At the beginning of the day, MIA received visits from two surviving parents of murdered women. The first parent who visited us was Rosa Franco, whose daughter Maria Isabel was killed in 2001, at age 16. Maria Isabel worked in a clothing store and noticed a man that seemed to have been stalking her on numerous occasions. One night, leaving from work, she was abducted and forced into a car, and was severely beaten, raped, and left in a ditch to die.

Maria Isabel, a beautiful young woman, enjoyed wearing makeup and cute clothing. This, according to the public defense attorney, meant that she must have been a prostitute. After over a year of frustrating attempts to further her daughter’s case, Amnesty International helped Franco get her case into the InterAmericas Court. While Franco says that Amnesty International was helpful pushing her case, she said that that the IAC had its own special political interests connected to Guatemala and thus failed to push a legitimate investigation of her daughter’s murder. As a result of Franco’s determination to obtain justice for Maria Isabel, she has been subjected to various threats and the IAC has provided her family with its own security. Without any satisfactory progress to note, Franco is still trying to push her daughter’s investigation, much to the displeasure of the Guatemalan government, she noted.

Shortly after, Jorge Velazquez met with MIA to discuss the murder of his daughter Claudina, who was raped and murdered while walking home from a party. In a similar fashion to Maria Isabel’s case, Claudina’s murder was delegitimized by the police and the public defense attorney. They insisted that she must have been a prostitute due to the facts that she was wearing sandals, a choker necklace, had a navel piercing, and her body was found in a middle class neighborhood. Consequently, as a “prostitute,” her case was not worth investigating.

Claudina’s fingerprints were not taken at the crime site or at the morgue. The police immediately covered her body, even before the crime scene investigators arrived. There were also major discrepancies surrounding her time of death. Velazquez has been trying to push his daughter’s investigation for several years to no avail, but believes that his daughter’s brutal murder is a result of the reality that narcotic traffickers often use women as tools in their transactions, what is believed to be a major factor of violence against women in the country. While Velazquez and his family have not been able to obtain justice to perhaps ease the healing process, he aspires for a Guatemala in which impunity does not exist to further the pain that families of victims of violence must endure.

The personal testimonies of Rosa Franco and Jorge Velazquez left a heavy air in the room; several of us were in tears. Such tragic accounts, however discouraging as we realized the magnitude of impunity that too often overpowers women’s cases, gave us even further inspiration for the cause to which we have become dedicated.

MIA then visited San Carlos University, the last public university in Guatemala. Randi and Jenny, who are long-time friends of MIA, gave us a presentation along with the rest of their on-campus activist group, Collectivo Rogelia Cruz. Giving a thorough and accurate history of the country, they discussed the military coup in 1951 that was aided by the United States and put Jacob Arbenz in power, leading to the 30-year old civil war that began in 1960 and, despite the signing of peace accords in 1996, continues to haunt Guatemala. The group also presented on the student movement that arose in the 60’s and 70’s as a result of the massive inequalities that ensued as a result of war and contributed to society’s overall resistance to the political climate. As the student movements began at this very university, Collectivo Rogelia Cruz gave us a tour of the incredible murals around campus that serve as both intricate works of art and heartfelt accounts of the country’s history.

With no meetings scheduled for the day, the delegation was able to enjoy the scenery while driving from Xela to Chichi. We got to shop during the day at the most famous market in Guatemala, eyeing and buying blankets, accessories, and clothing – all of which are beautifully intricate and will help us sustain our memories of this precious country once we return home. On our way back to Guatemala City we stopped at the home of Lulu, a longtime friend of MIA, who fed us home-made tamales, Guatemala style, while we prepared for the busy week ahead.

Justine reports: The MIA delegation drove to the state of Quetzaltenango and visited Cajola, a 500-year-old town nestled in the highlands with a population of approximately 18,000. The people of Cajola, 93% of whom are Maya Mam, still use the Mam language and are one of the oldest of people of Mesoamerica. Unfortunately, with a poverty index of 94%, Cajola is typical of the indigenous people of Guatemala.

We visited the headquarters of Grupo Cajola, an organization based in Cajola and in Morristown, New Jersey, where the group was formed in 2000 by Eduardo, a proud son of Cajola. In Morristown, Eduardo became involved in the immigrant rights organization that was founded by Karen Maxim, one of Grupo Cajola’s directors. Together, Eduardo and Karen have developed and implemented bi-national projects to help develop enterprises to benefit the town of Cajola.

Eduardo has since returned to Cajola to help his community, and Karen now splits her time between Cajola and Morristown. By implementing her knowledge gained as a former corporate businesswoman, along with her and Eduardo’s unprecedented dedication and compassion, Grupo Cajola has created continuously expanding development projects, including an egg farm, textile business, and leadership training to help empower the women of Cajola.

Eduardo’s family graciously hosted a traditional Guatemalan lunch for MIA. We got the chance to see the results of Grupo Cajola’s hard work when Karen gave us a tour of the chicken farm through which the egg business operates, as well as a glimpse into the space where the women weave their textiles.

We also took a tour of the village’s town center, which now contains a library and Internet center, along with several other important developments made possible by the support of Grupo Cajola.

