|
VIOLENT
ATTACKS AGAINST GUATEMALAN STREET CHILDREN CONTINUE
August 16th, 200
Casa Alianza
Fifteen year old Alejandra Paola Palma was sleeping on the roof of the La
Florecita stall in the bus station of Zone 4 in Guatemala City early yesterday
morning (August 15th), curled up to try and keep warm. She had no blanket and it
was raining lightly. As the girl slept, two men, as of yet unidentified, who
were walking on top of a bluff that overlooks the shops, threw two 50 pound
rocks down onto Alejandra. The rocks smashed the girls skull.
As you read this, Alejandra is in the intensive care ward of the San Juan de
Dios hospital where the doctors are on strike. The prognosis is that Alejandra
will not live until tomorrow
Last Saturday evening, August 10th, at approximately 9:30pm, five street
children were leaving a party in Zone 6 to go to the home of another youth they
had met who offered them a place to sleep. They were standing on the sidewalk
when a white, four door vehicle came driving by and started to open fire on the
terrified children.
Jaime Danilo Guamuch, 15, had the bone in his left leg shattered
by a bullet; Mario Soto, 14, was shot in the left buttock; and Gerson Mejia, 15,
has a bullet encrusted in his right testicle. All three are hospitalized in the
San Juan de Dios hospital. Casa Alianza is covering any medicines or material
that is needed for their operations. Another two children who were wounded were
discharged from hospital. The police have not conducted any real
investigation.
These violent attacks come less than a month after the massacre of three street
children and wounding of another three children by armed men from a moving car
in Zone 8. To date the police have not identified any of the killers and, if
history is anything to go by, probably never will
For our UK and Canadian supporters, PLEASE write to your Members of Parliament
asking for an official representation to the government of Guatemala regarding
this massacre. UK citizens may use a free fax service to notify their MPs by
contacting <www.FaxYourMP.com
>
For US supporters please contact your elected officials and ask them to request
that the State Department make an official complaint to the Guatemalan
authorities, demanding a thorough and expeditious investigation.
For European supporters, please contact both your national
officials as well as your Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and ask them,
when they return from their summer break, to pass an official condemnation of
the social cleansing of street children in Guatemala and Central America.
PLEASE send your comments to the Guatemalan press:
El Periodico analpirez@elperiodico.com.gt
Channel 7 TV Noti7@terra.com.gt
I know that writing letters may not seem like much of a response, but believe
me, international pressure is the only lever we have that seems to work THANK
YOU and please pray for Alejandra.
Bruce Harris
Casa Alianza
|
