§ Lord AVEBURYasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will express to the Guatemalan authorities at the next round of negotiations over Belize the concern of British people at the reported massacre of more than 100 peasants in Alta Veraport, Guatemala.
§ The MINISTER of STATE, FOREIGN and COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (Lord Goronwy-Roberts)Reports of this incident, and the number of dead and wounded involved, have differed widely. A number of military policemen were subsequently killed in a retaliatory action for which a guerrilla group has claimed responsibility. The British Government have no standing to make formal representations to the Guatemalan Government but their views on violence of any kind and on the sanctity of human rights are well known.
House adjourned at a quarter before ten o'clock.