Social participation within a context of political violence: Implications for the promotion and exercise of the right to health in guatemala

Health and Human Rights

Volumn 11, Issue 1, 2009, Pages 37-48

  Flores, Walter ^a   Ruano, Ana Lorena ^a,b   Funchal, Denise Phé ^a  

^a Center for the Study of Equity and Governance n Health Systems   (Guatemala)

^b UMEÅ UNIVERSITY   (Sweden)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CITIZENSHIP; DECISION MAKING; HEALTH CARE; HEALTH POLICY; HUMAN RIGHTS; LEADERSHIP; PEACEKEEPING; POLITICAL PARTICIPATION; POLITICAL REPRESSION; POLITICAL VIOLENCE; POWER RELATIONS; SOCIAL PARTICIPATION;

ARTICLE; BEHAVIOR; CONFLICT; CONSUMER; GUATEMALA; HEALTH CARE DELIVERY; HUMAN; HUMAN RIGHTS; METHODOLOGY; ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT; POLICY; POLITICS; PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT; VIOLENCE; PROCEDURES; PSYCHOLOGY;

CONSUMER PARTICIPATION; DELIVERY OF HEALTH CARE; DISSENT AND DISPUTES; GUATEMALA; HUMAN RIGHTS; HUMANS; POLITICS; POWER (PSYCHOLOGY); PUBLIC POLICY; VIOLENCE;

CENTRAL AMERICA; GUATEMALA [CENTRAL AMERICA];

EID: 70449586656     PISSN: 10790969     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/40285216     Document Type: Article

References (68)

