Send an email to Secretary Kerry urging him to maintain restrictions on military aid

Guatemala’s UN Truth Commission report not only attributes 93% of all human rights violations and acts of violence to the Guatemalan State, which included over 600 massacres, it also finds the US responsible for playing a large role in providing military assistance and training to the Guatemalan army during the conflict. It was not until 1990, seven years after the most violent years of Guatemala’s internal armed conflict, that the US enacted a full ban on Department of State aid to the Guatemalan Army. Over the past two decades, restrictions on the ban have been weakened. Now, we face the possibility of seeing the restrictions lifted completely.

Currently, State Department funds may only go to the Guatemalan Army if the Secretary of State certifies that the Army:

1. Has a narrowly defined mission focused on border security and external threats, and a credible plan to end the army’s involvement in internal law enforcement.

2. Cooperates with civilian investigations and prosecutions of human rights cases involving current and retired military officers.

3. Publicly discloses all military archival documents related to the internal armed conflict in a timely manner in response to requests by civilian judicial authorities.

In addition, this year, the US Congress approved special conditions for reinstatement of aid, contingent upon the Guatemalan government taking credible steps toward implementing the 2010 reparations plan for the communities affected by the Chixoy Hydroelectric Dam. Over 3,000 people were affected by the dam, including 444 people massacred and several communities completely inundated when the dam was built in the early 1980s.

Given that conditions have not been met in a credible, concrete, and meaningful way, the State Department should not certify funding for the Guatemalan Army.

Email Secretary Kerry now!