In stark contrast to the international response to defend the democratic process in Guatemala, there is a deafening silence regarding the erosion of democracy and human rights in El Salvador.
The Residue of Empire
As the tide of American empire recedes, the Golden Arches remain in place.
Guatemalan Genocide Trial Set to Resume
Guatemala’s Constitutional Court undid its historic genocide ruling in 2013. The trial is set to resume on January 5, but faces last-ditch efforts to derail it.
America, Genocide, and the “National Interest”
It’s time for the United States to examine how its own foreign policy promotes genocide, and take the actions necessary to curb it.
At the UN, a Latin American Rebellion
Without a doubt, the 68th UN General Assembly will be remembered as a watershed. Nations reached an agreement on control of chemical weapons that could avoid a global war in Syria. The volatile stalemate on the Iran nuclear program came a step closer to diplomacy....
Latin America’s Anti-Intervention Bloc
As political attention has shifted from a potential U.S. military strike against Syria to a potential agreement on the dismantling of Syria’s chemical weapons arbitrated by Russia, all eyes are on the United States, the Middle East, and key actors in Europe. But what...
Emphasis Added: The Foreign Policy Week in Pieces (5/24)
Emphasis, as always, added.
The Jig Is Up in Guatemala
Guatemala’s highest court, ruling on appeals filed by the defense, has annulled former dictator Jose Efrain Ríos Montt’s 80-year sentence for genocide and crimes against humanity. The Constitutional Court declared invalid all proceedings that took place after April 19, including the verdict and sentencing. Whether the trial can be picked up again from that date is unclear. What is clear, however, is that the trial has lifted the curtain on Guatemala’s bloody past. The verdict reached far beyond the question of how a man who once commanded a brutal army will spend his last years.
Guatemala’s Progress Toward Rule of Law Buckles as Judge Annuls Genocide Trial
On day 20 of testimony in the genocide trial against former Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt last Thursday, Ríos Montt’s defense team walked out of the courtroom, proclaiming it will not be party to an illegal trial. Hours later, a judge declared the genocide trail annulled.
In Guatemala, A Mass Grave for the Truth
In a week of remarkable events and reversals in Guatemala, the genocide trial of former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt came to an abrupt halt on April 18 as a judge ruled all proceedings to date invalid. The witnesses who testified for the prosecution—dozens of survivors of mass rape and massacres—would have to testify again if the trial were to proceed. Meanwhile, death squads are again operating in Guatemala, eliminating indigenous leaders, union leaders, women’s rights activists, and others challenging the status quo and asserting their rights.