Guatemala reboots genocide trial for ex-dictator

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Agence France-Presse

Guatemala reboots genocide trial for ex-dictator

By AFP 8 hours ago .

Former Guatemalan military dictator Efrain Rios Montt's genocide trial will restart from zero after being separated from a similar case against his spy chief, a lawyer said Friday.

A linked trial of the two men on the genocide charges had been under way since March 16.

But evidence and hearings in Rios Montt's case were presented behind closed doors while those for his intelligence chief, Jose Rodriguez, were conducted in open court.

Early this month, an appeals court ruled that the two cases should be tried separately. The plaintiffs had fought for that outcome, fearing the linked trial raised the risk of a verdict being thrown out on appeal.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/world/guatemala-reboots-genocide-trial-for-ex-dictator/article/465310#ixzz48bNID386

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[center]

Efraín Ríos Montt and loyal supporter, Ronald Reagan. [/center]

[Baobab]

1. They killed SO many people.

whole villages

[McKim]

2. Three Human Rights Delegations

I participated in three human rights delegations to Guatemala to support the survivors and to seek justice. About 200.000 people were killed. This story is very important for the whole world. They mustn't get away with it!

[WhiteTara]

3. I hope he doesn't have a minutes peace

for the rest of his miserable life. I didn't realize he had so many people killed. 200,000!

[libdem4life]

4. K & R and why we should stay OUT of meddling/arming/supporting

other sovereign nations. Go, Bernie.

[PufPuf23]

5. Here are two comprhensive links on Rios Montt.

Montt had a curious link to the Gospel Outreach Church base in Eureka, CA and with missionaries in Guatemala.

http://www.sparselysageandtimely.com/blog/?p=19482

When a Guatemalan court on May 10 found former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Ríos Montt guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity while head of state, I like many indigenous Guatemalans was pleased. Officials in that Central American country had for decades committed atrocities with impunity.

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General Ríos Montt had been clearly elected president in 1974, but blatant election fraud prevented him from taking office. Quixotically, he then fled to California and joined the Eureka-based Gospel Outreach fundamentalist movement.

After returning to Guatemala, Ríos Montt, along with two other military men seized power in a mostly bloodless coup in 1982 and formed a three-man junta. Less than three months after the coup, however, Ríos Mott dissolved the junta and became dictator.

Helping orchestrate the coup, according to the US liberal group Democratic Underground, were “gringo evangelical cronies [who were] co-founders of the Church of the Word, a Guatemala-based offshoot of Gospel Outreach.”

more at link.

http://www.moreorless.net.au/killers/montt.html

Efraín Ríos Montt

Country: Guatemala.

Kill tally: About 70,000 Mayan peasants and political dissidents.

Background: Guatemala is invaded and colonized by the Spanish early in the 16th Century. The country proclaims its independence in 1821, but real reform is not achieved until 1944 when a civilian is elected president. However, the reformist government is overthrown by a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) backed coup d'état in June 1954.

An outbreak of protests against the now military-aligned government in March and April of 1962 marks the beginning a 34-year civil war between leftist guerrilla groups and the government for control of the country. The Mayan peasants are caught in the middle and suffer the brunt of the violence and killings.

More at link.

[a la izquierda]

6. I'm sure zero will come of this...

try as some might.

[Redwoods Red]

7. If they don't get a move on, they'll be trying a corpse. Dude is ancient.

I remember seeing people yanked off buses at army checkpoints by his soldiers in the early 1980s. Creepy.