PEOPLES PRESS INTERNATIONAL (PPI)
022-Bishop-of-Guatemala.txt
IN RESPONSE TO THE ABOMINABLE ASSASSINATION OF
MONSIGNOR JUAN JOSE GERARDI CONEDERA
THE HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICE
OF THE ARCHBISHOPRIC OF GUATEMALA
- - -
Republication permission granted for
non-commercial and small-press use,
with all sig & header info incorporated (in some form), please.
- - -
a public service of CADRE (Citizens for a Democratic Renaissance)
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Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998
From: Sid Shniad <•••@••.•••> (by way of Michael Eisenscher
<•••@••.•••>)
Subject: Bishop of Guatemala was murdered (fwd)
--fwd---
From: Sid Shniad <•••@••.•••
Subject: Bishop of Guatemala was murdered (fwd)
To: •••@••.••• (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives)
Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998
Translated for Nuevo Amanecer Press by Susan Rasco'n, Lawrence
University
IN RESPONSE TO THE ABOMINABLE ASSASSINATION OF
MONSIGNOR JUAN JOSE GERARDI CONEDERA
THE HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICE
OF THE ARCHBISHOPRIC OF GUATEMALA
TO NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC OPINION
EXPRESSES:
Its profound pain and indignation at the cowardly and brutal assassination
of which Monsignor Gerardi, founder and General Coordinator of this Office
was victim.
On Sunday, April 26 at about 10 p.m., when he was entering his home, after
conducting a routine family visit, Monsignor Gerardi was attacked by an
unidentified individual. The assassin beat Monsignor Gerardi's brain with a
chunk of cement and then smashed him in the face with the same object,
disfiguring him. The individual returned ten minutes later near the place
where he committed the crime, after changing his clothes which had been
splattered with Monsignor's blood. Nothing of value from his home, from the
vehicle he was getting out of in his garage or any of his personal
belongings were touched by the assassin.
Just 48 hours earlier, in the Metropolitan Cathedral, Monsignor Gerardi,
together with other bishops from the Episcopal Conference of Guatemala, had
presided over the public presentation of the report entitled: "Guatemala:
Never Again", which documented and analyzed tens of thousands of cases of
human rights violations which occurred during the internal armed conflict.
Monsignor Gerardi was the bishop coordinating the Interdiocesan Project
"Recovery of Historical Memory" (REMHI).
Monsignor Gerardi was, since 1984, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of
Guatemala; from 1967 to 1974 he was Bishop of Las Verapaces, where he was a
precursor of the Indigenous Pastoral; later he was named Bishop of El
Quiche, where he had to confront the period of greatest violence against the
population: massacres; forced disappearances of civilians; the assassination
of several priests and catechists; and the military's severe harrassment
against the Church which forced the closure of the El Quiche Dioceses in
June of 1980. Just weeks before, Monsignor Gerardi had escaped an ambush.
As President of the Episcopal Conference, the authorities denied Monsignor
Gerardi entry into the country, and he had to remain in exile for two years,
until 1984. In the early 1990's he was chosen by the Episcopal Conference
to accompany the peace process, along with Monsignor Quezada Torun~o.
The assassination of Monsignor Gerardi is a savage aggression against the
Church of Guatemala, which for the first time has lost a Bishop in this
violent manner, and against the entire Guatemalan people, especially
Catholics, and represents a strong blow to the peace process.
We demand that this tragedy be solved by the proper authorities within a
time period that should not exceed 72 hours, since if the pattern of
impunity is extended to this case, a grave cost will fall upon the
Government of the Republic.
Of the Guatemalan people and the international community we ask your firm
support and solidarity at this difficult time. This premeditated crime has
shaken us all, but in this test we must remain firm and united, to prevent
the barbarity and terror from which the Guatemalan people have suffered from
again taking power over Guatemala and making us lose more lives, as well as
the democratic spaces that have been achieved with so much sacrifice. As
Monsignor Gerardi said in his April 24 speech, on the occasion of the
presentation of the REMHI report: "We want to contribute to the
construction of a different country. That is why we are recovering the
people's memory. This path was and continues to be full of risks, but the
building of God's kingdom entails risks, and it is only its builders who
have the strength to face them."
"Blessed are those who work for peace
those who are persecuted for the sake of justice
for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven"
Matthew 5: 9-10
Guatemala de la Asuncio'n, April 27, 1998
HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICE OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF GUATEMALA
____________________________
NUEVO AMANECER PRESS- N.A.P.
____________________________
Non Profit news agency-translating and distributing information
in support of the work in defense of human rights.
Registered as Non Profit Corporation in USA.
Advisory team: Mexico. General Director:Roger Maldonado-Mexico
Darrin Wood- Director NAP-Spain office
Susana Saravia-Director: NAP-USA office
our address: •••@••.•••
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Publisher's note:
Lest we think of the above report as being a `local to Guatemala' issue,
keep in mind these paragraphs from an earlier PPI posting... the
Guatemalan military, as well as the Mexican, are frequent attendees
at the infamous "School of the Americas".
-rkm
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Subject: PPI-015-First-hand report: Atrocities in Chiapas
- - -
Report on Chiapas
January 6, 1998, 6:44 AM
- - -
by Kerry Appel, Director
The Human Bean Company
--snip---
The US government and the corporations are getting impatient to end this
rebellion of indigenous peoples. They feel that they ve been successful in
undermining international support for the Mayan people and they ve been
working hard for the last two years to make it appear that the rebellion is
just a local conflict. The Mexican army commanders have been traveling to
Ft. Benning, Georgia since 1994 to learn counter-insurgency tactics at the
"School of the Americas" also know as the "School of Assassins".
The tactics learned there are now being used against the people of Chiapas.
The massacre of these 45 unarmed men, women and children is just the
beginning a new level of violence against the civil population.
--snip---
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Response to Globalization
and Corporate Power"
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June 25 <incl> July 2 - 1998 - Nova Scotia - Canada
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CITIZENS FOR A DEMOCRATIC RENAISSANCE (CADRE)
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