1. M. Svampa, Movimientos sociales en la Argentina de hoy: Piquetes & asambleas. Tres estudios de casos (Buenos Aires: CEDES, 2002). Available at http://www.maristellasvampa.net/archivos/ensayo07.pdf; People's Health Movement, People's Charter for Health (PHM, 2000). Available at <url>http://www.phmovement.org/files/phm-pch-english.pdf; </url> World Bank, The World Bank Participation Sourcebook (Washington, DC: World Bank, 1996). Available at <url>http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?pa gePK</url> =64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679 &menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=57313&the SitePK=523679&entityID=000009265_3961214175 537&searchMenuPK=57313&theSitePK=523679.
2. L. Morgan, "Community participation in health: Perpetual allure, persistent challenge," Health Policy and Planning 16/3 (2001), pp. 221-230
3. S. Rifkin, "A framework linking community empowerment and health equity: It is a matter of CHOICE," Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition 21/3 (2003), pp. 168-180
4. M. Bronfman and M. Gleizer, "Participación comunitaria: Necesidad, excusa o estrategia? O de qué hablamos cuando hablamos de participación comunitaria," Cadernos de Saúde Pública 10/1 (1994), pp. 111-122
5. S. Rifkin, F. Muller, and W. Bichman, "Primary health care on measuring participation," Social Science and Medicine 26/9 (1988), pp. 931-940
6. S. R. Arnstein, "A ladder of citizen participation," Journal of the American Planning Association 35/4 (1969), pp. 216-224.
7. Arnstein (see note 2).
8. J. A. Morone and E. H. Kilbreth, "Power to the people? Restoring citizen participation," Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law 28/2-3 (2003)
9. J. Gaventa, "Introduction: Exploring citizenship, participation and accountability," IDS Bulletin 33/2 (2002), pp. 1-14.
10. Declaration on the Right to Development, G.A. Res. 41/128 (1986), para. 2.3. Available at http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/41/a41r128.htm.
11. S. Mahmud, "Citizen participation in the health sector in rural Bangladesh: Perceptions and reality," IDS Bulletin 35/2 (2004), pp. 11-18.
12. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), General Comment No. 14, paragraph 54, The Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health, UN Doc. No. E/C.12/2000/4 (2000). Available at http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/40d009901358b0e2c1256915005090 b e?Opendocument.
13. A. Yamin, "The future in the mirror: Incorporating strategies for the defense and promotion of economic, social and cultural rights into the mainstream human rights agenda," Human Rights Quarterly 27 (2005), pp. 1200-1244.
14. International Labour Organisation, Convention No. 169 Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries (1989), Art. 7. Available at http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/62.htm; United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, A/RES/61/295 (2007), Articles 10 and 18. Available at http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf.
15. Yamin (see note 8); CESCR (see note 7); C. Serrano, Participación social y ciudadana, un debate del Chile contemporáneo (MIDEPLAN, 1998)
16. M. HijarMedina, M. V. López-López, and J. Blanco-Muñoz, "La violencia y sus repercusiones en la salud; reflexiones teóricas y magnitud del problema en México," Salud Pública de México 39/6 (1997), pp. 1-8.
17. A. Yamin, "Challenges and possibilities for innovative praxis in health and human rights: Reflections from Peru," Health and Human Rights: An International Journal 6/1 (2002), pp. 35-62.
18. For example, the issues of power are recently addressed without a clarification of its specific meaning in P. Farmer, "Challenging orthodoxies: The road ahead for health and human rights," Health and Human Rights: An International Journal 10/1 (2008), pp. 5-19
19. Yamin (see note 8 and note 11).
20. Here we employ the concept of ideology to refer to the set of ideas, norms, and knowledge used to represent and understand a concrete social reality.
21. The discussion on power appears in the positivist, Marxist, and structuralist schools, among others. For a detailed discussion of the concept of power in the various schools, see M. Haugaard, Power: A reader (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 2002).
22. The discussion on power appears in the positivist, Marxist, and structuralist schools, among others. For a detailed discussion of the concept of power in the various schools, see M. Haugaard, Power: A reader (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 2002).
23. S. Clegg, D. Courpasson, and N. Phillips, Power and organizations, Foundations for Organizational Science (London: SAGE Publication Series, 2007); Haugaard (see note 14); P. Bourdieu, "Social space and symbolic power," Sociological Theory 7 (1989), pp. 14-15; A. Giddens, The constitution of society (Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 1984); N. Poulantzas, Political power and social classes (London: Verso, 1975) [first published in 1968 as Pouvoir politique et classes sociales]; and H. Arendt, On violence (New York: Harcourt, Brace, & World, 1970).
24. Poulantzas (see note 16).
25. Clegg, Courpasson, and Phillips (see note 16); P. Bourdieu, In other words: Essays toward a reflective sociology (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1990); and Giddens (see note 16).
