Amy Goodman
@DemocracyNow·3.2M subscribers·19.4K videos
Ríos Montt Guilty of Genocide: Are Guatemalan President Pérez Molina, U.S. Officials Next? 2 of 2
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May 13, 2013
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In a historic verdict, former U.S.backed Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt has been sentenced to 80 years in prison after being found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity. Ríos Montt was convicted of overseeing the slaughter of more than 1,700 people in Guatemala's Ixil region after seizing power in 1982. The ruling marks the first time a former head of state had been found guilty of genocide in his own country. The judge in the case has instructed prosecutors to launch an immediate investigation of "all others" connected to the crimes. Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina was among those implicated during the trial's testimony after having served as a regional commander under Ríos Montt's regime. We're joined by investigative reporter Allan Nairn, who returned to Guatemala to cover the trial after reporting on the massacres extensively in the early 1980s.
Watch part 1 of this interview at
During a CNN interview in which he denied that a genocide took place, Pérez Molina was confronted with statements he gave to to Nairn confirming his role in the Ixil killings three decades ago. "This was a breakthrough for indigenous people against racism and a breakthrough for human civilization," Nairn says of the verdict, which he adds could have major implications for Washington. "The judge's order to further investigate everyone involved in Rios Montt's crimes could encompass U.S. officials [who] were direct accessories to and accomplices to the Guatemalan military. There were supplying money, weapons, political support, intelligence. Under international and Guatemalan law, they could be charged."
See all Democracy Now! coverage of the Ríos Montt trial at
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