CAMINOS Update- January 2005

Accompaniment in Genocide Cases

The CAMINOS Program in Denver begins its 9th year providing human rights accompaniment to Ixil and K’iche Mayan populations who survived the brutal “scorched earth” and genocide policies of the Guatemalan civil war (1960-1996). A new accompanier is currently being trained, and will be in the country within the next 2 months. The accompanier will continue to work in the northern Guatemalan villages of Xix and Ilom, providing accompaniment to Mayan families who are testifying in the genocide trials against General Romeo Lucas Garcia.

CAMINOS forms the Promesa Partnership to support health needs in the Guatemalan resettlement community of El Tesorito

Promesa is a new partnership between three entities – CAMINOS (Colorado/Maya Accompaniment Project of the Sierra) in Denver, Colorado; SMGP (St. Michael’s Guatemala Project) in Tucson, Arizona; and the CPR (Communities of Populations in Resistance) Mayan governing committee in Guatemala. Promesa’s goal is to improve health and primary health care delivery in Tesorito, Suchitepequez, by supporting the community’s existing health structure and health workers. Three CAMINOS accompaniers – Ali Durbin, Kareen Erbe and Denise Peine – lived in Tesorito and several delegations have visited in community, the last in 2004.


Tesorito is a settlement of 136 indigenous Mayan families who were relocated from their highland homes in K’iche province to the hot, humid Pacific coast at the end of the country’s civil war (1960-1996). Today, after 7 years of resettlement, these families continue to struggle for physical and cultural survival. Local prejudices, unfamiliar crops and climate, lack of natural resources, adverse weather, coastal diseases, limited access to health services and a declining economy complicate their efforts.

Frequently encountered health problems in the community include childbirth emergencies, diarrhea, urinary infections, pneumonia, ear infections, conjunctivitis, arthritis, skin infections and abscesses, parasites, and malaria. Malnutrition is a serious problem, particularly among young children.

The Promesa Partnership helps support health needs in Tesorito by:
· providing small monthly incentive payments to health workers
· helping with transportation expense for patients who can’t be treated locally
· paying travel costs for health workers in ongoing formal training
· helping purchase medicines and low-tech medical supplies
· arranging an annual visit to Tesorito by a Promesa delegate or delegation to collaborate with health workers for an extensive community health survey
· promoting advocacy and communication that encourages increased awareness of Guatemalan health and economic issues in the United States

The Promesa Partnership is the latest effort by CAMINOS to continue to accompany the Mayan population of Tesorito, uprooted and traumatized by years of civil war and its unpromising aftermath, in their search for a “vida digna”.

Updates from Brad Lawton:

July 2004 Update

May 2004 Update

March 2004 Update

January 2004 Update

December 2003 Update

Update from Accompanier Matt Lowen:

April 2004 Update

Guatemalan Elections Articles:

Guatemala: Elections and Impunity

Elections but no Democracy in Guatemala

The Promise of the Guatemalan Elections