Former dictator defeated as Guatemala moves past war years

Published: 2003-11-11

GUATEMALA CITY (CNS) -- Human rights leaders in Guatemala said the presidential candidacy of a former dictator responsible for the deaths of thousands of Guatemalans rubbed salt in the wounds of citizens still struggling to come to terms with decades of civil war. With about two-thirds of the vote counted by Nov. 10, retired Gen. Efrain Rios Montt ran a distant third in the Nov. 9 elections, trailing Oscar Berger, 57, the former mayor of Guatemala City, and Alvaro Colom, 52, a textiles executive. Berger and Colom face a presidential runoff election on Dec. 28. Nery Rodenas, director of the Archbishop's Human Rights Office in Guatemala City, said Rios Montt's candidacy broke a constitutional ban on former coup leaders running for president. "Rios Montt does not have the moral right to govern Guatemala. He is one of the people accused of the worst human rights violations in the country," Rodenas said. Some 196 massacres occurred during Rios Montt's 1982-83 regime, Rodenas said.

Copyright (c) 2003 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .