Asked if he had anything to declare at a hearing on the new charge, the 85-year-old former general said he was innocent.
"It is under military law, your honor, that I declare I am innocent," Rios Montt said in a courtroom crowded with victims' relatives and human rights activists....
Advocates in Guatemala have said that charging Rios Montt for war crimes committed during his regime could stand as a precedent in the cases of two other former generals accused alongside Rios Montt in the first genocide case and of dozens of other lower-ranking military men accused of participating in atrocities.That's good news indeed. It's pretty impressive that a country where the military emerged "victorious" can be held accountable by such a "weak" judiciary during the administration of a "mano dura" president who denies that any such crimes occurred.
Here are some other news stories from Guatemala that I meant to highlight these past few weeks.
The Two Guatemalas Meet
Guatemala's land grab and massacre
Guatemala Works toward Increased Security
