Guatemala: Former Military Chief Is Charged with Genocide

[Judi Lynn]

Guatemala: Former Military Chief Is Charged with Genocide
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 17, 2011

A former military chief of staff was arrested on Friday and accused of involvement in the killing of government opponents during Guatamala’s 36-year civil war. Hector Mario Lopez, a retired general, is the highest-ranking former official to be arrested for massacres in the 1980s; he faces charges that include genocide and forced disappearance, which involves crimes in which the victim’s body is not found.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/18/world/americas/18briefs-Guatemala.html?_r=1&ref=world

~~~~~
Friday, June 17, 2011
Breaking News: First Arrest for Genocide in Guatemala
FIRST ARREST FOR GENOCIDE IN GUATEMALA

Today, June 17th, General Héctor Mario López Fuentes was captured in Guatemala City, twenty-nine years after having initiated the execution of Plan Victoria 82, developed by the Army Chief of Staff and Efraín Ríos Montt’s de facto government. He is accused of having perpetrated genocide against the Maya Ixil people in the years 1982-83.

The victims and survivors of genocide have knocked on the doors of justice for more than ten years. Today the justice system has the opportunity to prosecute genocide, a crime which is an affront to the dignity of all humanity. These events fill us with hope and motivate us to continue the fight against forgetting.

We express our satisfaction at this arrest. We hope that the authorities continue to pursue the judicial process against him, and that he will be the first to be convicted of the many responsible for genocide that remain at liberty. We will continue on the path towards justice, recuperating our history and speaking the truth.

We invite you to accompany us in this process, which is historic not only for our country, but for Latin America and the world. We will show that our justice system CAN work, and has the capacity and courage to prosecute the crime of genocide.

http://nisgua.blogspot.com/2011/06/breaking-news-first-arrest-for-genocide.html

~~~~~
Google translation from Spain's El Mundo:

The Guatemalan military old Hector Mario Lopez Fuentes, arrested Friday, is accused by the prosecution and humanitarian agencies have ordered or participated in at least 400 killings and 77 cases of disappearances during a brief period of civil war that shook Guatemala between 1960 1996.

General Lopez, age 81 , was chief of the Guatemalan army during the de facto government of General José Efraín Ríos Montt coup (1982-1983), the bloodiest period of armed conflict that bled Guatemala for 36 years .

At the request of the Office of Human Rights, accusing him of crimes against humanity and genocide , Lopez was arrested Friday at his residence, located in a neighborhood northeast of Guatemala City inhabited largely by retired military, told Efe a spokesman for the prosecutors.

The same source said that Lopez is accused of having participated in at least 77 cases of forced disappearances and crimes against humanity.

More:
http://www.elmundo.es/america/2011/06/18/noticias/1308361495.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. The complete AP story the NY Times didn't feel was "fit to print" earlier:

Guatemala arrests ex-general implicated in 1980s massacres, highest-ranking official detained
By Associated Press, Published: June 17

~snip~
Lopez was arrested in Guatemala City. He is accused of directing a “scorched earth” campaign against mainly Mayan communities during the dictatorship of Gen. Efrain Rios Montt.

Rights activist Mario Minera welcomed the arrest of Lopez.

“This opens the possibility that there could be justice for hundreds of families, there could be a historical accounting to explain why the general populace and the Mayan Indians were victims,” Minera said.

Rios Montt told a local radio station that he would be willing to face justice as well for the events of the early 1980s. However, Montt enjoys immunity from prosecution because he is currently serving a term as a congressman.

More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/americas/guatemala-arrests-former-general-implicated-in-1980s-massacres/2011/06/17/AGpd8XZH_story.html

[EFerrari]

2. Mejor Guatemala.

Guatemala is doing better than we are at cleaning house.