GUATEMALA CITY -- In the "Land of Eternal Spring," every feeble step forward is generally followed by two breakneck paces backward. This is especially true of human rights. It came as no surprise when, released to coincide with the transfer of power from Alvaro Arzu to Alfonso Portillo on Jan. 14, the report by Minugua, the U.N.'s monitor in Guatemala, returned yet another damning indictment of the nation's societal health.

Entrusted with the implementation of the 1996 peace accords, Minugua has recorded 4,800 serious human rights violations in 1999 -- nearly 3,000 more than in 1998. It also deplores the "ineptitude" of Guatemala's judicial institutions, the Byzantine legal bureaucracy and the daunting procedural obstacles judges face in applying the law.

"The State continues to be especially ineffective in investigating and prosecuting its own misdeeds."

Among the violations cited by Minugua is the 1995 Xaman slaughter of 12 campesinos by an army death squad. Of the 25 paramilitary who took part in the massacre, 15, including the squad leader, were absolved by a tribunal in November 1999. The others were sentenced to 12 years in prison.

According to Minugua rapporteur Jean Arnault, the weakness and perfidy of the judiciary is also evident in cases prosecuted recently -- from delinquency, vandalism and petty theft, to the April 26, 1998 murder of human rights activist, Mgr. Juan Gerardi, whose killers, according to confidential sources, are known to the government but have yet to be apprehended and brought to justice.

The report also notes "an increase in extrajudicial executions, threats and torture, and the spread of measures designed to discourage and curtail the right of free assembly." Over 260 cases of political intimidation were recorded last year.

Amnesty for the guilty, a condition of the 1996 peace accords, has led to an increase in the number of complaints by the victims. The State has responded by balking at demands for reparations. Mired in obsolescence, inertia and ill will, the wheels of justice in Guatemala appear to be grinding to a halt.

After nearly 30 years of hard-fisted military rule, a civilian government openly committed to the rule of law had been elected in 1985. The accession of President Vinicio Cerezo Arevalo's administration brought new hope for an end to human rights violations in Guatemala and a public disclosure of the crimes committed by the security forces. However, President Cerezo did little to investigate abuses committed by his predecessors or to bring those responsible to justice. In fact, after a brief initial decrease in human rights violations, abductions, "disappearances," and political killings escalated to levels equaling or exceeding those reached by his military predecessors. Members of all branches of the Guatemalan police and military have been cited as responsible for the crimes. Sometimes they have carried them out while in uniform, sometimes in plain clothes, in the guise of the so-called "death squads."

Sadly, political changes in 1993 that brought a respected government human rights advocate to the presidency of Guatemala, have one year later degenerated into turmoil and dashed hopes, with little to show for the changes that the new government had pledged to institute. Early reforms initiated by former human rights ombudsman Ramiro de León Carpio in the wake of a failed constitutional coup by his predecessor, Jorge Serrano, now appeared endangered by circumspection and a lack of high-level support.

While de León's government had achieved a measure of formal political stability, it faced chronic social problems which it lacked the ability or resources to confront. Also, the international community, which initially was a strong supporter of de León, lost patience at his failure to govern effectively. As numbers of political killings, kidnappings, threats against judges and labor leaders continued to rise, de León began to share criticism along with the army to which he had increasingly turned to for support.

At the same time, elements of the military and right-wing groups seemed bent on destabilizing the government by fomenting such high-profile demonstrations of will and purpose as the March 1994 mob assaults against North American women rumored to be kidnapping Guatemalan children, the assassination a month later of Epamimondas Gonzalez Dubon, the president of the Constitutional Court, and a series of violent demonstrations to protest de León's economic agenda that included new privatization schemes and stiff increases in water, electricity and public transportation rates.

Despite the arrival of human rights monitors, violence and abuses escalated dramatically. The Guatemalan Association of Family Members of the Detained-Disappeared reported 364 human rights violations in October 1994 -- 49 of which were of a political nature. Citing newspapers and official sources, the organization revealed that 30 of the cases were victims of extra-judicial executions, 95 were assassinated, 20 were kidnapped, 16 were tortured, 42 received death threats, 3 were exiled and 7 disappeared without trace.

Also in October 1994, the death squad "Jaguar of Justice" distributed a list of 11 people it considered to be enemies of the Guatemalan people. The list included grassroots labor, human rights and justice workers.

Things did not improve with the election of Alvaro Arzu Irigoyen, a former foreign minister with known ties to the Vatican and the CIA, a penchant for extreme right-wing causes, and an intense antipathy toward the press. (His cousin, Roberto Alejos Arzu, had placed his plantation at the disposal of CIA operatives training for the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion). Thin-skinned when it comes to unfavorable government coverage, and quick to retaliate, President Arzu had since orchestrated numerous attacks against the press, smeared the reputation of respected journalists and damaged various newspapers and periodicals by vilifying their publishers and withholding much needed paid government advertising. A highly regarded columnist at Prensa Libre, Guatemala's largest daily, accused his government of attempting to destroy the independent press. "[Your henchmen] may not be murdering us as before, but they're asphyxiating us."

