadblock in the department of Quetzaltenango on March 15. 
Demonstrators eventually helped the pickup transporting the 
woman pass the roadblock, but the help came too late and she 
bled to death before reaching the hospital. 
 
10. (U) A statement issued by the Goverment of Guatemala 
March 16 lamented the deaths occasioned by the roadblocks. 
It said the goverment would make available to the Public 
Ministry all resources necessary to carry out an exhaustive 
investigation and to prosecute those responsible. 
 
11. (SBU) Comment:  It is still unclear who fired the first 
or lethal shot.  The most likely scenario is that someone on 
the hill opened fire, but we have no confirmation that police 
returned fire.  It is clear that police lost control of the 
situation.  It is also clear that the demonstrators were not 
peaceful; nor did they cooperate with police efforts to clear 
the road.  The fact that police were taken hostage by 
demonstrators suggests that police were mostly reluctant to 
use their firearms, even in self-defense.  It is encouraging 
that both the MP and ORP moved quickly to interview witnesses 
and collect whatever ballistic and forensic evidence they 
could; however, Guatemala has little forensic capacity. 
There is a commitment, if not the resources, to investigate 
the shootings.  Since the investigation is less than a week 
old, the GOG's reluctance to release information may signal 
it is proceeding carefully and cautiously. 
HAMILTON