Will Justice Be Possible In Guatemala?

[Judi Lynn]

1. Was there genocide in Guatemala?

24 May 2013 Last updated at 00:06 ET
Was there genocide in Guatemala?
By Will Grant
BBC News, Mexico City

Two names are synonymous with the violence of Guatemala's 36-year-long civil war. One is Dos Erres, a village in the jungle of the Peten region which was wiped from the face of the earth by soldiers in December 1982.

The other is Efrain Rios Montt, the de facto president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces at the time.

Today, the road to Dos Erres is long and riddled with potholes. But for our guide, Luis Saul Arevalo, known as Don Saul, it was a far more arduous journey. Don Saul is a survivor of the notorious massacre, and the trip to the place where his village once stood brought back some very traumatic memories.

He points out grisly signposts along the way - a parcel of land where his friends once lived, the place where the school used to be, or perhaps worst of all, the site of the village well, where the army dumped the mutilated bodies of their victims.

'Nothing'

Don Saul was just 25 when scores of troops came into his village. In three days of sustained torture, rape and murder the army killed at least 200 villagers. Among them were Saul's parents, his five younger brothers and sisters, and his three-year-old niece.

More:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-22649355