Although Arzu is credited for ending 36 years of civil strife that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives -- mostly among the Maya -- and signing a peace accord with the war-weary freedom fighters, he failed to deliver better conditions to the majority poor. Infanticide and persecution of indigenous minorities took a dramatic upturn under his watch.

Predictably, Arzu was succeeded last month by Alfonso Portillo, of the right-wing Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG), a party created by former military dictator Efrain Rios Montt, the evangelical Christian general whose rule in 1982-83 was punctuated by brutal human rights abuses. (Disqualified from running for the presidency, Rios Montt -- like Chile's Augusto Pinochet -- has secured a senate seat and continues as FRG secretary general).

Despite the seductive rhetoric abroad and expediently cool demeanor toward his former mentor, Portillo remains a questionable figure for human rights activists and Guatemala's tiny leftist elements, all of whom insist that issues dating to the civil war remain unresolved. Skeletons in his closet include the murder of two young men during a scuffle in 1982 in a small Mexican town. Claiming self-defense, Portillo has admitted to the killings but evaded trial by fleeing the area.

So much for starters.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Urging communities in the transboundary Georgia Basin/Puget Sound area to "preserve and enhance the environmental quality and sustainability of their region," U.S. and Canadian officials issued a Joint Statement of Cooperation that outlines their "shared responsibility" for "protecting this special place."

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol Browner and Canadian Minister of the Environment David Anderson signed the joint statement on Jan. 19, vowing to work together to conserve the area's fragile ecosystem while promoting sustainable development.

Presented as a formal commitment by both countries to take protective action on all levels (international, national and local) in pursuit of common goals for the Georgia Basin/Puget Sound region, the joint statement emphasizes that local communities and residents have an important stake in helping to maintain their environment -- and a vital role to play.

As the statement explains, this area merits special attention because it is home to millions of migrant birds, five species of spawning salmon, whales, seals, and many types of fish. Because it offers great opportunities to farm, fish, and log, more and more people are attracted to the area for commercial and recreational purposes.

The greatest threat to this environment is the rapid population growth, Anderson warned. "In the past 25 years, the population in the Basin/Sound ecosystem has more than doubled. In the next 15 years, it may double yet again, creating enormous pressures on the economy, society and environment of the region," he pointed out.

In his closing remarks after the signing ceremony at the Canadian Embassy, Anderson declared: "By signing this Statement of Cooperation, I am pledging my personal commitment, and the commitment of my department, to work with our American colleagues to protect and conserve this wonderful but fragile region of the world."

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Luis Lauredo, the new U.S. permanent representative to the Organization of American States (OAS), says he views his position as a "unique opportunity" to continue his work in developing a better understanding between the peoples of the Americas.

In a Jan. 11 statement at a ceremony where he presented his credentials as the new U.S. envoy to the OAS, Lauredo said that many challenges face the hemisphere, but that "there is a strong consensus in the region for democracy, open markets, rule of law, and a common commitment to peace."

Lauredo, who served as Executive Director of the First Summit of the Americas held in Miami in 1994, and was also senior vice president of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, said that much of his professional life in both the private and public sectors has been "given to developing a better understanding of the peoples of this region and to strengthening" U.S. ties with them. As a resident of Miami, Lauredo said that "perhaps more than anywhere else" in the United States, "we fully appreciate the tremendous benefits of closer ties between" this country and other nations in the hemisphere.

Calling this the "most exciting, dynamic period in U.S. relations with the Western Hemisphere," Lauredo said: "I am delighted to become part of the crucial work of building a stronger, cooperative partnership with our neighbors." The 1994 Summit of the Americas' Action Plan, he said, "has driven a process of growing cooperation in virtually every field of human endeavor. It has also promoted a new culture of mutual respect among the nations of the region. A new spirit of common cause has been born to address our significant remaining social and economic problems."

Lauredo was appointed by President Clinton in December as the new Permanent Representative to the OAS, to replace Victor Marrero. Lauredo was president of Greenberg Traurig Consulting, Inc., an affiliate of the international law firm, Greenberg, Traurig. His background also includes serving as Commissioner of the Florida Public Service Commission from 1992 to 1994, and as an elected City Councilman from Key Biscayne, Florida. In addition, he served as a Trustee of the Pan American Development Foundation, as a member of the Board of the Hispanic Council on Foreign Affairs, and as Chairman of the Miami International Press Center. He has been a board member of several charitable and cultural organizations in the Miami area.

Also presenting their credentials as their countries' new permanent representatives to the OAS Jan. 11 were Marcelo Ostria Trigo of Bolivia and Margarita Escobar of El Salvador.

Meanwhile, in another development, Luigi Einaudi, special representative of the OAS, held further talks with Foreign Ministers Roberto Flores of Honduras and Eduardo Montealegre of Nicaragua Jan. 12-13 at OAS headquarters in an effort to reduce tensions between the two countries. Previous talks were held Dec. 29 in Miami on ways to peacefully settle a maritime dispute between Honduras and Nicaragua. Einaudi, a veteran U.S. diplomat, visited the region in December where he met with the presidents of Nicaragua and Honduras, as well as with opposition leaders, church officials, civil society organizations and other groups in a search to defuse tensions in the region.

