United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala

“ Without waiting for an analysis of the electoral process, one of the conclusions that can be drawn from verification of the referendum is, without a doubt, that there is an urgent need to amend the existing Elections and Political Parties Act so as to permit greater democratization. ”

“ There are structural problems, such as lack of participation and shortcomings in the Elections Act, added to which State agencies were prevented from promoting the reform. There are also political realities, such as the fact that a good part of the urban and non-indigenous population do not feel that the proposals regarding multiculturalism or the reform of the armed forces have any thing to do with them, that a small minority spent considerable sums of money to ward off reforms which they perceived as constituting an unacceptable risk. ”

“ In all other respects the commitments set forth in the Peace Agreements can be implemented in the context of the present Constitution. The decisive element, therefore, is the political assessment made by the country’s main political and social forces. Sectors opposed to the peace agenda maintained that the failure of the reform left the Agreements — and the institutions arising therefrom — without any political or legal basis. ”

“ Since the middle of 1998, the Follow-up Commission has given priority to the implementation of the commitments relating to fiscal and rural problems because they are central to the Peace Agreements. In fact, increasing the tax burden is a prerequisite for the satisfactory fulfilment by the State of all its constitutional responsibilities. For its part, rural development is a key factor if the fight against poverty and extreme poverty is to be successful. This was confirmed in the latest national human development report, which was devoted to the subject of rural development. ”

“ As regards education and health, in addition to the twin challenges of continuing to expand coverage and ensure that the amount of money actually spent is no less than the amount budgeted, there is the challenge of making sure that the new schemes for the provision of services are sustainable and that the quality of services is improved, inter alia by ensuring that they are better tailored to the multicultural and multilingual characteristics of Guatemalan society. In all areas there is a strong need to mobilize more resources for democratization and social development. ”

“ The challenges of achieving greater political, economic, social and cultural equity in Guatemala will be hard to meet without the involvement of a majority of the population which stands to benefit. In this regard, the efforts made by the Follow-up Commission to involve State and non-State sectors at the departmental level in the implementation of the Agreements are to be commended and are an important guarantee for the continuity of the peace process. ”

“ In assessing developments in the area of public security, it is important to stress that a major legislative agenda, which includes a new Arms and Munitions Act, a new Public Order Act and a Private Security Companies Act, is still pending. It is also important that the next Government should take up the repeatedly postponed commitment to establish an Advisory Council on Security to study and present widely agreed strategies for responding to the major risks confronting the country. ”

“ The integration of demobilized combatants in the workforce presents serious difficulties in both the public and the private sector. Although this is a problem that affects the Guatemalan population as a whole, especially in rural areas, in the case of demobilized combatants it is aggravated by the lack of training and by some signs of discrimination. This requires that efforts be made to identify mechanisms to strengthen the training of demobilized combatants with a view to their further specialization. ”

“ The Office will have administrative, technical and financial management capacities and the power to promote and develop, together with governmental entities, proposals for public policy and plans and programmes for the prevention of, protection against and eradication of all forms of violence and discrimination against indigenous women. It will also offer legal advice and social services in its central and regional offices. The culmination of the long process of creating this institution is encouraging, since it is one of the few tangible results of the implementation of the Agreement. ”

“ The lack of will of some authorities and the distrust or weakness of social organizations militate against full participation. However, there have been welcome attempts to incorporate the structures of the Women’s Forum and indigenous organizations and to mobilize non-governmental organizations to support legal reform of the council system. In order to boost participation in the councils, the competent central authorities need to convene a meeting to set up the National Council. ”

“ The challenges peculiar to a society in transition from war to peace, and developments such as the serious, widespread phenomenon of lynchings and the persistence of “social cleansing”, underscore the importance of implementing a comprehensive concept of security which has the support of personalities representing the economic, social and cultural diversity of Guatemala. ”

“ Investments in productive development, for the most part with resources provided by the international community, have been limited, piecemeal and uncoordinated and need to be strengthened to ensure their sustainability. There are substantial delays in the launching of production projects, financed by the international community, whose approach is territorial. ”

“ The National Programme for Educational Self-Management (PRONADE) , with local support and participation, provided for over 175,000 children in 1998, mainly in rural areas, thereby narrowing the traditional gap between urban and rural educational coverage and improving the quality of education. However, education in general suffers from various deficiencies, such as the small number of teachers, which in rural areas results in an average ratio of 49 students per teacher and contributes to the lowering of educational standards and the high dropout rates. ”

“ The setbacks suffered in February 1998, with the rejection of the Act on a Single Property Tax, and in May 1999, with the outcome of the referendum, demonstrate that the deep-seated resistance with which those who benefit from the status quo greet any attempts to bring about change is fuelled by the absence of tangible, visible effects of the peace process. ”

