Death Threats Against Guatemalan Bishop Ramazzini!

Urgent Action Needed!

CRLN's 2006 Luncheon speaker Guatemalan Bishop Alvaro Leonel Ramazzini Imeri, bishop of the Diocese of San Marcos and president of the Guatemalan Bishop's Conference, received a death threat last Monday, March 31, 2008. In the city of San Marcos , Guatemala , a nun from the bishop's diocese was threatened by two unknown individuals who stopped her vehicle with the intent to send a death threat to Bishop Ramazzini. This was not the first threat against Bishop Ramazzini. Furthermore, similar threats have recently occurred against other members of the diocese, which have been denounced in the media on several occasions.

Bishop Ramazzini has tirelessly worked on behalf of Guatemala 's most vulnerable communities and has challenged the powerful interests of international mining companies whose projects in San Marcos have evicted communities from their land, wreaked havoc on the environment, and ignored the wishes of the communities that are affected by mining. Bishop Ramazzini spoke to 250 of CRLN's members and friends about the challenges facing these communities. In January 2007, CRLN staff visited Bishop Ramazinni and the region of San Marcos to learn how the large multinational mining company Goldcorp is impacting local communities, as well as to express our solidarity in their struggle for a just and sustainable livelihood.

The death threat against Bishop Ramazzini is particularly upsetting given the proximity to the tenth anniversary of the murder of Guatemalan Bishop Juan Gerardi. CRLN will be present for the 10^th Anniversary Commemoration of Bishop Gerardi, who was bludgeoned to death on April 26, 1998 in his home in Guatemala City just two days after the publication of the Recovery of Historical Memory (REHMI) project. The REHMI project, which was led by Bishop Gerardi, documented human rights violations committed during Guatemala 's 36-year civil war. Monseñor Ramazzini has carried on Bishop Gerardi's memory by continuing to seek justice for the atrocities that occurred during the conflict.

Take Action TODAY! Click here to send a message to the Guatemalan government calling on authorities to investigate the death threat against Bishop Ramazzini, bring those responsible to justice, and protect Bishop Ramazzini and all those who work with him in the Diocese and Department of San Marcos. We invite you to add a personal message, especially if you met Bishop Ramazinni while he was in Chicago , and demand that Guatemalan authorities take direct and immediate action!