CONSEJO INTERNACIONAL DE TRATADOS INDIOS

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC DENUNCIATION

AGAINST RACISM AND DISCRIMINATION IN A DEMOCRATIC COUNTRY

Defensoría Maya joins in the proclamations made by various organizations, individuals, and institutions regarding the abominable act of discrimination and racism to which our Maya K'iche sister, Irma Alicia Velásquez Nimatuj, was subjected on June 5, 2002. At that time, because she is a Mayan woman and was wearing her traditional Mayan clothing, she was barred from entering a public place known as the “EL TARRO DORADO” Restaurant, located on Avenida de las Américas, Zone 13, in Guatemala City.

This incident is one of hundreds of racist incidents that have occurred in restaurants, nightclubs, stores, and other institutions, intra-urban and inter-urban buses, and governmental institutions. Victims of these types of racist incidents have not denounced them publicly or to the respective authorities due to fear, intimidation, or simply because State racism and discrimination reigns in the country.

Defensoría Maya applauds our Mayan sister, Irma Alicia Velásquez Nimatuj, for having had the moral strength and political courage to denounce this incident. Now, it is up to the government and the authorities of the Government Attorney’s Office to investigate the case and apply legal measures against the “EL TARRO DORADO” Restaurant for having violated the Constitution of Guatemala, inasmuch as it violated the Article referring to freedom of movement and Articles 66 to 70, which recognize the existence of the Indigenous Peoples of Guatemala.

We ask all organizations, institutions, individuals, and families to demonstrate their solidarity, by commencing a campaign of refusing to use the services of the “EL TARRO DORADO” Restaurant, until they publicly apologize for offending the dignity of Irma Velásquez Nimatuj.

The State and the nation must be everyone’s!

Guatemala City, June 18, 2002.

Note: Messages of solidarity can be sent to:

DEFENSORIA MAYA

defemaya@guate.net

Telefax: 502 434 6575