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Democracy Now! stories, posts and pages that relate to Guatemala.

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  • Rios_montt_trial

    Breaking: Former U.S.-Backed Guatemalan Dictator Found Guilty of Genocide in Historic Trial

    Former U.S.-backed Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt has been found guilty of genocide in a historic trial. He was the first head of state in the Americas to stand trial for genocide. Click here for live tweets from trial and links to our extensive coverage of the trial.
    May 10, 2013 | Web Exclusive
  • Rios_montt_trial-1

    Despite Evidence of Massacres, Former Guatemalan Dictator Proclaims Innocence at Genocide Trial

    UPDATE: 7:00 p.m. EDT Efraín Ríos Montt has been found guilty of genocide and sentenced to 80 years in prison.

    A verdict is expected as early as today in the historic trial against U.S.-backed Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt, the first head of state in the Americas to stand trial for genocide. He is charged with overseeing the slaughter of more than 1,700 people in Guatemala’s Mayan region after he seized power in 1982. On Thursday,...

    May 10, 2013 | Story
  • Rios_montt_trial

    Prosecutors Seek 75-Year Sentence for U.S.-Backed Guatemalan Dictator Ríos Montt in Genocide Trial

    Closing arguments have begun in the historic trial against U.S.-backed Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt, the first head of state in the Americas to stand trial for genocide. Ríos Montt is charged with overseeing the slaughter of more than 1,700 people in Guatemala’s Ixil region after he seized power in 1982. The trial has been revived after it was suspended due to intervention by Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina and death...
    May 09, 2013 | Story
  • Montt_trial

    Genocide Trial of Former Dictator Ríos Montt Suspended After Intervention by Guatemalan President

    A historic trial against former U.S.-backed Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity came to an abrupt end Thursday when an appeals court suspended the trial before a criminal court was scheduled to reach a verdict. Ríos Montt on was charged in connection with the slaughter of more than 1,700 people in Guatemala’s Ixil region after he seized power in 1982. His 17-month rule is seen as one...
    Apr 19, 2013 | Story
  • Allan_nairn_perez_molina

    Exclusive: Allan Nairn Exposes Role of U.S. and New Guatemalan President in Indigenous Massacres

    In 1982, investigative journalist Allan Nairn interviewed a Guatemalan general named "Tito" on camera during the height of the indigenous massacres. It turns out the man was actually Otto Pérez Molina, the current Guatemalan president. We air the original interview footage and speak to Nairn about the U.S. role backing the Guatemalan dictatorship. Last week, Nairn flew to Guatemala where he had been scheduled to testify in the trial...
    Apr 19, 2013 | Story
  • Gitmo_prisoner_web

    Former Guantánamo Prisoner Speaks Out on Lawsuit Seeking Bush's Arrest in Canada for Torture

    Police in British Columbia have taken extra security measures ahead of today’s visit by former President George W. Bush, who is set to speak at an economic summit. The security is to handle hundreds of protesters, but Amnesty International has also called on the Canadian government to arrest Bush and either prosecute or extradite him for the torture of prisoners in the so-called "war on terror." Meanwhile, four men who say they...
    Oct 20, 2011 | Story
  • Perez-molina_web

    Genocide-Linked General Otto Pérez Molina Poised to Become Guatemala's Next President

    A retired military general has won the first round in Guatemala’s presidential election, leading to a runoff election in November. If elected, General Otto Pérez Molina would become the first former military official to win the presidency since the end of the military dictatorships in 1986. Human rights groups have accused Pérez of being directly involved in the systematic use of torture and acts of genocide in Guatemala in the 1980s....
    Sep 15, 2011 | Story
  • Granito_web

    "Granito: How to Nail a Dictator": New Film Tracks Struggle for Justice After Guatemalan Genocide

    A new documentary links Guatemala’s turbulent past with those who are active players in its present. The film, "Granito: How to Nail a Dictator," which is part political thriller and part memoir, spans four decades, following several people as they search for the details that can be used to hold accountable those responsible for the genocide in which Guatemalan military and paramilitary soldiers killed more than 200,000 people....
    Sep 15, 2011 | Story
  • 911_relations

    A Fateful Day: 9/11 Also Marks Important Anniversaries in India, Guatemala, Haiti and Attica, NY

    On the anniversary of the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, we look back at several national and international events linked to that day. This year on September 11, India will mark the 105th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi launching the modern nonviolent resistance movement. We play part of a 2003 interview with Gandhi’s grandson, Arun. On September 11, 1990, renowned Guatemalan anthropologist Myrna Mack was assassinated...
    Sep 08, 2011 | Story
  • Syphilis

    As Grim Details Emerge, Guatemalan Victims Seek Justice for U.S. Medical Experiments in 1940s

    A White House bioethics commission has revealed gruesome new details about venereal disease experiments from 1946 to 1948 in which U.S. medical officials intentionally infected Guatemalan sex workers, prisoners, soldiers and mental patients with syphilis in order to study the effects of penicillin. The commission concluded that nearly 5,500 Guatemalans were subjected to diagnostic testing — without their consent — and more than 1,300 were...
    Aug 31, 2011 | Story