MIA then met with the two groups of women who work in Cajola’s egg farming and textile businesses. The MIA members and sisters of Cajola sat side by side in a circle as we discussed the adversities facing the women of the town, the progress that Grupo Cajola has helped make, and inquired about each other’s lives as Cajola women and as Americans. Language barriers were transcended through laughter, and despite the radically different lives of the women of Cajola and the delegates in the United States, a true solidarity was formed and the MIA delegates gained enormous inspiration from Grupo Cajola and its women who are committed to the positive developments of the beautiful town.

Friday, July 10, 2009, all the delegates for our SIXTH delegation to Guatemala arrived, some at 7:30 AM, some in the middle of the day, two traveled around Guatemala by themselves before meeting us in the Capital, and three arrived mid-afternoon from Texas. The Texans hardly got to breathe before we hustled everyone over to the office of UDEFGUA for a briefing of recent Guatemala history and an overview of the current situation. This report is from our delegate from Cal State University at Long Beach, Justine:

This afternoon delegates of MIA, Mujeres Iniciando en Las Americas, sister organization of the Guatemala Peace and Development Network (GPDN), met with human rights activist and defender, Claudia Samayoa, director of UDEFEGUA Guatemala (http://udefgua.blogspot.com)

Samayoa and UDEFEGUA protect human rights defenders in Central America, with a particular emphasis on Guatemala. The organization’s role is to defend human rights activists who face threats of attack and defamation as a result of challenging the government’s persistent violence and corruption that has continued to plague the country, as 2,300 out of the population of 13.5-15 million people have been killed since the beginning of 2009.

Samayoa gave the delegates an overview on impunity in Guatemala. Acknowledging countries such as the United States and Mexico in which corruption seems to infiltrate its way upward through the political system, she noted the opposite path taken in the Guatemalan system in which corruption begins at the top economic positions and works its way down through the different facets of society, as those in higher positions tend to manipulate systems into catering to their financial interests. As a result, justice for crimes is virtually impossible to obtain, as the civil (what we call the criminal system in the U.S.) system has an impunity rate of almost 100%, according to Samayoa.

Those who challenge these injustices live in a constant threat of violence. At particular risk are women, who have been pioneering the country’s nonviolent push for peace, democratization, and human rights initiatives. Attacking women activists, however, is a way to sustain the country’s corrupt system by placing women back into the home and out of work, universities, and positions through which to activate change in their country. As these women and other human rights defenders are a significant threat to organized crime, they become targets of violence. There have been a total of approximately 1,600 attacks against human rights activists, the majority of which have been initiated by some of the five different intelligence groups in Guatemala.

Addressing the situation of Guatemalan President Colom and alleged disputes with narcotics traffickers, in which attempts at investigation and a coup have been unsuccessful, Samayoa related similar situations in Guatemala to the recent coup of President Zelaya that has taken place in neighboring Honduras. While two countries’ presidents have been suspected of similar allegations, the coup in Honduras was successful due to the way in which the military made legal maneuvers to justify the coup and through elaborate and careful work with the media.

In regard to Guatemala’s progress toward justice and the tackling of impunity, Samayoa noted the commission recently established by the United Nations and the Government of Guatemala, the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), which was formed to investigate and prosecute these impunity systems. While attacks continue, however, Samayoa and UDEFEGUA are essential allies in protecting the human rights activists who challenge these corrupt systems and push for justice in Guatemala.

I got to spend a week training inside the PNC academy. My part of the training was one full day, and there were three days of training run by the Naval Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS). What an experience!

Outside the Police Academy buildings

Last November, we asked our U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala, Steven McFarland, to help us get in the door to help train the National Police (PNC). As a result, MIA was invited to tag along with NCIS during already-planned training to deliver our program “Hombres contra Feminicidio” aka White Ribbon Campaign. We want to thank the ambassador for the opportunity to speak to a classroom full of 60 trainers, and we’re very proud of how the training went.

Students working together on a workshop assignment

While MIA was in action, the director of police academy joined us in the middle of an activity and without knowing who she was, I used her for an example and she volunteered without introducing herself. She was a good sport and played the role I asked her to, and after the activity was complete, one of the trainers came to me to ask me if I knew who she was. I did not know and she explained that she was the director. I immediately acknowledged her and asked her to join me in the middle of our circle and asked her if she could stay longer to hear the trainers request, complaints and wishes. I was assertive with her, just like back in my Girls, Inc. days when I had to be assertive with the high school administrators during our training with their students.

Lucia leading the workshop

She was very open and thanks to our moves, she liked our work and invited me to give an inspirational talk on Women’s International Day to 460 new policewomen who are about to graduate.

Students engaging in the workshop

I really wanted to have a male join me for the training, and luckily Carlos Ibanez, who has spoken to our delegations about human trafficing, recomended his buddy Eric who is a long time trainer for teenagers and Eric jumped on the opportunity. He is “between jobs” and our small honorarium meant a lot to him. I am hoping we can afford to have him do more training with us in the future.

I want to tell you more about the training.

