Genocide in Guatemala
Stating “The principle function of the state and its officials is to protect its citizens” (NYTimes),
Judge Miguel Angel Gálvez ordered the trial of Efraín Rios Montt,
former dictator of Guatemala and his intelligence chief José Mauricio
Rodríguez Sánchez, for genocide.
Among other war crimes Rios Montt is
allegedly responsible for the murder of 1771 Ixil Indians between 1982-3
(his term in office), in a war against domestic resistance which killed
200,000 predominantly aboriginal peoples. The U.S. sided with and
supported his government. Israel supplied the military with arms and
training. Rios Montt escaped prosecution for many years as a
parliamentarian through immunity, the power of the military, and an
ambivalent justice system.
He was previously charged with genocide
by Judge Santiago Pedraz of the Spanish National Court on July 7, 2006
but released when Guatemala proved reluctant to proceed. His background
includes training at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC)/ the School of the Americas and ordination in the California based Pentecostal Church of the Word (El Verbo).
The military’s attempt to murder large portions of Guatemala’s Mayan
Indian population is currently reflected in the murder of labour
leaders, human rights workers, and community leaders facing foreign
mining interests. Canadian mining companies have operated in Guatemala
since the CIA takeover of the Arbenz government in 1954.
Rios Montt is the first former head of
state in North, South or Central America to actually be tried for the
crime of genocide. As noted on these pages July 7, 2012,,
Jorge Rafael Videla, President of Argentina (1976 – 1981), was found
guilty simply of stealing the children of the dissidents he occasioned
to be murdered and was sentenced to fifty years in prison.
Historical note:
Former
President Echeverria of Mexico was charged with genocide. The judges
tried to apply a statute of limitations to the substantial evidence of
his crime. That failed. Previous: 1 2 3 4 5. In July 2007 The New York Times reported
Mexican Federal Judge Luna simply granted Echeverria absolute
protection against all charges. No foreign nation presented any
objection to the United Nations as allowed under Article VIII and Article IX of the Convention on Genocide. In this instance Mexico violated Articles IV, V, VI,
joining the United States and Canada in the judiciary’s removal of sure
application of the Convention to acts of their country’s leaders. See “North American game plans and the Convention on Genocide”. This continues a genocide warning for aboriginal populations in Mexico, the U.S. and Canada.
Partial sources online:
“Guatemala ex-dictator to stand trial on genocide charges in civil war killings of Indians,”AP, Jan. 28, 2013, The Washington Post; “Guatemala ex-dictator to stand trial on genocide charges in civil war killings of Indians,” Sonia Perez-Diaz, The Associated Press Jan. 28, 2013, The Ottawa Citizen; “Ex-Dictator Is Ordered to Trial in Guatemalan War Crimes Case,” Elisabeth Malkin, Jan. 28, 2013 The New York Times; “US-Backed Guatemalan Dictator to Face Charges of Genocide,” John Glaser, Jan. 29, 2013, antiwar.com; “Efraín Ríos Montt,” current, Wikipedia; “Guatemala ex-ruler Rios Montt to face genocide trial,” Jan.28, 2013, BBC News;
“Federal Judge Overturns Ruling Against Mexico’s Former President in
1968 Student Killings,” James C. McKinley Jr., July 13, 2007, The New York Times.
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