Guatemalan massacre suspect goes to trial in California

The trial against former Guatemalan second lieutenant Jorge Sosa began last week in a California courtroom. Sosa moved to the US in 1985 but once his request for asylum was denied, he continued northwards to Canada. He then returned to the US, married a US citizen and became a US citizen himself. He is charged with lying on his immigration paperwork because he did not disclose his involvement in the Guatemalan army. If Sosa is convicted of making false statements and obtaining citizenship unlawfully, he could be sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Sosa's arrest and trial are making news because he is accused of having led the slaughter at Dos Erres in Guatemala in 1982. Approximately 200 men, women, and children were killed during the attack. The soldiers were allegedly looking for stolen weapons when they entered the village but upon not finding any, they proceeded to rape the women and kill all the witnesses. All the soldiers were forced to participate so that they were all equally guilty.

I've only read a few of the stories this week but the media needs to add a line or two about US support for Guatemalan forces, sometimes just stronger wording. They also need to explain that this massacre was one of hundreds carried out between 1981 and 1983. Dos Erres might have been one of the larger and uglier massacres, but it was not unique by any stretch of the imagination.

I was also surprised that neither this National Post nor this AP article found it relevant to mention the recent trial against Efrain Rios Montt in Guatemala. He was convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity before a questionable constitutional court ruling threw out his conviction and sent the case back to an earlier period in time. They had a perfect opportunity to do so as several news stories mentioned that Guatemalan prosecutors are interested in charging Sosa. They could have simply added a line or two connecting these prosecutions.

The US comes out looking way too clean in these articles. The US is portrayed as vigorously pursuing a bad guy who committed some dastardly deeds and then dared to try to seek refuge in the US which is, uh, not quite accurate.