wfn.org | Bolioli Witnesses Accords Signing

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3362 notes).

Note 3357 by UMNS on Jan. 6, 1997 at 16:29 Eastern (3480 characters).

SEARCH: National Council of Churches, Guatemala, peace accord
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT:  Linda Bloom                              3(10-71B){3357}
          New York (212) 870-3803                     Jan. 6, 1997

Bolioli among witnesses to
peace signing in Guatemala

                 by United Methodist News Service

     The Rev. Oscar Bolioli, a Methodist staff executive with the
National Council of Churches (NCC), was among 1,200 official
guests at the Dec. 29 signing of the final peace accords in
Guatemala.
     Invited by the Guatemalan Ministry of Foreign Relations,
Bolioli represented the NCC and its relief agency, Church World
Service.
     Church World Service also distributed toys, school kits,
layettes, blankets and other gifts to 27,000 Guatemalan children
during the Christmas holidays. Gifts for 50,000 more children and
their families will be sent early this year.
     In general, according to Bolioli, the Guatemalan people
"received the signed agreements with tremendous hope but also
concern about the future." The concern, he said, "is that social
and economic conditions will be improved to create a better life
for all."
     The peace accords come after 36 years of armed conflict
between the government and the rebel faction, called the
Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity. During that period, it is
estimated that more than 100,000 people were killed, 40,000
"disappeared," some 250,000 children orphaned and more than a
million driven from their homes, according to the New York Times.
     All together, there are 11 peace accords, covering issues
ranging from the rights of Guatemalan Indians to the size of the
country's armed forces.
     Churches have played an important role in helping the people
of Guatemala work for peace. During the past four years, for
example, the NCC's Church World Service has co-hosted a series of
four major ecumenical meetings that eventually came to involve
representatives of the Guatemalan government and its armed forces,
the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity and the country's
civil sector.
     Other sponsors were the World Council of Churches, Latin
American Council of Churches and Lutheran World Federation.
     According to Bolioli, who is the NCC's director for Latin
America and the Caribbean, the role of these groups was to
facilitate, not supplant, the official negotiations by offering an
atmosphere "in which people who were deeply divided by ideology
could come to know each other."
     Concern has been expressed about the possibility of revenge
killings during the time of transition. Bolioli said the presence
of North American volunteer observers in areas considered
vulnerable may be a deterrent to such violence.
     Church World Service, which has worked with partners in
Guatemala for 20 years, now will focus its efforts on
reintegrating members of the rebel faction into civilian life.
Bolioli explained that many of the guerrillas originally came from
rural areas but no longer have the skills to farm. Churches can
provide small loans to help with tools or the opening of various
small businesses.
     Churches also will support people trying to locate and
properly bury the bodies of those who "disappeared" and are
presumed dead, he said.
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