Guatemala confronts a dark chapter
Guatemala confronts a dark chapter
By Mariano Castillo, CNN
updated 8:43 AM EDT, Thu April 11, 2013
Guatemala City (CNN) -- The soldiers killed Jacinto Lopez's teenage daughter Magdalena by repeatedly stabbing her in the neck. Then they shot and killed his sons, 13-year-old Domingo and 10-year-old Pedro. His in-laws were not spared. Barely anyone in the village was.
These atrocities, which took place in the remote Guatemalan town of Santa Maria Nebaj in July of 1982, have never been described in a courtroom. Until now. For the first time, Lopez has shared his terrifying story in the nation's highest court.
And for the first time "anywhere in the world," according to the United Nations, a former head of state is being tried for genocide by his own nation's justice system. That man is Efrain Rios Montt, an ex-military dictator who ruled Guatemala from 1982 to 1983.
"They killed my family and destroyed our crops," Lopez testified. "They took even my cows."
More:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/11/world/americas/guatemala-rios-montt-trial/index.html?hpt=hp_c1