26. A. Giddens, Sociology (Cambridge, UK: Polito Press, 1997).
27. Arendt (see note 16), p. 44.
28. H. G. M. Goverde, P. G. Cerny, M. Haugaard, and H. H. Lentner, Power in contemporary politics: Theories, practices, globalizations (London: SAGE Publications, 2000).
29. Haugaard (see note 14).
30. J. D. Benclowicz, La izquierda y la emergencia del movimiento piquetero en la Argentina. Análisis de un caso testigo (2006). Available at http://www.publicaciones.cucsh.udg.mx/pperiod/espiral/espiralpdf/Espiral 37/123-143.pdf;
31. R. Carrillo, "Movimientos sociales y hegemonía" Revista Aportes Andinos 6 (2003). Available at http://www.uasb.edu.ec/padh/centro/pdfs6/Ricardo%20Carrillo.pdf
32. S. Pachano,"Ecuador: Cuando la inestabilidad se vuelve estable," Iconos. Revista de Ciencias Sociales 23 (2005), pp. 37-44. Available at http://www.flacso.org.ec/docs/i23pachano.pdf
33. J. Burdman, Origen y evolución de los "piqueteros" (2002). Available at http://www.atlas.org.ar/actualidad/PDF/burdman_2.PDF, and also available at http://www.nuevamayoria.com/invest/sociedad/cso180302.htm
34. P. Regalsky, "América Latina: Bolivia indígena y campesina. Una larga marcha para liberar sus territorios y un contexto para el gobierno de Evo Morales," Herramienta 31 (2006). Available at http://www.cebem.org/admin/cmsfiles/archivos/america-latina-regalsky.pdf .
35. J. Luján Muñoz, Breve historia de Guatemala (Tlalpan, Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2004).
36. Universidad Autónoma de México, El derecho a la lengua de los pueblos indígenas, Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas Serie Doctrina Jurídica 59 (Mexico: Universidad Autónoma de México, 2003). Available at http://www.cseiio.edu.mx/biblioteca/libros/humanidades/derecho_indio.pdf ; and S. Martínez Peláez, La patria del criollo, 3rd ed. (Tlalpan, Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2003).
37. A. Pollack, "Crear una región: Luchas sociales en los altos de Guatemala en la primera parte del siglo XIX," Revista Electrónica de Geografía y Ciencias Sociales, 10/218[36] (2006). Available at http://www.ub.es/geocrit/sn/sn-218-36.htm; and Luján Muñoz (see note 24).
38. The Guatemalan armed conflict had roots in the local history and ethnic tensions produced by Guatemala's pronounced social stratification system. The international Cold War context also played an important role in which the main groups in conflict - the army and guerrilla groups - reached an ideological radicalization, which exacerbated the conflict and its effects on Guatemalan society. For a detailed analysis on the background to the Guatemalan armed conflict, see Luján Muñoz (see note 24); Comisión para el Esclarecimiento Histórico (CEH), Informe de la Comisión para el Esclarecimiento Histórico, Guatemala: Memoria del silencio (Guatemala: Oficina de Servicios para Proyectos de las Naciones Unidas, 1999), vol. 12. Also published in English as Guatemala: Memory of silence. Report of the Historical Clarification Commission (Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1999). Available at http://shr.aaas.org/guatemala/ceh/report/english/toc.html.
39. CEH (see note 27); and P. Kobrak, Organizing and repression in the University of San Carlos, Guatemala, 1944 to 1996 (Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1999). Available at http://shr.aaas.org/guatemala/ciidh/org_rep/index.html.
40. Instituto Nacional de Estadística, IX censo nacional de población (Guatemala: INE, 1981). Available at <url>http://ccp.ucr.ac.cr/bvp/censos/guatemala/1981t1/inde x.htm</url> (vol. 1) and at <url>http://ccp.ucr.ac.cr/bvp/censos/guatemala/1981-t2/ind ex.htm</url> (vol. 2); also in Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Estadísticas de América Latina y el Caribe (CEPALSAT, 1980). Available at <url>http://websie.eclac.cl/sisgen/ConsultaIntegrada.asp?i d</url> Aplicacion=1&idTema=2&idIndicador=393&I dioma=e; see also United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Database education and literacy (UNESCO, 1980); updated statistics on education and literacy are available from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) at <url>http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/tableviewer/docume nt.</url> aspx?ReportId=143.
41. CEH (see note 27).
42. CEH (see note 27)., Vol.VIII, Annex II. Available at http://shr.aaas.org/guatemala/ceh/gmds_pdf/anexo2_1. pdf, p. 184.
43. Author interview in November 2008 with a health promoter who was active from 1970 to 1980.
44. Author interview in September 2008 with a former leader of health promoters during the 1980s.
45. Comisión para el Esclarecimiento Histórico (CEH), Guatemala: Causas y orígenes del enfrentamiento armado interno (Guatemala: F&G Editores, 2000).
46. CEH (see note 27).
47. H. D. Suárez, "Aplazados y desplazados, violencia, guerra y desplazamiento: El transfondo cultural del destierro y la exclusión: Destierros y desarraigos" (presented at the II International Seminar on Displacement: Implications and Challenges for Governability, Democracy and Human Rights, Bogotá, September 4, 2002); and CEH (see note 27).
48. C. M. Beristain, "Guatemala: Nunca más," Forced Migration Review 3 (1998), pp. 23-26
49. C. M. Beristain, "Resistiendo la impunidad en Guatemala: La dimensión psicosocial en un proceso políticojudicial," Revista Nueva Sociedad 175 (2001), pp. 43-58.
