Guatemalan Ambassador to the Organization of American...

Guatemalan Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS) Arturo Duarte told the body that his government plans to abolish the death penalty.
Duarte said that his government had forwarded to the Guatemalan Congress a bill to abolish capital punishment.
In a speech to the OAS Permanent Council, Duarte said that "the initiative constitutes a major step toward the culture of respect for the individual and for human life, while simultaneously reasserting the government's willingness to encourage respect for human rights."
Duarte said that his country had "been strengthened by the culture of political dialogue, establishing permanent communications among all segments of society."
He also thanked the OAS and the international community for their support of the transformation process in his country.
"The end of the era of exclusion has enabled other forces, such a women's groups, to join the efforts to create better living conditions for all Guatemalans," he said in reference to the 1996 peace accords.
The ruling Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG) raised the need the hold a referendum on the abolition of the death penalty. FRG congressional bloc leader Aristides Crespo said that the abolition of capital punishment in Guatemala, proposed by President Alfonso Portillo, merited in-depth debate and a referendum.