Guatemala City: A Guatemalan court on Friday found former dictator Efrain Rios Montt guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity during the bloodiest phase of the country's 36-year civil war.
He was sentenced to 50 years in prison on the genocide charge and 30 years for crimes against humanity. It was the first time a former head of state had been found guilty of genocide in his or her own country.
Rios Montt, 86, took power after a coup in 1982, and is accused of implementing a scorched-earth policy in which troops massacred thousands of indigenous villagers. He entered the court on Friday to boos and cries of "Justicia!" or justice.
Prosecutors say Rios Montt turned a blind eye as soldiers used rape, torture and arson to try to rid Guatemala of leftist rebels during his 1982-1983 rule, the most violent period of a 1960-1996 civil war in which as many as 250,000 people died....
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07:11 AM, May 11, 2013
A 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck near Guatemala City, but residents said they barely felt the temblor and authorities had no immediate reports of damages or deaths. ...
11:35 AM, Mar 26, 2013
Guatemala have been warned they could be suspended by FIFA after three internationals, including two of the country's most-capped players, had life bans for match-fixing overturned. ...
09:55 AM, Mar 15, 2013
Once at the heart of a conquering civilization in its own right, the ancient city of Tikal is now a pilgrimage site for both hard-core Star Wars fans. ...
09:16 AM, Dec 19, 2012
Anti-virus software founder John McAfee arrived in the US on Wednesday night after being deported from Guatemala, where he had sought to evade police questioning in the killing of a man in neighboring Belize. ...
07:47 AM, Dec 13, 2012
John McAfee has bought himself some time with legal appeals. ...
05:02 PM, Dec 10, 2012
US software guru John McAfee, fighting deportation from Guatemala to Belize to face questions about the slaying of a neighbor, said on Saturday he wants to return to the United States. "My goal is to get back to America as soon as possible," McAfee, 67, said in a phone call to Reuters from the immigration facility where he is being held for illegally crossing the border to Guatemala with his...
09:40 AM, Dec 09, 2012
Software guru John McAfee, fighting deportation to Belize, was rushed to a hospital in Guatemala on Thursday shortly after his asylum request was rejected, but a suspected heart attack turned out to be stress in a fresh twist to the saga. ...
08:27 AM, Dec 07, 2012
US software guru John McAfee, on the run from authorities in Belize seeking to question him in a murder probe, was arrested by Guatemalan police on Wednesday for illegally entering the country, that nation's interior minister said. ...
08:46 AM, Dec 06, 2012
San Marcos, Guatemala: A 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off the Pacific coast of Guatemala on Wednesday, killing at least 39 people as it ravaged a small state near the Mexican border, the country's president said. The mountain village of San Marcos, 80 miles (130 kilometers) from the epicenter, suffered much of the damage with about 30 homes collapsing in its center. Hundreds of frightened villagers were on the streets, one of...
04:40 AM, Nov 08, 2012
Guatemala City: A strong earthquake struck off the Pacific coast of Guatemala on Wednesday, rocking the capital and shaking buildings as far away as Mexico City and El Salvador. Guatemala's emergency management agency said on its Twitter account that it had received preliminary reports of one death from the quake. The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said there was a possibility of a local tsunami, within 100 or 200 miles...
01:49 AM, Nov 08, 2012
Washington: A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck off Guatemala's Pacific Coast on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said. The temblor was centered about 28 miles (45 km) southwest of Champerico, Guatemala, at depth of 20.5 miles (33 km), USGS said. The quake was originally reported at a magnitude of 7.3. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue a tsunami warning. ...
10:39 PM, Nov 07, 2012
Zurich: FIFA has banned three Guatemalan national team players for life for match fixing. World football's governing body claimed midfielder Guillermo Ramirez Ortega and defenders Yony Wilson Flores Monroy and Gustavo Adolfo Cabrera Marroquin helped fix the results of three matches. The players "have all been banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity, for life," FIFA said in a statement on Wednesday. Two of the matches were...
01:08 PM, Oct 25, 2012
Guatemala City: Guatemala's Fuego volcano erupted on Thursday, spewing smoke and ash into the sky and forcing the evacuation of thousands of people, local emergency services said. The volcano, 25 miles (40 km) southwest of the capital Guatemala City, erupted in the early afternoon, sending a cloud of ash one km (half a mile) above the crater, said Sergio Cabanas, director of emergency response in Guatemala's CONRED emergency agency. Some...
02:44 AM, Sep 14, 2012
Guatemala City: A retired right-wing general promising a crackdown on violent crime won Guatemala's presidential election on Sunday and will be the first military man to take power since democracy was restored in 1986. Otto Perez had 54.2 per cent support with results in from 98 per cent of polling stations while his rival, wealthy businessman Manuel Baldizon, trailed with 45.8 per cent. Guatemala's electoral tribunal declared Perez the winner...
01:08 PM, Nov 07, 2011
Washington: At least 83 people in Guatemala died not long after being deliberately infected with sexually transmitted diseases in US medical experiments in the 1940s, a presidential commission in Washington has concluded. US government scientists had infected 5,500 Guatemalan prisoners, psychiatric patients and sex workers with syphilis and gonorrhoea between 1946 and 1948 to study the effects of penicillin - though none of those infected consented. While 5,500 people were...
03:15 PM, Aug 30, 2011
Flooding and landslides from the season's first tropical storm have killed at least 142 people in Guatemala. ...
11:06 AM, Jun 01, 2010
![73 killed in Guatemala tropical storm]( "73 killed in Guatemala tropical storm")
More than 74,000 people have been evacuated from the affected areas. ...
10:04 AM, May 31, 2010
Explosive eruptions shook two huge volcanoes in Central and South America, forcing thousands to flee their homes. ...
09:48 AM, May 29, 2010
Police and prison authorities regained control of the jail on Saturday afternoon. ...
03:11 PM, Nov 24, 2008
