US Maintains Ban on IMET

As the Congress wrapped up the FY06 foreign operations bill, there was good news for Guatemala: the United States Congress decided to maintain the ban on military aid to Guatemala, in place since 1990. The Bush Administration pushed harder than usual to lift the ban on International Military Education and Training (IMET), arguing that Guatemala had made sufficient progress, and the House lifted the ban in its version of the bill. The Senate maintained the ban, however, and finally, on November 3, the news came that the ban was maintained. Grassroots activists, the Latin American Working Group (LAWG), the Network in Solidarity with Guatemala (NISGUA), the Guatemala Human Rights Commission, the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), and other groups called on Congress to keep the ban due to continued threats and attacks against human rights and social activists and the lack of progress in implementing military reforms contained in the 1996 Peace Accords.

Both the Guatemalan government and nongovernmental organizations fought hard on the issue. The Guatemalan government made several trips to Washington in the past year to lobby for renewed aid. Vice President Eduardo Stein, Defense Minister Carlos Aldana Villanueva, and President of the Presidential Human Rights Commission Frank LaRue toured Capitol Hill, asking for the resumption of military aid. The Guatemala Human Rights Commission brought Nery Rodenas, Director of the Archbishop’s Human Rights Office, to Washington last April to tour Congress and speak about the worsening human rights situation and the need to maintain the ban on military aid. GHRC/USA also took Nery Barrios, the director of the Labor and Popular Action Unity (UASP), and UASP attorney Walter Robles around Congress in October and wrote a letter to members of the conference committee arguing against the lifting of the ban. Supporters of human rights in Guatemala all over the country made phone calls to their members of Congress, and this work in the end convinced Congress that the military has not reformed sufficiently and the human rights situation in Guatemala is critical.

The final bill also contained $3 million in DNA analysis and support for forensic investigations in Guatemala, Mexico, Argentina, and other parts of Latin America. In addition, it contained a provision to stop the erosion of aid to Central America, mandating that aid to the region not drop below 2005 levels.

The bill requires the Agency for International Development to appoint a special advisor for indigenous issues worldwide—an effort to ensure greater consultation with indigenous peoples and improve how they are affected by aid programs.

Congress kept the requirement for the State Department and Defense Department to make public a Foreign Military Training Report on US military training programs around the globe. This report has been essential for monitoring US programs to Latin America, as documented on by Center for International Policy, LAWG and WOLA on www.ciponline.org/facts .

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	US Maintains Ban on IMET November 3, 2005 As the Congress wrapped up the FY06 foreign operations bill, there was good news for Guatemala: the United States Congress decided to maintain the ban on military aid to Guatemala, in place since 1990. The Bush Administration pushed harder than usual to lift the ban on International Military Education and Training (IMET), arguing that Guatemala had made sufficient progress, and the House lifted the ban in its version of the bill. The Senate maintained the ban, however, and finally, on November 3, the news came that the ban was maintained. Grassroots activists, the Latin American Working Group (LAWG), the Network in Solidarity with Guatemala (NISGUA), the Guatemala Human Rights Commission, the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), and other groups called on Congress to keep the ban due to continued threats and attacks against human rights and social activists and the lack of progress in implementing military reforms contained in the 1996 Peace Accords. Both the Guatemalan government and nongovernmental organizations fought hard on the issue. The Guatemalan government made several trips to Washington in the past year to lobby for renewed aid. Vice President Eduardo Stein, Defense Minister Carlos Aldana Villanueva, and President of the Presidential Human Rights Commission Frank LaRue toured Capitol Hill, asking for the resumption of military aid. The Guatemala Human Rights Commission brought Nery Rodenas, Director of the Archbishop’s Human Rights Office, to Washington last April to tour Congress and speak about the worsening human rights situation and the need to maintain the ban on military aid. GHRC/USA also took Nery Barrios, the director of the Labor and Popular Action Unity (UASP), and UASP attorney Walter Robles around Congress in October and wrote a letter to members of the conference committee arguing against the lifting of the ban. Supporters of human rights in Guatemala all over the country made phone calls to their members of Congress, and this work in the end convinced Congress that the military has not reformed sufficiently and the human rights situation in Guatemala is critical. The final bill also contained $3 million in DNA analysis and support for forensic investigations in Guatemala, Mexico, Argentina, and other parts of Latin America. In addition, it contained a provision to stop the erosion of aid to Central America, mandating that aid to the region not drop below 2005 levels. The bill requires the Agency for International Development to appoint a special advisor for indigenous issues worldwide—an effort to ensure greater consultation with indigenous peoples and improve how they are affected by aid programs. Congress kept the requirement for the State Department and Defense Department to make public a Foreign Military Training Report on US military training programs around the globe. This report has been essential for monitoring US programs to Latin America, as documented on by Center for International Policy, LAWG and WOLA on www.ciponline.org/facts .





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US Maintains Ban on IMET