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GUATEMALAN ELECTION TO UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL STIRS INTERNAL DEBATE.

Article Excerpt
Guatemala was one of two countries in the Central America-Caribbean region to be elected to the newly formed Human Rights Council of the UN. The other was Cuba (see other article, this edition of NotiCen). The election was based on geographic regions, and these two were included in the quota of eight countries from the Latin America and Caribbean group. They join Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay on the council of 47 members. The council was formed to replace the largely discredited UN Human Rights Commission.

Like Cuba, Guatemala responded, officially, with a great deal of enthusiasm for its election, downplaying its own human rights history. Foreign Minister Jorge Briz told the nation by radio, "It is an achievement that demonstrates the will of our government on the subject of human rights," and "a recognition of our government for what we are doing in this area, both at the national and international levels."

Unlike Cuba, Guatemala had also been a member of the old commission. Also unlike Cuba, criticism of the country's right to sit on the council came not from the US, but from national human rights organizations.

Guatemala mounted a strong campaign for the seat, beating out Costa Rica, which got only six votes, and Honduras, which managed just...