Bush visits Guatemala; Mayas, trade unions protest
Guatemala City
US President George W Bush met Guatemalan President Oscar Berger on Monday, amid protests from trade unions and representatives of the Central American country's indigenous Maya communities.
Thousands of people took to the streets of Guatemala City to protest the visit, and there was a tight security cordon around the presidential residence in the historic centre of Guatemala City.
'President Bush is not welcome, and empoverished workers, informal vendors and the people in general are marching together to the presidential residence to express our repudiation to the policies that make us poorer everyday,' Jorge Pu, executive secretary of the General Guatemalan Workers Union (CGTG), told Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa.
After visiting Brazil, Uruguay and Colombia as part of a five- nation Latin American tour, Bush arrived in Guatemala late Sunday.
On Monday he travelled with Berger to the western Chimaltenango province, where they were not met with protests.
In the town of Santa Cruz Balanya they visited a school, a library and a church, and in Chirijuyu they toured an agricultural cooperative.
Both presidents planned to visit the sacred site of Iximche. There were no protests there, although many Mayas have criticized the US president's plans and said they intended to 'purify' the parts of the site Bush visits to protect it from his 'aggressive spirit.'
An official bilateral meeting with Berger in the ancient seat of government in Guatemala City is planned following those activities. Bush is expected to discuss security issues and the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime.
The agenda of Guatemalan authorities is driven by demands for more humane treatment of Guatemalans living in the United States illegally. Mass deportations in recent months have caused anger in the Central American country.
On Sunday, Guatemalan Roman Catholic Cardinal Rodolfo Quezada Toruno compared Bush to King Herod The Great, who according to the New Testament ordered the killing of young boys in Bethlehem upon hearing of the birth of a 'King of the Jews' who might challenge his authority.
The cardinal was referring to a recent operation by US authorities in a factory in the state of Massachusetts. Some 300 Guatemalan workers who did not have their papers in order were taken into custody and face deportation, and as many as 240 children aged two to eight are missing a parent as a result.
In a prayer for those children, Cardinal Quezada Toruno asked Guatemalan authorities to intercede with Bush for citizens of the Central American country who are working illegally in the United States.
Several thousand people protested against Bush's visit in Colombia Sunday, and violent clashes led to at least 325 arrests, the authorities said. The police indicated that 198 of those taken into custody have already been released.
Many businesses were devastated, although no estimation of the extent of material damages has been made public so far.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez - an outspoken critic of the United States, who is currently carrying out his own parallel Latin American tour - was in Nicaragua Monday.
Chavez, the leader of the fifth-largest oil exporter in the world, promised to build an oil refinery in the country led by the Sandinista Daniel Ortega.
On Tuesday, when Bush travels to Mexico for the last leg of his tour, Chavez is set to visit Haiti, the poorest country in the region.
US President George W Bush met Guatemalan President Oscar Berger on Monday, amid protests from trade unions and representatives of the Central American country's indigenous Maya communities.
Thousands of people took to the streets of Guatemala City to protest the visit, and there was a tight security cordon around the presidential residence in the historic centre of Guatemala City.
'President Bush is not welcome, and empoverished workers, informal vendors and the people in general are marching together to the presidential residence to express our repudiation to the policies that make us poorer everyday,' Jorge Pu, executive secretary of the General Guatemalan Workers Union (CGTG), told Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa.
After visiting Brazil, Uruguay and Colombia as part of a five- nation Latin American tour, Bush arrived in Guatemala late Sunday.
On Monday he travelled with Berger to the western Chimaltenango province, where they were not met with protests.
In the town of Santa Cruz Balanya they visited a school, a library and a church, and in Chirijuyu they toured an agricultural cooperative.
Both presidents planned to visit the sacred site of Iximche. There were no protests there, although many Mayas have criticized the US president's plans and said they intended to 'purify' the parts of the site Bush visits to protect it from his 'aggressive spirit.'
An official bilateral meeting with Berger in the ancient seat of government in Guatemala City is planned following those activities. Bush is expected to discuss security issues and the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime.
The agenda of Guatemalan authorities is driven by demands for more humane treatment of Guatemalans living in the United States illegally. Mass deportations in recent months have caused anger in the Central American country.
On Sunday, Guatemalan Roman Catholic Cardinal Rodolfo Quezada Toruno compared Bush to King Herod The Great, who according to the New Testament ordered the killing of young boys in Bethlehem upon hearing of the birth of a 'King of the Jews' who might challenge his authority.
The cardinal was referring to a recent operation by US authorities in a factory in the state of Massachusetts. Some 300 Guatemalan workers who did not have their papers in order were taken into custody and face deportation, and as many as 240 children aged two to eight are missing a parent as a result.
In a prayer for those children, Cardinal Quezada Toruno asked Guatemalan authorities to intercede with Bush for citizens of the Central American country who are working illegally in the United States.
Several thousand people protested against Bush's visit in Colombia Sunday, and violent clashes led to at least 325 arrests, the authorities said. The police indicated that 198 of those taken into custody have already been released.
Many businesses were devastated, although no estimation of the extent of material damages has been made public so far.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez - an outspoken critic of the United States, who is currently carrying out his own parallel Latin American tour - was in Nicaragua Monday.
Chavez, the leader of the fifth-largest oil exporter in the world, promised to build an oil refinery in the country led by the Sandinista Daniel Ortega.
On Tuesday, when Bush travels to Mexico for the last leg of his tour, Chavez is set to visit Haiti, the poorest country in the region.
posted by Alice at
Monday, March 12, 2007
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