26th July 2006: Guatemala – 10 years after end of civil war
Guatemala suffered a long civil war in which an estimated 200,000 people were killed. One of the main factors in this war was the fight for land. This was the cause of the coup d'état that overthrew president Jacobo Arbenz in 1954 and the civil war that lasted from 1960 to 1996 and claimed an estimated 200,000 lives.
In the 10 years since the end of the civil war no one has faced charges for any of the acts of murder and torture that took place. However, the Spanish justice system (who started the proceedings against the former Chilean military ruler Augusto Pinochet) has decided it can consider accusations of genocide from Guatemala.
Guatemala has 11.2 million inhabitants and 96 percent of them hold just 14 percent of the land. Many families (more than 500,000) live in extreme poverty due to the lack of land for growing crops. There are as many as 6 million farmers in need of land, credits, technical assistance and market access. According to a 2001 report by the United Nations 68.6 percent of the Guatemalan population lives in the countryside, and 80 percent of that population lives in poverty. The indigenous population lives primarily in rural areas and has limited access to communications channels or to public services.
Much land has in the past been converted into banana plantations to satisfy foreign markets. There is a shortage of land available for the Guatemalan peasantry due to concentrated land ownership, which has resulted in overpopulation in many areas as well as colonization into undisturbed rain forest regions. This often results in inappropriate land use and degradation of forest ecosystems
The farmers accuse the Alvaro Portillo government of failing to comply with the land distribution that was agreed under the peace treaty. According to the farmers only 162 farms have been issued with land titles since 1997.
Further info:
http://www.cep.unep.org/pubs/Techreports/tr36en/countries/guat.html
http://www.tierramerica.net/2003/1215/iacentos2.shtml
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/5158116.stm
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