“ CTEAR is currently setting up a production trust fund with joint national and international financing, which will be used to execute five production projects, within a system designed to develop a credit culture among the uprooted population and ensure the financial sustainability of future projects. Private sector participation in the productive diversification of small farmers would facilitate the sustainability of production activities in this sector. ”

“ The subsidies provided by the Guatemalan Housing Fund (FOGUAVI) have been utilized almost exclusively by the private sector, whether builders or lot developers, with a serious absence of control over the relationship between quality and price. It has also been noted that many of the houses put up by construction firms, as well as houses built under the Techo y Piso programme promoted by FONAPAZ, do not meet the minimum requirements for decent housing. ”

“ There is a need to reformulate completely the policy for access to low-income housing, since the current regulatory framework does not include the components established in the Peace Agreements, in particular the commitment to “closely coordinate housing policy with land management policy, especially urban planning and environmental protection policies, to enable poor people to have access to housing with services in hygienic and environmentally sustainable conditions” and the commitment to “apply ... regulations to the production and marketing of building materials and services ”

“ With regard to the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, scant progress has been made in the launching of comprehensive land management plans in both urban and rural areas which take into account multiculturalism and indigenous communities’ forms of land ownership. ”

“ Although the vast majority of political forces — including the main opposition party, which joined the consensus in April 1999 — came out in favour of the reform, the outcome of the referendum was negative and a high percentage of voters abstained. The referendum results revealed a serious division in the country: in municipalities where indigenous people were in the majority, people voted “yes” to the reform, whereas in other municipalities the majority voted “no”. ”

“ Although the technical and financial capacity of the development councils has been strengthened, they still do not constitute the forums for consultation on policies for development and land management laid down by the law and the Agreements, since they suffer from problems of inter-institutional coordination and many do not have the participation of the social sectors stipulated by law. ”

“ Indeed, the Congress of the Republic is discussing bills whose purpose is to move ahead with the professionalization of the career judicial service, and the executive branch, in recognition of the particular vulnerability of indigenous women and the discrimination they face, approved the establishment of the Office for the Defence of Indigenous Women’s Rights. ”

“ In quantitative terms, public spending on health was increased in accordance with the Peace Agreements, and progress has been made in the commitment to allocate a higher percentage of spending to preventive health. As a result of the increased spending, the health infrastructure has been improved and the coverage of health services expanded, especially in rural areas. Average vaccination coverage remained above 80 per cent and progress was made in the purchase of medicines, following the application of open contracting procedures and a consequent reduction in corruption and prices. ”

“ Such freedom is essential if the different sides of industry are to develop a negotiating process. Consequently, the authorities are urged to take decisive steps to promote the tripartite forums and consultation mechanisms already being tried out in several regions of the country, as well as to implement a genuine public policy of promoting collective bargaining in its various forms, in the design and execution of which employers and unionized labour will play an active role. ”

“ Although the subprogramme for disabled combatants received a strong push in the early months of 1999, it is still well behind schedule. Based on an evaluation submitted following several months of data collection, the national authorities became involved in the design of programmes to benefit all those disabled by the armed conflict. The priority nature and vulnerability of this population, who were affected directly by the conflict, demands prompt implementation of the comprehensive plan agreed to by representatives of the affected sectors (URNG, armed forces and civil society) . ”

“ Rural development policy 38. The following are among the positive aspects of Government action in the area of rural development: the definition by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food of areas for long-term strategic action and of priorities for 1999 based on the key elements of the Peace Agreements; the submission of a document on national agrarian policy which contains some important components for the definition of a rural development strategy; the modernization of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food; the adoption by the Congress of the Land Trust Fund Act ”

“ At the same time, the continuation of the public auction of radio frequencies is still giving rise to discontent and frustration in indigenous organizations, which have no resources with which to buy them and are therefore being deprived of a fundamental medium of expression, particularly in rural areas. ”

“ An organized group of heavily armed individuals, claiming to represent local residents, broke into the offices of the Izabal Banana Workers Union, threatened union leaders that they must give up the Union and their jobs at BANDEGUA, forced them to call off the union mobilization planned for the next day and compelled them, on pain of death, to leave the area with their families. ”

“ The implementation of the reform is a cornerstone for meeting the demands of a multicultural society.
51. The attainment of the target of providing access for all those between the ages of 7 and 12 to at least three years of schooling will have to be rescheduled, and an extraordinary effort will be required, not only in terms of educational coverage but also in terms of quality and infrastructure. ”