Pablo Monsanto (Jorge Soto) of the New Nation Alliance (Alianza Nueva Nacion) and former comandante of the FAR and URNG has an editorial up at Albedrio (spanish) and People's World (english) about the current situation in Guatemala. After criticizing Giammattei for making "a fool of himself by going on a hunger-strike in an attention-seeking effort to evade justice", Monsanto goes on to note how all those who have historically been clamoring for a stronger state and respect for the rule of law in Guatemala have recently changed their tune now that the Colom administration and the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) are arresting and prosecuting political and economic elites tied to organized crime.
It is sad and even ridiculous that the same media outlets, columnists and institutions that have always called for the strengthening of a state of laws, for absolute respect for the law, and who have argued that each of us, without exception, ought to be subject to the rule of law, and that no individual is above the law, are now changing their tune.
Now that representatives of a government that they were part of or felt part of are being investigated and/or jailed, they rush to defend the accused, spinning the facts and questioning the impartiality of a Supreme Court of Justice chosen in an electoral process that they, themselves promoted and watched over.
Now they are even questioning the quality of the National Commission against Impunity investigative work, when just recently they were offering it their total confidence and support when they saw it as an ideal instrument for bringing down their political opponents.Following Giammattei's arrest, more than one hundred of his supporters took to the streets in protest. Giammattei himself went on a hunger strike and criticized the political witch hunt that had landed him in jail. The media speculated whether his arrest was motivated by political considerations because Giammattei finished third in the 2007 presidential elections and was likely to run again in 2011.
Monsanto also throws out this interesting teaser about potential political motivations behind a number of killings in Guatemala in recent months.
It is alleged that individuals who were aware of these links have been systematically murdered, one by one, in order to erase any evidence of state involvement with organized crime under previous governments.
