WASHINGTON - November 10 - The Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) congratulates the Guatemalan judicial system for ordering and carrying out the arrests of former military and government officials, and urges the arrest of ex-dictator Ríos Montt upon receipt of the appropriate arrest warrant.

A Guatemalan court has ordered the arrest of six of the eight ex-military and ex-government officials charged with the 1980 burning of the Spanish embassy and the larger crime of genocide in Guatemala. Two of the six, Ángel Aníbal Guevara Ramírez and Germán Chupina Barahona, have been detained by the National Civil Police on charges of terrorism, homicide and kidnapping. All of the accused face extradition to Spain for their crimes, as the result of charges filed by Rigoberta Menchú and other victims before Spanish courts in 1999.

NISGUA welcomes these long overdue arrests. NISGUA accompaniment coordinator Bridget Brehen comments that “these arrests represent a significant step forward in the struggle for justice and accountability in Guatemala. In honor of all those who have and continue to dedicate themselves to this struggle, we hope that the remaining warrants will be executed and the accused extradited or brought to trial in Guatemala.”

On November 7, former Defense Minister Ángel Aníbal Guevara turned himself into the police upon hearing of the arrest warrant. He was then transferred to a prison in Zone 18 of Guatemala City where he is being held in the prison hospital. Germán Chupina is currently in another medical center under police custody.

Notably absent from the arrest orders were ex-dictators Efraín Ríos Montt and Romeo Lucas García. Lucas García died in Venezuela in May. Ríos Montt is alive and retains a large amount of power within his political party, the FRG. His daughter is also a leader within the party and is married to U.S. Representative Jerry Weller (R-IL). The Guatemalan court refused to order the arrest of Ríos Montt, reasoning that there is a lack of proof of his responsibility for the burning of the Spanish Embassy in Guatemala, and because the warrant was not issued on charges of genocide.

Arrests have yet to be made of the following accused: Oscar Humberto Mejía Víctores, Donaldo Álvarez Ruiz, Pedro Garcia Arredondo, and Benedicto Lucas García. Members of the National Civil Police have surrounded Méjia Víctores’s apartment building, but police are purportedly waiting on the appropriate search warrant to enter his home.

The Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) was formed in 1981 to coordinate local activism on Guatemala in the United States. With members across the U.S., NISGUA continues to be one of the strongest and steadiest grassroots voices for responsible U.S. policy in the region. In coordination with groups in North and Central America, NISGUA supports Guatemalan efforts to create a democratic society based on justice and human rights.

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