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Guatemala: Agrarian Talks Near
Failure
The agrarian dialogue in
Guatemala is on the verge of
failure after the Supreme Court
refused to coordinate the talks
and draft a law on rural
development, saying this was
responsibility of the
Legislature.
In addition, Supreme Court Chief
Justice Beatriz de Leon blamed
the failure on lack of consensus
among the parties and no budget
to arrange talks.
This decision, on top of the
recent withdrawal of the
entrepreneurial sector,
virtually paralyzes the
negotiations.
Popular and rural organizations
brought the issue to the Court
in order not to allow the
Agriculture Chamber of large
landowners (two percent the
population that own 70 percent
of the land) to intimidate them.
Plataforma Agraria member Ingrid
Urizar maintains that the
Supreme Court yielded to
pressure from Chamber on the
issue of agrarian reform.
The Guatemala Peace Accords,
signed in the 90s by the
government and insurgents,
recognized unequal distribution
of resources, that is, land, as
the source of the nation s
rampant poverty.
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