20-September-2003
The Budget
The Prensa Libre, on September 17th, reported that the
Guatemalan Ministry of Finances sent a budget proposal
to congress which would give the Guatemalan Supreme
Court only 43% of the money it requested. This is a
serious problem in a country where the justice system
is already in horrible shape. Some suspect that the
FRG political party is taking revenge upon the Court
for some of its rulings.
The following day's headline was the following,
"Military to Recieve Q150 Million ($18.75 million)
More". The Defense department notified the Finance
department that within a few days it would use up its
yearly budget, so Finances quickly made the transfer
which they "hope" will be enough to allow the military
to "survive" until the end of the year. According to
opposition congresswoman Nineth Montenegro, this
increase in military spending violates the Peace
Accords signed in 1996.
To put this in perspective, Q3 million was recently
denied for costs involved with observing the
presidential election process, to ensure fair play,
and Q12 million was denied to the Human Rights
Procurator, a government agency that investigates
human rights violations throughout the country. When
their offices were recently robbed of important
documents and computer equipment, the vice president's
response was to suggest that they spend more money
(from their already underfunded budget) on security.
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