Justice in Guatemala

Impunity was dealt a major defeat in Guatemala. The conviction of former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt on charges of genocide sends a powerful message that, sooner or later, justice is also served in Central America.

The trial of Ríos Montt should remind the dictators and those responsible for the massacres that bloodied the region for decades that such acts are not forgotten, much less pardoned. All this was done within the law, granting the murderers the respect, consideration, and opportunity to defend themselves that their victims never had.

By facing the past in this way, the country moves toward a true national reconciliation.

Ríos Montt was found guilty of killing 1,771 members of the indigenous Ixil ethnic group between 1982 and 1983, when the former military leader was president of Guatemala following a coup. At that time, counterinsurgency “scorched earth” operations were launched against indigenous populations in the country’s north and northeast who were considered guerrilla sympathizers. In those operations, men, women and children were systematically murdered, as demonstrated in the trial.

Ríos Montt claimed ignorance of the events, but his responsibility for what happened is inescapable as both military leader and president. Guatemalan society has taught a lesson in civic maturity.

The Central American nation has joined Argentina and Uruguay in bringing dictators to trial and convicting them. In addition to breaching their countries’ constitutional order, these individuals governed with the arrogance of those who attribute themselves power over life and death.

In many cases, criminal despotism seems to have no consequences with the passage of time. However, the case of Ríos Montt should serve as motivation to stand strong for all who seek justice against a dictator who seemed all-powerful at one time. Their time is coming, as proven in Guatemala.