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GUEST COLUMNIST / Por Rodrigo Rey Rosa / Martes 30 Abr 2013
The inserts that have been circulated in the most recent Sunday editions of national newspaper elPeriódico contain a revealing symbol. The emblem of the Foundation Against Terrorism is a scale of justice. But the central support of the scale is not the conventional rod, but a military dagger. [+] Yo, genocida |
Editorial / Por Plaza Pública / Domingo 28 Abr 2013
During the 20 days the genocide trial has gone on in Guatemala, various accusations have been launched saying it has the potential to divide the country—as if it was united. It seems to have deepened our contradictions and quashed the opportunity for debate with empty threats that it would only lead to violence, like everything else in this country. |
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Visions and versions of a conflict / Por Alejandra Gutiérrez Valdizán / Jueves 25 Abr 2013
For years, Alfred Kaltschmitt has written op-eds for Guatemala’s most conservative newspaper. He is also a journalism professor at the Panamerican University. Kaltschmitt was also the executive director of the Foundation to Help the Indigenous Nation (known by its Spanish acronym FUNDAPI). Testifying as a witness for General Efrain Rios Montt’s defense, he speaks about the support the army gave rural indigenous communities during the 1960-1996 civil war. |
GENOCIDE TRIAL / Por Plaza Pública / Miércoles 24 Abr 2013
The biggest blow to the country’s judicial independence came Tuesday, with full-page advertisements in Guatemalan daily newspapers. The ads, signed by a group of ex-military and peace accord negotiators, accused the tribunals of a “juridical fabrication” and claimed genocide did not occur. They say a guilty verdict could send the country into disarray. Retired Generals Efrain Rios Montt and Jose Rodriguez Sanchez were charged in January 2012 for genocide and crimes against humanity. Prosecutors accuse them of the slaughter by subordinates of at least 1,771 Mayan Ixils. |
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GENOCIDE TRIAL, blogs / Por Edelberto Torres-Rivas / Miércoles 24 Abr 2013
Sociologist Edelberto Torres-Rivas contests the recent ad campaign in Guatemalan daily newspapers to undermine the genocide trial. The ads, signed by a group of ex-military and peace accord negotiators, accused the tribunals of a “juridical fabrication” and claimed genocide did not occur. Retired Generals Efrain Rios Montt and Jose Rodriguez Sanchez were charged in January 2012 for genocide and crimes against humanity. Prosecutors accuse them of the slaughter by subordinates of at least 1,771 Mayan Ixils. Please see the unedited translation of his text below. |
Genocide Trial, Blogs / Por Félix Alvarado / Miércoles 24 Abr 2013
We all want peace. Don’t try to make me feel guilty because I’m asking for the army’s accountability in Guatemala’s 1960-1996 civil war. In the same way our Peace Accords were haphazardly negotiated and then its legacy swept under the rug, it seems we’re trying to do the same with war crimes. |
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Genocide trial / Por Oswaldo J. Hernández, Alejandra Gutiérrez Valdizán / Miércoles 24 Abr 2013
Despite contradicting reports by local and international press outlets, Guatemala’s Constitutional Court has not rule on the fate of the genocide trial against retired General Efrain Rios Montt and his former security chief Mauricio Rodriguez Sanchez. Last week a pre-trial judge ordered the trial go back to its evidentiary phase. However, the three-justice panel, presided by Judge Yasmin Barrios rejected the order and placed the fate of Latin America’s first genocide trial in the hands of the country’s top court. |
 Genocide trial / Por Oswaldo J. Hernández / Sábado 20 Abr 2013
Uncertainty loomed in Guatemala on Friday morning as hundreds of indigenous Ixils, diplomats, and international observers made their way into the country’s Supreme Court where trial has been ongoing since March 19. The three-justice panel, presided by Judge Yasmin Barrios vowed to continue acting according to the rule of law and trail-blaze against justices attempting to halt the genocide trial. In an unprecedented turn of events, a judge recently reinstated to the case of former Guatemalan dictator Jose Efrain Rios Montt and Mauricio Rodríguez Sanchez ordered the suspension of the trial. [+] Todo lo anulado |
 Special Charter Courts / Por Oswaldo J. Hernández / Lunes 15 Abr 2013
Retired Generals Efrain Rios Montt and Jose Rodriguez Sanchez were charged in January 2012 for genocide and crimes against humanity. Prosecutors accuse them of the slaughter by subordinates of at least 1,771 Mayan Ixils. Guatemala’s young judicial system has guaranteed their constitutional rights and due process with access to council and a transparency. Back in 1983, the heyday of Rios Montt’s de facto government, special charter courts were put in place to prosecute and execute those deemed subversive by the state. There were no trials and no cross-examination. The names of the presiding judges are still unknown. Today, Rios Montt and Sanchez face trial under conditions they would have never given those executed by special charter courts. |
 Civil War Scars / Por Ricardo Falla / Lunes 15 Abr 2013
The trial against retired Generals Efrain Rios Montt and Jose Rodriguez Sanchez opened in March. Montt and Rodriguez are charged with genocide and crimes against humanity. Prosecutors accuse them of the slaughter by subordinates of at least 1,771 Mayan Ixils. Although international bodies have long reported genocide took place in the Central American nation, it still remains an open-ended question for pockets of Guatemalan society. Ricardo Falla, Jesuit priest and anthropologist that specializes in the 1960-1996 civil war, attempts to answer some of these lingering questions. |
