Guatemala is a small country in Central America. It is bordered by Mexico, the Pacific ocean, Belize, the Caribbean Sea and El Salvador. The country itself has been stable since 1996 and is in continuous development and economic growth.
Bishop Juan Gerardi was Coordinator of the Human Rights Office for the Archdiocese of Guatemala. He was devoted to investigating thousands of gruesome killings, very similar to his. He was also the most visible human rights defender within the Catholic Church at this time. On January 21, 2000 SOA-trained Guatemalan Col. Byron Disrael Lima Estrada was arrested, along with his son, for the 1998 murder of Roman Catholic Bishop Gerardi.
A 1998 human rights report released by the Guatemala Archdiocese Human Rights Office helped link the SOA to the civilian-targeted genocide campaign, along with a report on the same campaign issued by the independent Historical Clarification Commission. The 1998 document cited SOA graduates for some of the worst human rights violations, including the murder of anthropologist Myrna Mack, the cover-up of the murder of US citizen Michael DeVine, and the torture and murder of Efrain Bamaca, husband of US lawyer, Jennifer Harbury. The Archdiocese report also named SOA graduates as top leaders in the fearsome Guatemalan military intelligence agency which both reports cite for horrible abuses.
These are two examples of the continuing violence coming form SOA graduates. This problem needs to be taken care of before more violent occurrences come up.
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3 comments:
Well Done, Neal. You have uncovered a very dark and cruel acts of human violence and hatred against other humans. The question is, of course, WHY?
What other atrocities occurred that were not committed by SOA trained soldiers?
Good Job Neal. Why do these violences occur? It is unreal the way these people are treated.
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