July 19, 2002, Friday

EDITORIAL DESK

Losing Ground in Guatemala

( Editorial ) 391 words

Last month Guatemala suffered an unusual mini-coup. The province of Pet�n was taken over by former members of the Civil Defense Patrols, groups that worked in tandem with the army during the civil war and are accused of countless crimes. For three days they blockaded the roads, controlled the airport and sealed off access to the Mayan ruins of Tikal, stranding tourists. Instead of arresting them, Guatemala's government negotiated with them and then announced it would try to levy a new tax to pay them for their ''services'' during the war.

Six years after Guatemalans signed peace accords ending their 36-year civil war, the country is drifting back toward violence and misrule. The military and its clandestine allies -- former military men now involved in criminal conduct -- have gained strength.

Guatemala's president, Alfonso Portillo, is a civilian who has promised progressive changes. But his party is controlled by former military officers and led by Gen. Efra�n R�os Montt, who presided over the worst years of Guatemala's repression in the early 1980's. Mr. Portillo is either unable or unwilling to stand up to the military, and enforcement of related aspects of the peace accords has essentially stopped.

In the last two years the military budget has returned to wartime levels, starving desperately needed health, education and other programs. Sinister military groups that were supposed to be dismantled are still active. Prominent human rights leaders and witnesses and judges in human rights cases have had to flee the country. Forensic anthropologists exhuming remains of the disappeared have received death threats.

Countries that donate money to Guatemala have been trying to reverse the deterioration by emphasizing the need to comply with the peace accords, but it is important now to increase the pressure as a counterweight to the military's influence. The United Nations mission is probably going to leave Guatemala at the end of next year. The U.N. is rightly thinking about how to strengthen local groups to help them better struggle for democracy. An intensified effort, especially from Washington, is crucial in the short time remaining.