Guatemala Today: Rigoberta Menchu Tum

The video above is from a talk that Rigoberta Menchu Tum gave on Guatemala Today: Challenges to Lasting Peace. The November 16, 2009 talk was sponsored by the Peace & Justice Distinguished Lecture Series of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice at the University of San Diego.

In other news, Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina recently returned from a state visit to Israel. Perez Molina visited a number of holy sites but the main thrust of his visit was economic- and security-related. The president was being joined by Luis Fernando Carrera Castro, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Manuel Lopez Ambrocio, Minister of Defense; Elmer Lopez Rodriguez, Minister of Agriculture and George Tanenbaum, President of the Guatemala Jewish Community.

On Tuesday, President Perez Molina gave an address on peace in Guatemala which goes well against with Menchu's talk above. According to the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Ofir Akunis (Likud) who met the delegation at the airport since everybody else was out of town,

Molina was known as a great soldier and statesman who is now trying to solve the problems still confronting his country. Peres who visited Guatemala several years ago, and was charmed by its beauty, expressed satisfaction that the civil war in Guatemala is now history and that the nation with its diverse cultures and ethnic populations has been reconciled and united.

 But the news that dominated a bit of his trip was a visit to occupied East Jerusalem.

"We will not accept any attempt to legitimize Israel's occupation policies, particularly in East Jerusalem. The visit of the President of Guatemala to the occupied Palestinian capital in coordination with the Israeli foreign ministry is unacceptable and contradicts Guatemala's obligations according to the Geneva Conventions, the Rome Statue and the ICJ opinion on the Wall, as well as Security Council resolutions 476 and 478, among others" said Erekat.

"What is even more worrying is the statement delivered by the Guatemalan Foreign Ministry which attempted to justify the visit. The statement supported a narrative far removed from reality and demonstrated severe misconceptions that have little to do with international law. Guatemala should know better, especially given the fact that the vast majority of Latin America has a clear position regarding Palestine, firmly grounded in international law and UN resolutions."

Erekat concluded, "Palestine has made a formal complaint to Guatemala on the matter. We consider this visit, along with the statement issued by the Foreign Ministry, tantamount to accepting the Israeli annexation of occupied East Jerusalem. We will take all necessary steps within the international arena and in conjunction with our partners in Latin America, the Non Aligned Movement, the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the Arab League, in order to make it clear that East Jerusalem is a red line for billions of people worldwide."

Meanwhile back in Guatemala pharmaceutical residue (acetaminophen, caffeine, dexketoprofen, phenylephrine and ibuprofen) has been found in the Villalobos and Las Vacas rivers