US maintains restrictions on military aid to Guatemala

I meant to post this two weeks ago but got distracted. From Jeff Abbott writing at Truth Out

In December, the US Congress passed legislation that reconfigures the conditions of economic aid for development projects in Guatemala and puts further pressure on the Guatemalan government to reduce the presence of military in everyday life. 

The requirements are part of the Appropriations Act for the 2015 fiscal year, which sets the budget and terms for the coming fiscal year. In relation to Guatemala, the act does several things. First of all, it maintains the three-decade-long congressional ban on military assistance to Guatemala, which was instated due to human rights violations by the military during the country's 36-year-long internal armed conflict. Secondly, the bill requires the government of Guatemala to show progress on the repatriation of families affected by the construction of the Chixoy dam during the 1980s.

Lastly, the bill makes funding for Guatemala's massive expansion of development projects dependent on the government "implementing a credible plan to build a professional, credible police force and end the army's involvement in internal law enforcement" - as required by the 1996 peace accords - as well as the investigation and prosecution of any army official alleged to have committed "gross violations of human rights" during the countries 36-year-long internal armed conflict.

US restrictions on military aid to Guatemala have been in place for quite some time. It is notable that restrictions remain even though many in the US and in Guatemala want them lifted. One of the reasons that restrictions remain in place is that successive Guatemalan governments have failed to abide by US conditions. That's why the restrictions were developed in the first place. However, there seems to have been progress on the second condition regarding reparations to residents displaced for the construction of the Chixoy dam and the third one with regards to prosecutions, even though the Rios Montt trial developments have been a setback.

One gets the impression that the US would like to give greater military assistance to the Guatemalan military not because it prefers the greater militarization of the country but instead because of its lack of faith in an undermanned, under-trained, and under-resourced police. I was at a meeting a few years ago and we were all encouraging low-level US officials to focus on providing more resources to transform the police. They sort of laughed. I don't think that they had much confidence in the Guatemalan police. They had most likely heard the same story for over a decade. Today, I'd say the police are better than they used to be but nowhere near what is needed for a democratic society.
 
One of the other reasons why the restrictions remain in place also appears to be grassroots pressure in the US on Congress...sounds like an interesting research project.