50. D. R. del Valle, Violencia política y poder comunitario en Rabinal, Baja Verapaz (Guatemala: F&G Editores, 2004).
51. V. Duque, "De víctimas del conflicto a promotores de cambio: Trabajo psicosocial y reconciliación en Guatemala," Revista Futuros 5/19 (2007). Available at http://www.revistafuturos.info/raw_text/raw_futuro19/reconciliacion_vict ima.pdf.
52. R. Brett and F. Rodas, Democracia y derechos huma-nos: Voz ciudadana (Guatemala: UNDP, 2008)
53. E. Torres-Rivas and F. Rodas, Percepción ciudadana de la democracia (Guatemala: UNDP, 2007).
54. Farmer (see note 12).
55. REMHI, Guatemala: Never again! REMHI, Recovery of Historical Memory Project: The official report of the Human Rights Office, Archdiocese of Guatemala (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1999).
56. The CEH divided its 84 recommendations into six groups: a) measures to preserve the memory of victims; b) measures to compensate their losses; c) measures to promote a culture of mutual respect; d) measures to strengthen the democratic process; e) measures towards peace and harmony; and f) the need for an entity responsible for monitoring and promoting compliance with the recommendations. Of the few recommendations implemented, the one that stands out is that of reparations to the victims through the establishment of the National Indemnification Program (Programa Nacional de Resarcimiento, or PNR). However, the PNR faces serious obstacles to increasing its budget and effectively handling the number of cases it deals with annually. Likewise, it lacks the capacity to provide reparations other than economic ones. See Programa Nacional de Resarcimiento, Informe de la evaluación conjunta del PNR y de los programas de apoyo al PNR de GTZ y PNUD (Mimeo Document, 2007); and Programa Nacional de Resarcimiento, La vida no tiene precio (Guatemala: PNR, 2007).
57. Amnesty International, Guatemala: Justice and impunity - Guatemala's Historical Clarification Commission 10 years on (London: Amnesty International, 2009). Available at http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR34/001/2009/en
58. E. Oglesby, Problemas políticos y metodológicos que ha implicado la incorporación de la historia reciente en el sistema educativo formal en Guatemala (Guatemala: AVANCSO, 2008). Available at http://168.96.200.184:8080/avancso/avancso/taller8.
59. Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Corte Interamerica de Derechos Humanos), Tiu Tojín v. Guatemala, November 26, 2008. Voto Razonado concurrente de juez ad-hoc Álvaro Castellanos Howell [Explanation of concurrent vote of ad hoc judge Álvaro Castellanos Howell, Inter-American Court of Human Rights], November 26, 2008. Available at http://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/casos/votos/vsc_castel-lanos_190_esp.doc.
60. Asociación de Investigación y Estudios Sociales, Construyendo la democracia en sociedades postconflicto: Un enfoque comparado Guatemala y El Salvador (Guatemala: F&G Editores, 2006). The bilingual report is available at http://www.asies.org.gt/FUNDAUNGO1. pdf, with English translation beginning at p. 103.
61. Myrna Mack Foundation, Guatemala: El posconflicto imperfecto y las nuevas amenazas para la paz (Guatemala: Fundación Myrna Mack, n.d.). Available at http://www.irenees.net/fr/fiches/analyse/ficheanalyse-774.html.
62. S. Navarro Garcia and P. Pérez Sales, Judicialización de masacres en Guatemala: Estrategias sico-jurídicas en el contexto de exhumaciones (San Jose, Costa Rica: Instituto Interamericano de erechos Humanos/Inter-American Institute of uman Rights, 2007). Available at http://www.iidh.ed.cr/BibliotecaWeb/Varios/Documentos/BD_316548997/Susan a%20Navarro.doc; and Beristein (2001, see note 37).
63. In June, 2001, three military men and a priest were found guilty of the murder. The court labeled the crime an extrajudicial execution and considered the motive to be vengeance for the presentation of the REMHI Report. According to the ruling, Captain Byron Lima Oliva and NCO Obdulio Villanueva - members of the presidential guard of then president Álvaro Arzú - were found guilty of having tampered with the scene of the crime, since they went to the parish house after the assassination. Retired Col. Byron Lima Estrada was also found guilty, for having monitored the operation, as was Fr. Mario Orantes, for having aided the former and for not immediately advising the authorities. Initially, the members of the military were sentenced to 30 years in prison as co-authors and the priest to 20 years, for complicity, but through appeal the sentences of the military were reduced to 20 years, since they were considered to be only accomplices. More than 10 years after Msgr. Gerardi's assassination, neither the intellectual nor material authors of the crime have been identified, despite the open investigation.
64. Asociación de Investigación y Estudios Sociales (see note 46), pp. 179-186.
65. Asociación de Investigación y Estudios Sociales (see note 46), pp. 179-186.
66. Myrna Mack Foundation (see note 47).
67. Farmer (see note 12); Yamin (see note 8); and Serrano (see note 10).
68. E. Bustelo, "Expansión de la ciudadanía y construcción democrática," in E. Bustelo and A. Minujin (eds), Todos entran: Propuesta para sociedades excluyentes (Santa Fé de Bogotá, Colombia: Editorial Santillana, 1998), pp. 160-180.