On July 6 the Guatemalan government gave $3.5 million to the victims of the country’s civil war in compensation for the loss of life and property. According to the United Nations Truth Commission in Guatemala, the majority of the 200,000 killed or abducted during the civil war were civilian Maya. President Oscar Berger announced that the payment was an "explicit recognition of the thousands of Guatemalans whose basic human rights were not respected during the war."
During a formal ceremony, the country’s finance minister gave a check to Rosalina Tuyuc, a Kakchiquel Maya woman recently named the head of the National Reparations Commission. The commission determines who suffered human rights violations ranging from physical or psychological torture to forced disappearances. According to Max Gimbel of the Guatemala Human Rights Commission, Maya victims are not seeking compensation as cash settlement to be distributed to individuals. Instead, they have requested that funds given to the National Reparations Commission be used for community development projects such as Mayan universities. This first round of compensation, deriving primarily from government tax funds, is to be one of several payments expected to reach $37.5 million over a 13-year period.
Controversy surrounds the first round of payment. While many indigenous victims are demanding greater compensation, the government asserts that it does not have the funds to pay more. Gimbel explained that many Guatemalans have suggested the government sell land occupied by military bases in an effort to generate money for reparations. The bases were recently closed as part of the significant cut backs made in Guatemala's military. A decision on this issue has yet to be made.
