30 presence of the Army in areas where there was a confrontation with the guerrilla forces to control the territory. While preparations were underway to on the problems of returning citizens both displaced persons and refugees, in Cobán, in the municipalities Huehuetenango. publish this study, Myrna began another one and their integration and viability, regarding funded by the Ford Foundation. She worked Ixiles, Ixcán, Quiché and Nenton and In time it became evident that among the returning citizens there were next of kin of the Comunidades de Población en Resistencia (CPR), groups of non-combatant civilians who sought to survive physically and socially in the mountains outside military control. In 1990 they were seeking to make themselves publicly known. Myrna was consulted in her work by national and international organizations, and even by the Bishop of Quiché, Monsignor Julio Cabrera, to advise them regarding displacement and return from abroad. Before she was killed, Myrna had commented to her that when she returned to the Ixil municipalities, someone from the military base went to inquire who that “Chinese woman” was. After the murder, the neighbors reported that AVANCSO had been under surveillance by persons in cars and motorcycles during the 15 days prior to the murder. Deeming it a political assassination, the board of directors of AVANCSO requested meetings with high military commanders and with the President of the Republic. They held a meeting that was attended by colonel Luis Enrique Mendoza, deputy director of the General Defense Staff, general Edgar Augusto Godoy Gaitán, head of the Presidential General Staff, and colonel Cabrera, head of the “G-2.” Colonel Mendoza said that they knew neither AVANCSO nor Myrna Mack Chang and that the murder might have come from “the left,” which liked to have “martyrs” among its own supporters. That same day, a man in civilian dress came to their offices, identifying himself as “captain Estrada,” and said that he had been sent by the Presidential General Staff, in charge of the investigation of the murder. He requested a photograph of Myrna and inquired about her personal life and personality traits. He reached the conclusion that Myrna was murdered for resisting a robbery. In late September, the board of directors of AVANCSO met with President Marco Vinicio Cerezo Arévalo, who expressed that the murder might have been committed by “obscurantist sectors that [...] still exist[ed] within the security forces.” Between 1992 and 1994, during the trial against Beteta Álvarez, there were several acts of intimidation against AVANCSO employees, including aggression and threats, as well as entries into their offices, demanding that they not cooperate with Helen Mack Chang. The pertinent complaints were filed at the courts and at the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman. Surveillance of AVANCSO’s seat became more obvious when Christian Tomuschat, the UN Human Rights Rapporteur, visited Guatemala and their offices. Despite complaints filed regarding the facts, those responsible for them were never identified or accused. When Myrna was murdered, AVANCSO lost the most important member of its Board of Directors, who would now be acting as the coordinator of one of the Study Areas at their research center. If that were the case, her monthly income would be Q 12,000.

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