Guatemala Peace Deals Incomplete
GUATEMALA - The war conflict in Guatemala
was brought to a legal end 13 years ago with
the signing of Peace Deals, but there are
too many pending affairs to talk about their
true accomplishment.
A new war is waged in that country, marked
by increasing insecurity, plus lack of food,
housing, and health.
Inequity is what most affects the Guatemalan
society, with social exclusion, poverty,
discrimination, chiefly among indigenous
communities, which are causes of a
36-year-old internal conflict.
According to the head of La Paz'
Secretariat, Orlando Blanco, insecurity is
influenced by youth gangs. That contrasts
with the lack of more than 23,170 police
agents needed to protect over 13 million
Guatemalans.
But such violence, which is said to claim
nearly 20 lives daily, has deeper roots,
precisely resulting from social inequity.
It is thus logic that the State seeks
greater resources to boost people's safety,
but it must do that or even more to also
ensure education and health for all.
Only in 2009, 5,482 people were killed from
January to October, according to the Human
Rights Attorney's Office. The year is
expected to close as the most violent after
the signing of the Peace Agreements.
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