Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: 2010

October 21, 2010: UNFPA study places Guatemala's quality of life as the lowest in the region. The recent United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)study focused more on women and children than in the past, especially with regards to the internal conflict, natural disasters and recovery efforts.  It found that Guatemala has the highest rate of infant, child, and maternal mortality. Additionally, only 41% of births are attended by qualified professionals.  In regards to education, Guatemala has the lowest number of children reaching 5th grade and the highest rate of illiteracy for those over 15.  Sonia Escobedo of the Presidential Women’s Secretariat expressed that during natural disasters the responsibilities that fall to women triple, as they care for the shelter, for others in need, and often become the principal wage earners in the family. [Prensa Libre]

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October 21, 2010: Guatemalans commemorate the Revolution of Oct. 20, 1944. Thousands of Guatemalans, including labor unionists, politicians, civil society representatives and members of indigenous and women’s groups, marched in the capital yesterday to commemorate the anniversary of the 1944 revolution. Peaceful marches were carried out in a number of other departments as well. In Huehuetenango, Quetzaltenango and Totonicapán participants accused regional energy provider DEOCSA of excessive prices and demanded action. They also rallied for improved medical care and education. In Escuintla, Suchitepéquez, Chiquimula y Petén, citizens demanded security and justice in their communities. [Prensa Libre]

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October 14, 2010: New museum brings lessons of genocide to Mexico. A new museum focusing on the Holocaust opened in Mexico City. This museum also highlights other genocides, including the civil war in Guatemala. The creator decided that the “Mexico museum would have a special focus on bringing the effects of prejudice and intolerance home to Latin Americans, who sometimes see the U.S.-backed war in Guatemala as a thing apart from widely recognized crimes against humanity like the Holocaust, the Rwanda massacres and the brutal Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia.” [Washington Post]

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September 13, 2010: Students reach 36th day of protest and closure of Guatemala’s public university. Recent actions by the Constitutional Court and the USAC Administration have taken away certain student rights that are not only invaluable but constitutional. These actions have included reducing the number of student votes for the Board of Directors, raising tuition fees from what was previously affordable, and implementing certain placement exams that would make public education less accessible. The group Students for Autonomy (EPA) has been actively protesting these policies and calling forcefully for the University’s autonomy; they have been joined by other organizations. At the end of August, five students went on a hunger strike to force the University to respond to student demands. The main campus of the USAC, as well as the Metropolitan University Center (CUM), has been shut down since early August. University professionals are calling for students to end protests and return to classes.

Student activism is nothing new for the USAC campus. As with all other public institutions in Guatemala, the University and its students have been affected by historical events and political interests since its inception. During the internal conflict, student movements and organizations were under constant attack by the armed forces and the Guatemalan government. The USAC was founded in 1676 and is the oldest, largest, and only public university in Guatemala.

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May 7, 2010: ILO: Child labor not declining. More than a million children work in the agriculture and service sector in Guatemala, a figure that, in contrast with other Latin American countries, has not dropped during recent year.

This Saturday, the International Labor Organization (ILO) published a report on child labor, illustrating the reduction of child laborers by one million in Latin America, resulting in a total of 14 million.

However, this trend is not followed in Guatemala, still having a million child workers in agriculture and services. “In general terms, the number of child workers has continued the same as in 2000,” stated Karina Javier, National coordinator to the ILO International eradication of child labor program.

The 2006 Living Conditions survey demonstrated that the majority of the northwest and southwest of Guatemala were 70% male and half of that indigenous.

Sergio Morales, Ombudsman for Human Rights stated, “The intervention of the State is necessary, to exercise more control in activities where child labor exists.”

See also: Prensa Libre

 

 

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