Former Guatelmalan Leader Guilty of Genocide

A Guatemalan court on Friday found Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt, the former leader of Guatemala “during one of the bloodiest periods of its long civil war, guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity. The verdict marked the first time a former head of state had been found guilty of genocide in his or her own country. Judge Yasmín Barrios sentenced General Ríos Montt, 86, to 80 years in prison. His co-defendant, José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez, who served as the director of intelligence under the general, was acquitted of the same two charges.”

During Rios’ rule in the early 1980s, many Guatemalans fled the small Central American nation and sought asylum in the United States.

KJ