Posted on 06/07/2008 2:25:21 PM PDT by Ebenezer
(English-language translation)
WASHINGTON - The Department of State cleared the way yesterday for the United States to provide military education and training to the Guatemala Air Force, Navy, and Corps of Engineers.
An announcement published in the Federal Register reports that these institutions respect human rights and cooperate with civil judicial investigations of military personnel who "have been the object of credible accusations of having committed human-rights violations."
This "certification" was a requirement towards activating half a million dollars the United States will dedicate to those ends, according to the so-called Foreign Operations Law of 2008. The [Guatemala] Army is excluded.
The above-referenced norm establishes that the military education and training will prepare the Guatemalan military only to improve its capacity to respond to disasters and to participate in international peacekeeping operations.
The Department of State's decision was announced less than two months after [Guatemalan] President Álvaro Colom's visit to Washington, which included a meeting with President George W. Bush at the White House.
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