GUATEMALA CITY -- The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) announced Jan. 10 the repatriation of 249 Chinese nationals from the smuggling vessel Wing Fung Lung.

On Dec. 10, 1999, the U.S. Coast Guard boarded the vessel on a search-and-rescue operation approximately 275 nautical miles off the coast of Guatemala. The disabled vessel had over 200 migrants on board destined for the United States. The Coast Guard, with the vessel in tow, arrived in Puerto Quetzal, the nearest port in Guatemala, on Dec. 14.

The migrants were turned over to the custody of the Guatemalan government. The government of Guatemala asked for and received U.S. government assistance in providing medical care, as well as processing and eventually repatriating the migrants.

The latest repatriation group departed Guatemala City, Guatemala on Jan. 6. The migrants were flown to Fuzhou, China.

This is the fifth group of Chinese nationals repatriated to China since a surge of illegal smuggling vessels began plying the Pacific destined for the United States or U.S. territories since April of last year.

In addition to this repatriation flight, INS has had four other repatriation flights since May 1999. Three were from the Island of Tinian in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, and one repatriation flight, in October 1999, was from Midway Island.

Besides the 249 Chinese nationals returned to China on the January 6-8 flight, four crewmembers were brought to the U.S. and charged with alien smuggling offenses, which can carry penalties of up to 10 years in prison for each alien smuggled.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- There is a widespread perception among private-sector executives in major emerging market countries that bribery continues to play a role in securing major contracts, particularly in public works, construction and the arms industries, according to a new survey by the anti-bribery advocacy organization Transparency International (TI).

The survey also found widespread ignorance of the 1999 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Anti-Bribery Convention with only 6 percent of the 779 people question describing themselves as familiar with the pact, compared with 38 percent who said they had not heard about it.

The survey results appear in a new TI report entitled "The Transparency International Bribe-Payers' Survey." The report noted that companies that ignore the 1999 anti-bribery convention are exposing their employees to severe penalties. "Companies doing business abroad will have to wake up to the reality that foreign bribery is now a crime," said Peter Eigen, chairman of TI, which is based in Berlin. The report was released January 20 in Washington and Berlin.

The survey, which polled executives in 14 leading emerging market countries, also found that low public-sector salaries are seen as the prime cause of corruption of senior government officials, closely followed by a belief among the bribe-takers that they will not prosecuted.

The report is available on the Internet at: <http://www.transparency.org
/documents/cpi/bps.html>.

By JORGE FLORES McCLELLAN

Central America, like most of Latin America is growing in every aspect. Economies, populations, government and private infrastructures, and global influences are expanding at an every increasing rate.

But the questions and variables in Central America and the Caribbean are many: Are companies being created fast enough for the population boom? Have these companies reached their respective plateaus or stagnated in relatively sluggish societies? What is the impact of the big companies on their respective national economies? And where are they on the global monetary balance?

These are some of the questions Estrategia & Negocios, a Red Castle Group publication on Latin American businesses, have sought answers for. The results of this comparison study, which was limited by several important factors like incomplete stock market participation in every country and different fiscal year closing dates have, nevertheless, shed a new light on the biggest business.

Not surprisingly, five of the top ten companies are Costa Rican, a nation which early in its modern history abolished militarism and concentrated its efforts on real social development while its neighbors fought. By the same token, surprisingly, El Salvador, which is one of the countries that has had a violent recent past, has a strong presence in the ranking alongside Panama and the Dominican Republic.

The study compares assets and working capital, among other figures. One of the outstanding results is that government companies still have a preponderance but, nonetheless, have a tendency to be reduced by privatization.

Another interesting data is that the two sectors with the most aggressive presence are telecommunications and energy.

There is the notable absence of some Honduran companies by name like Cerveceria Hondurena, the shrimp farmers, the banana cooperatives and tourism industrialists.

The Embassy of Venezuela informs that flooding in Venezuela has created a tragic situation in the country, with mudslides from the Avila Mountain and other sectors of the North Coast wrecking havoc on local populations. To date approximately twenty-five thousand people have died, and an incalculable number are injured or have been directly affected by the situation.

The country is in a state of emergency, and the solidarity of friendly countries is urgently needed, especially regarding medicine and first aid. Please call the following places for information regarding your donation:

Collection Centers

1. Honduran Red Cross
   2nda. Avenida, 7ma. Calle, Comayaguela
   Tel. (504) 237-8876 220-6248
2. Venezuelan Embassy in Honduras
   Colonia Ruben Dario
   Circuito Choluteca-B
   Casa No.2116 Tel. 232-1886 232-1879
   Until 1:00 p.m.
3. Venezuelan Ambassador's Residence
4. Colonia Tepeyac
   Avenida Gracias a Dios, Casa No. 2216
   Tel. 232-6380 232-4498
   After 1:00 p.m.