International Guest Speaker

Joveil Acevedo
President of Education Workers Union in Guatemala

As blogger, I transcribed the text of Sr Acevedo's speech as it was translated into English. I reinterpreted a few words of the interpreter's translation because as he did it "on the fly" a few phrases did not make sense in English. dg

Greetings of solidarity from the Executive Committee of the Guatemala Education Workers Union. I want to share with you a great trouble we are having in Guatemala regarding freedoms that we do not have. My union is just beginning to create a GLBT movement. It's a country of contract persecution and intolerance but we have to do this work. I wonder and ask my brothers and sisters in Guatemala what is the tabu, the problem?

What's going on? What’s the matter with those who control the economy in my country? I’m not talking about majorities and minorities. We have to talk about freedom and rights, not about whether people accept or don't accept. It’s really about truth and facts and reality of both our countries. We have viewed it as a trans-cultural issue. They want to impose everything upon us.

Ladies and gentlemen, GLBT teachers in Guatemala have to hold it in, they can't express what they want to say. It is like someone who wants to cry but doesn't because they are afraid. We shall not continue to tolerate this in my country. Where my office is located in the historical center of Guatemala City, there are hundreds of GLBT people who are forced to be sex workers. The worst thing is that there are groups of the national police, politicians, and the armed forces who coerce these people and intimidate and extort them. They even make them pay to be able to walk the streets. Enough! Two transgender people were murdered about 500 meters from our main office and no one said anything. Murders continued on these transgender people until we said we must do something about it. I am vice president of a grass roots movement bringing human rights. We decided it was time to form an organization in regard to this issue. The group created is called OASIS. It is also a place of refuge. That organization makes us strong and seeks freedom and respect from society. After the murder of a transgender person’s body was left lying on the street we then brought these abuses before the International Court of Human Rights in San Jose, Costa Rica. One brutalized transgender person is a key witness testifying against the police.

I demand freedom.

No one is owner of absolute power. Excuse me... the oligarchy views this movement as a leftist movement because it is against it. This is not acceptable. All for one, one for all. Total activism. Don’t pay attention to the propaganda that the press says in Guatemala.

I would like to give the caucus a token of my appreciation... a Guatemalan tapestry. We need to form a world wide GLBT network. We would like for you to support our GLBT women and men.