Ríos Montt, one may recall, ruled Guatemala
during the most vicious period of its long-running civil war during the early
1980s. His staunchest ally was the
United States; President Reagan praised him as a “man of integrity” committed
to “social justice.”
The kind of social justice Ríos Montt
promoted in Guatemala was, shall we say, very selective. Even the CIA expressed concern over the
mounting death toll as US- and Israeli-supplied and trained troops took the
lives of numerous civilians in such atrocities as the Plan de Sanchez Massacre. Although the campaign against URNG guerrillas
took center stage and was used to justify excesses in the name of establishing “democracy,”
Ríos Montt’s administration pressured poor farmers
and indigenous Mayans to give up their support for the guerrillas and pledge
their loyalty to the state.
The result was a swath of destruction which
put Billy Sherman’s March to the Sea to shame, with hundreds of villages
razed. The population escaping death in
the attacks was left homeless and bereft of means of subsistence. Now,
more than thirty years later, Ríos Montt faces at least the possibility of
being held accountable for his actions. As his case returns to trial, we (and his
thousands of victims) should be cautiously hopeful for a just outcome. But, while times have changed for the better
throughout Central and South America, we must also remember that having been
the law for so long, these aging military rulers expect, and too often receive,
a large measure of deference from their civilian successors.
Don’t be surprised when Ríos Montt goes free.
© 2013 The Unassuming Scholar
[1] Apparently, the Supreme Court upheld
the conduct of and the evidence submitted at the trial through April 21st,
but quashed subsequent proceedings.
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