Guatemala: Former Military Leader Stands Trial for Genocide

Facts

• Manuel Benedicto Lucas García, who served as head of Guatemala's army for seven months in the early 1980s, was set to stand trial Friday on charges of genocide.¹
• This comes as a national court for high-risk crimes adjourned the first hearing against the former general last week to allow a public defender to get familiar with the case after two lawyers of Lucas García resigned.²
• He faces allegations that, under his command, the military carried out several acts of genocide against Maya peoples — including multiple massacres in the Ixil region. Benedicto Lucas García has denied wrongdoing.¹
• A decade ago, the Congress of Guatemala approved a non-binding resolution calling for 'national reconciliation' but asserting that genocide was 'legally impossible' during the country's 36-year civil war.³
• Benedicto Lucas García has already been convicted of crimes against humanity, forced disappearance, and aggravated rape in the Molina Theissen case.⁴
• Though an appeals court ordered his release last year in defiance of a ruling from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, he hasn't been freed due to pending trials against him.⁴

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²NISGUA, ³FOX News and ⁴Associated Press.

Narratives

• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by TAG24. Given that the evidence against Lucas García is overwhelming, he should be found guilty. However, because Guatemala's judicial system is well-known for its tendency to favor foreign interests rather than those of its citizens, a negative outcome would be no surprise. It's important to remember that the Reagan administration actively backed this genocidal regime.
• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by New York Times. When courts in Guatemala target former leaders, be it Benedicto Lucas García or the late dictator Ríos Montt, on genocide charges, it's their political beliefs that are in the spotlight rather than their real crimes — otherwise, war criminal insurgents should also face charges. That's easier to understand when only America is unfairly blamed for third-party crimes.

Predictions