A kangaroo court in Guatemala nullified former dictator Efrain Rios Montt’s indictment for genocide (last May) despite overwhelming evidence & the powerful testimony of hundreds of Ixil Mayans. That’s because Rios Montt’s cronies & colluders run the Guatemalan government & judicial system. They were protecting their own ugly asses.
These are the remains of an unidentified Ixil Mayan unearthed from a mass grave by forensic anthropologists exhuming villagers who died at the hands of military genocide ordered by Rios Montt. Many of these mass graves were clandestinely dug, often on the run, to bury loved ones who died of starvation & hypothermia when they hid in the mountains while soldiers razed their villages & massacred thousands.
As we have seen around the world, the victims of such atrocious crimes do not just pass into the next world with funereal salutations. They come back to haunt justice. If there is one thing the resolute spirit of the Ixil Mayans showed in taking on Rios Montt & the entire corrupt, unsalvageable government of Guatemala, it is that they will not rest until justice for their beloved is honored.
Our highest respect, our fullest solidarity with our Mayan sisters & brothers. But justice in Guatemala cannot be served until we in the US take on our government with the same resolution & determination for colluding with & bankrolling Rios Montt. The Mayans have fought alone long enough.
(Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP)
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