My fellow trainers from NCIS came with a 3 day training of a translated domestic violence manual and walked the PNC through page by page for three days. The material seemed pretty basic. But while I was observing the first day, I figured out that NCIS had done their homework; they knew that we need to get our police men to understand their own biases on how to respond to a call for help. The first day was spent tapping into their biases and help the police women to be respected. What the NCIS trainers did not realize in advance is just how bad it is for the police women in Guatemala.

Lucia (left) and the Director of the Police Academy

One brave companera stood up and gave her own testimony on how hard it is to be a police woman. She and her coworker were sent to respond to a call and found a body hanging, she spotted from a distance and ran to the body, prompted her coworker and he responded to her; “you found him, you get him down.” She had to pick up the body from hanging untie him and them put him down without dropping him and hurting him more. My fellow NCIS trainer’s question was, “did you go to your supervisor?”, a very common question we here in the U.S. would expect to do. The policewoman responded very assertively, “No”. The trainer asked why, and the policewoman explained to her, that reporting a thing like that can only get her in trouble. The policewoman explained how hard they have to work to prove themselves all the time, and how it affects the concentration during their duty. Not only do they have to watch their back against the suspects when responding to calls, but also with their male coworkers.

They reported that they are not allowed to drive during a call. We women are seen as bad drivers and not aggressive enough to zig zag thru Guatemala’s crowded streets. In one of our conversations during breaks, the NCIS women talked about our policewomen sisters in the U.S. going through the same kinds of things in the 1960s and 1970s. Probably, this is still happening still here at home but less visibly than in the early days, and much less visibly than in Guatemala.

Over and over, our NCIS trainer ended up giving the same lesson, if you reach a roadblock, you find a way to go over it, around it, or under it, but reach your goal. Guatemala women and men don’t have the equipment to go around it, under it, or over it. Many times I felt the training was a teaser because they were given a training, but no assurance of a follow up to support the advice they were given.

On Friday, after four days of training, the students got our certificates, and we got a certificate of appreciation plus PNC souveniers.

By popular demand, we were asked to go back in the summer. We don’t have exact dates, but thanks to all of you who donated to MIA for this trip, we definitely have a foot in the door with the PNC. For the next training, I did assertively ask Uncle Sam to please write me in the budget. I reminded them we are a small nonprofit and how hard it was to find funds for this past trip. Our contact person at the embassy seemed to have some ideas on how to get us funding help for the next trip, but that’s not for sure. We’ll have to see when the time comes whether Uncle Sam can fund our trip expenses, or if we will have to ask you all again for donations to help with trip costs.

I will be making a family visit to Guate soon for my favorite nephew’s wedding and will stay a few days extra to help a trainer in the city with her training skills. Many of the trainers asked me if I was going back soon, offered to help a group of eager to learn more women and one man, who impressed me, asked his boss to allow him to attend this week long training during his vacation time. His boss asked him, why would you want to give up your vacation time for a week long training and he answered him, just because. He shared with me, he did not want to explain himself, because he knew machismo is so ingrained, it was no use to try to explain the importance of this training.

It is for people like the women and this man who came to me for more information, that I knew it was necessary for us to be part of this training last month. I am planning to deliver three full days of our Hombres Contra Feminicidio training to a small group in a PNC station in Zona 1.

Policewomen at attention

Addressing policewomen in training on International Women’s Day

Lucia at the lecturn, with the Director of the Academy

I have a feeling we will be contacted to visit other stations and will have a chance to do more thorough work. What they want is more one to one attention, and this will help MIA understand better the ins and outs of the PNC. My hope is that we can find a grant for this leg work. I don’t want to take money from our small pot for the three schools where we are delivering programs. Also, we need to find money to translate our manuals. The little we did translate was pure volunteer work from our star Daniel from our sister organization GPDN.

I am happy to communicate that MIA was part of the end-of-week debriefing and follow up with the trainers suggestions to the Director of Police with NCIS. During the debriefing I made the case that if we want to find out if what we did this week worked, we must follow up with the same group and hear them report to us in a couple of months. During this debriefing there were many talks of coming back, but I felt that we need to follow up or else we would only be putting one fire off and running to another and another. NCIS was very humbled by the 60 trainers and we could see their trainers got emotionally involved, and also suggested they want to go back to Guate. I reminded them of all our conversations with the trainer before and after training hours and how important it is to follow up with this group.

I am calling this our pilot program. I don’t doubt we helped them, but really, we just scratched the surface. There is a much much more work to be done. I tried very hard to be assertive and talk about the impunity in my country with NCIS, but was told that that is not something they can help with.

Our goal is to continue going to the Police Academy and promoting the gender equality education until the Academy adopts gender equality education as part of its curriculum.

Well, it’s official! Lucia will be going at the end of February to deliver our “Hombres Contra Femicidio” training curriculum to the Guatemala National Police training staff. The ambassador asked us in November how he could help us, and we said “take us to the police” to get our training in with the PNC, and he said “you got it”.

Well, of course we couldn’t believe things could happen so fast, but we met with an NCIS representative with the Embassy in January, and he said he was programming the training for the end of February. We still couldn’t believe this was all happening so fast, but we got confirmation last week, and Lucia’s booked to travel real soon.

Wish us luck!!