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No funding for Guatemalan “rights violation” port, says Central American bank
1 March 2007
 |  | | Over 300 armed police occupied the port of Quetzal in October | |
A representative of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) has stated that it will not give money to projects in the Guatemalan port of Quetzal until it has investigated allegations of human rights abuses.Trade union leader Pedro Zamora was murdered there in January, while disputes at the port have been followed by an ‘invasion’ of armed police.
CABEI, which has members in Spain and Latin America, is a strong source of funding for port restructuring projects in Guatemala.
According to Rob Wayss of the Central American Region of the Solidarity Centre, bank representative Alfredo Skinner–Klée gave the assurance at a meeting this week where he was informed about rights violations against the ITF-affiliated Sindicato de Trabajadores Empresa Portuaria – Quetzal (STEPQ).
He promised to look into the matter and stated that CABEI could not provide financial backing for port restructuring if human and labour rights violations were occurring there. He went on to say that CABEI does not currently fund any projects and has not loaned any money for the construction at Puerto Quetzal, but had been open to considering loans and had funded studies related to port modernisation in the past.
ITF Assistant General Secretary Stuart Howard, who recently returned from meeting Pedro Zamora’s family and union colleagues, commented: “We congratulate CABEI for making a stand on this. Every voice that questions what really happened in the murder of Pedro Zamora is a voice for justice for him, his family and for all those under threat in Guatemala.”
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