1/21/2015
GUATEMALA CITY – Former Guatemala police chief Pedro Garcia Arredondo was found guilty on Tuesday of the murder of 37 people who died in a fire deliberately set at the Spanish embassy in Guatemala in 1980, and was sentenced to 90 years in prison.
Garcia Arredondo, 69, who had pleaded not guilty to the murder charges, was the head of the now-disbanded National Police and, according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, gave the order to set fire to the embassy building, which had been taken over by farmers and students protesting repression by the Guatemalan military.
The then-Spanish Ambassador to Guatemala, Maximo Cajal Lopez, and Guatemalan farmer Gregorio Yuja were the only survivors of the assault.
However, Yuja was kidnapped two days later and his body was found, bearing signs of torture, on Feb. 2, 1980 in San Carlos University.
Garcia Arredondo received 40 years for the deaths of 37 people in the embassy and another 50 years for the deaths of university students Gustavo Hernandez and Jesus España, who were killed while attending the funerals of the embassy victims two days later.
The former police chief was arrested in 2011 in connection with the disappearance of another student, Edgar Saenz Calito, on June 9, 1980, for which he was sentenced to 70 years in 2012.
Garcia Arredondo took measures to ensure that everyone inside the embassy was killed, the court stated in its verdict.
The massacre took place when the Guatemalan military regime’s security forces ordered General Fernando Romeo Lucas Garcia (1924-2006) to launch an assault on the embassy.
According to the court, it was established that National Police did not even try to initiate a dialogue with the diplomats and protesters inside the embassy.
Among those who died were Spanish Consul Jaime Ruiz del Arbol and officials Luis Felipe Sanz and Maria Teresa Vazquez.
The criminal court validated the conclusions of the Public Ministry, which described the tragedy as a clandestine police operation, executed by the PN, who also prevented Red Cross, rescue teams and journalists from accessing the embassy.
The court sentence underlined the importance of Cajal Lopez’s testimony. Though he passed away in April, the former diplomat left a recording of his testimony.
“Cajal Lopez’s testimony makes it clear that the authorities were not authorized to enter the embassy (...) there was lack of resolve and little interest among Guatemalan authorities to solve the problem,” the court added.
Among the victims were Vincente Menchu and Francisco Tum, father and cousin, respectively, of 1992 Nobel Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu, who was the first to testify against Garcia Arredondo during the trial.
The trial was also attended by Spanish Ambassador to Guatemala Manuel Lejarreta and Menchu herself, who broke into tears on hearing the verdict.
source
GUATEMALA CITY – Former Guatemala police chief Pedro Garcia Arredondo was found guilty on Tuesday of the murder of 37 people who died in a fire deliberately set at the Spanish embassy in Guatemala in 1980, and was sentenced to 90 years in prison.Garcia Arredondo, 69, who had pleaded not guilty to the murder charges, was the head of the now-disbanded National Police and, according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, gave the order to set fire to the embassy building, which had been taken over by farmers and students protesting repression by the Guatemalan military.
The then-Spanish Ambassador to Guatemala, Maximo Cajal Lopez, and Guatemalan farmer Gregorio Yuja were the only survivors of the assault.
However, Yuja was kidnapped two days later and his body was found, bearing signs of torture, on Feb. 2, 1980 in San Carlos University.
Garcia Arredondo received 40 years for the deaths of 37 people in the embassy and another 50 years for the deaths of university students Gustavo Hernandez and Jesus España, who were killed while attending the funerals of the embassy victims two days later.
The former police chief was arrested in 2011 in connection with the disappearance of another student, Edgar Saenz Calito, on June 9, 1980, for which he was sentenced to 70 years in 2012.
Garcia Arredondo took measures to ensure that everyone inside the embassy was killed, the court stated in its verdict.
The massacre took place when the Guatemalan military regime’s security forces ordered General Fernando Romeo Lucas Garcia (1924-2006) to launch an assault on the embassy.
According to the court, it was established that National Police did not even try to initiate a dialogue with the diplomats and protesters inside the embassy.
Among those who died were Spanish Consul Jaime Ruiz del Arbol and officials Luis Felipe Sanz and Maria Teresa Vazquez.
The criminal court validated the conclusions of the Public Ministry, which described the tragedy as a clandestine police operation, executed by the PN, who also prevented Red Cross, rescue teams and journalists from accessing the embassy.
The court sentence underlined the importance of Cajal Lopez’s testimony. Though he passed away in April, the former diplomat left a recording of his testimony.
“Cajal Lopez’s testimony makes it clear that the authorities were not authorized to enter the embassy (...) there was lack of resolve and little interest among Guatemalan authorities to solve the problem,” the court added.
Among the victims were Vincente Menchu and Francisco Tum, father and cousin, respectively, of 1992 Nobel Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu, who was the first to testify against Garcia Arredondo during the trial.
The trial was also attended by Spanish Ambassador to Guatemala Manuel Lejarreta and Menchu herself, who broke into tears on hearing the verdict.
source
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