Guatemalan human rights activist speaks @ Unitarian Church, Anaheim, Friday, Sept. 3rd

by UUOC Wednesday, Sep. 01, 2004 at 12:26 AM
(714) 758-1050 511 South Harbor Blvd., Anaheim, California

Dr. Raul Molina, member of the Board of Directors of the Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA and former Coordinator of the National University of Guatemala's Truth Commission, will deliver a talk about the political situation currently existing within that country.

The Social Concerns Committee of the

Unitarian Church of Orange County invites you

to attend the following special presentation

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GUATEMALA: 8 YEARS AFTER THE PEACE ACCORDS

A difficult present & an uncertain future

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Friday, September 3, 2004

@ 7:30 pm

Dr. Raul Molina, member of the Board of Directors of

the Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA and former

Coordinator of the National University of Guatemala's

Truth Commission (which exposed decades of human

rights abuses committed by the Guatemalan military,

private militias, and death squads), will deliver a

talk about the political situation currently existing

within that country.

From his own personal experience as a human rights

activist, Dr. Molina will give us a thorough and

indepth look at Guatemalan politics; talk about the

influence the United States plays in its internal

affairs; and address some of the issues faced by

Guatemalans who migrated here to escape political

repression.

Dr. Molina notes that recent positive changes in the

government and efforts to implement the 1996 Peace

Accords ending civil strife are a source of hope for

the Guatemalan people; but warns that serious social

and economic problems and pervasive violence and

insecurity still threaten to tear that nation apart

Active in Guatemalan politics, Dr. Molina was a

founding member of Representación Unitaria de la

Oposición Guatemalteca (RUOG) in 1982, a political and

diplomatic team that presented the case of Guatemalan

human rights atrocities to all important international

fora, particularly the UN General Assembly Commission

on Human Rights.

In addition to this, he was Under-Secretary for

Foreign Affairs for the Frente Democrático Nueva

Guatemala (FDNG), a left-wing political party, between

the years of 1996-99, and was a candidate for Mayor of

Guatemala City in for Acción Metropolitana (AM) in

November 1999.

Dr. Molina is currently an Adjunct Associate Professor

of Latin American History and World History at Long

Island University and an Adjunct Associate Professor

of Social Sciences at New York University.

This meeting is free and open to the general public,

although a small donation might be requested to help

cover expenses. Nobody will be turned away for lack of

funds. For more information about this speaker, please

contact duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com.

Unitarian Church of Orange County

511 South Harbor Blvd.

Anaheim, California

(Located on the Southwest corner

of Harbor Blvd. and Santa Ana Street)

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714-758-1050

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http://www.uuchurchoc.org



Original: Guatemalan human rights activist speaks @ Unitarian Church, Anaheim, Friday, Sept. 3rd