Efraín Ríos Montt ex-dictator of Guatemala and notorious military general who was convicted of genocide, has died at 91, a family spokesman, Luis Rosales, confirmed Sunday.

Rosales told CNN that a wake is being held for the former president at his home Sunday, and a funeral will be held on the same day at cemetery La Villa de Guadalupe in Guatemala City.

The former president died of a heart attack, and also had dementia and suffered from heart and lung problems, according to The New York Times.

Ríos Montt governed for 17 months between 1982 and 1983. He was found to be the mastermind behind the murder of 1,771 indigenous Ixil people, as well as the sexual abuse of more than 1,000 people perpetrated by the military during the Central American country’s decades-long civil war.

He was convicted of those crimes in May 2013 and was sentenced to 80 years in prison, but the verdict was annulled 10 days later.

A Guatemalan judge ruled that Ríos Montt knew of the massacres and aerial bombardment of fleeing rebels, but the former president maintained his innocence during the trial.

A new trial in January 2015 was suspended hours before it began.

In August 2015, a Guatemalan court determined that the ex-dictator would stand trial for genocide and crimes against humanity, according to the Interior Ministry. But the court decided the it would be a special trial because the general, 89 at the time, had dementia.

Despite his role in the massacres, Ríos Montt was seen as an ally by then President Ronald Reagan, who said the general was getting a “bum rap on human rights,” the Times reported.

The general was seen as a hero to many who believed his policy helped keep Guatemala from falling to communist threats in the region.

Ríos Montt is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter. Another son was killed in the war in 1982, according to the Times. </s> Former Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt, who seized power in a 1982 coup, has died.

His lawyer, Jaime Hernandez, said the family told him the 91-year-old died of a heart attack.

Ríos Montt, who presided over one of the bloodiest periods of the country’s civil war as soldiers waged a scorched-earth campaign to root out Marxist guerrillas, was convicted in 2013 of genocide and crimes against humanity for the massacre of 1,771 indigenous Ixil Mayans by security forces under his command.

But the ruling was swiftly set aside and a new trial ordered, dismaying human rights activists and victims who long sought to see him punished for atrocities during his 17-month regime.

In October, his trial on genocide charges resumed behind closed doors after being suspended for more than a year while his lawyers argued that he was too senile to participate, with no memory and unable to make decisions.

He is survived by his wife, two children and several grandchildren.

An ex-general known for inspiring fear and giving speeches at a near-shout, Ríos Montt was later a longtime member of congress and one of the most influential figures in Guatemalan politics for more than three decades.

Born 16 June 1926, in the city of Huehuetenango, in western Guatemala’s highlands, Ríos Montt grew up in a conservative Roman Catholic family.

In March 1982, he seized power in a military coup and promptly suspended the constitution, disbanded congress and set in motion a ruthless counterinsurgency campaign that resulted in thousands of deaths. According to a UN truth commission, the worst atrocities of the 1960-1996 Guatemalan civil war took place during his rule.



Nonetheless he continued to receive the support of the United States, where Ronald Reagan called him “a man of great personal integrity and commitment.”

Ríos Montt’s government was known for faceless judges presiding over summary trials of suspected subversives, and for moralistic Sunday night TV messages.

In power, Ríos Montt alienated a broad spectrum of society, including the military, businesspeople and the Catholic church, leading to his ousting by another coup in August 1983 led by his own defence minister.

However he remained popular among many for his social welfare initiatives and for the relative peace his “iron fist” approach brought to some regions. In 1985, a clause was added to the constitution barring him and his progeny from seeking the presidency.

In 2003, Ríos Montt was finally able to make another run for president after the constitutional court allowed his candidacy. He came in a distant third — in part due to scandals under the government of Alfonso Portillo, who would later plead guilty in the US to laundering millions of ill-gotten dollars through American banks.

For years Ríos Montt enjoyed immunity from prosecution as an elected member of congress. That changed when he lost re-election in 2011 and was ordered into house arrest.

After more than 100 legal appeals were exhausted, his 2013 trial was seen as a historic opportunity to hold a Latin American dictator responsible for abuses committed on his watch.

Dozens of witnesses testified about rapes, massacres, forced displacement and other crimes by soldiers that, prosecutors argued, Ríos Montt either ordered or must have known about.

Ríos Montt was convicted and sentenced to 80 years. But practically before the ink on the ruling had time to dry, the ruling was tossed over trial irregularities and a new proceeding ordered.



At a hearing in January 2015, he was wheeled into court on a gurney ashen-faced, clad in pajamas, covered with a blanket and wearing dark sunglasses. It was a far cry from the man Guatemalans knew: diminutive of stature but with a booming voice, commanding presence and penetrating gaze.



A three-justice panel ruled that one of the judges had to recuse herself, delaying the retrial indefinitely.

According to the United Nations, some 245,000 people were killed or disappeared during Guatemala’s 1960-1996 civil war, with the vast majority of the killings attributed to the army or paramilitary groups. </s> The ex-Guatemalan president Efraín Ríos Montt died of heart failure on Sunday aged 91, media reported citing the former general's lawyer.

The retired general was sentenced to 80 years in prison for genocide and crimes against humanity in 2013 over the alleged involvement in the murder of 1771 Mayan people.

TWEET: Attorney Luis Rosales confirms that Ríos Montt died at 6:00 am on Sunday

However, the ruling was overturned by the Constitutional Court, according to El Periódico. However, the trial was resumed in October 2017; it was held behind closed doors.

The Guatemalan Civil War that lasted from 1960 to 1996 claimed lives of up to 200,000 people.

The pictures emerged on the web showing people bringing flowers to the doors of the house where the former leader lived. </s> Guatemala City - Guatemala's top court said on Monday that it had barred the daughter of former military dictator Efrain Rios Montt from taking part in presidential elections in June. The Constitutional Court rejected a challenge by Montt's daughter, right-wing politician Zury Rios, to a lower court's decision to block her candidacy, basing its decision on an article of the constitution that bars close relatives of coup leaders from top office.

"The measure limiting a close relative from assuming the position of president or vice president of the republic is logical because it prioritizes the common good over individual interest," the court said in a statement.

A lawyer for Rios, who was vying to succeed President Jimmy Morales, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Rios said in an interview with local television that she had not yet been formally notified of the decision and would pursue an international appeal.

The Supreme Electoral Tribunal will have 24 hours to revoke Rios' registration, Martin Guzman, the constitutional court's secretary general, said in a press conference.

The constitution prohibits relatives within four degrees of the architects of coups, armed revolutions and similar movements from seeking the nation's top offices, the constitutional court said.

Rios, who had planned to represent the Valor party, also sought the presidency in 2015. She was among the frontrunners for the presidency but trailed behind Thelma Aldana, the former attorney general, in polls.

Her father, Rios Montt, was convicted in 2013 of genocide and crimes against humanity. But barely a week later, judges overturned the sentence.

Rios Montt, who headed a junta that removed President Angel Guevara from power in 1982, died last year at the age of 91. </s> A top court in Guatemala is expected to rule on Monday whether or not to uphold a constitutional ban that allegedly prohibits Zury Rios, a conservative presidential candidate and daughter of a former military dictator, from running for president due to her father’s participation in the country’s 1982 coup.

Her supporters in Guatemala believe it is unfair for Rios to be judged for the sins of her father, Gen. Efrain Rios Montt.

The late Rios Montt served as the right-wing military dictator backed by the United States who helped oust the government of Gen. Romeo Lucas Garcia over alleged corruption and vote-rigging in 1982 during the Central American country’s civil war between communist guerillas and the government.

Guatemala’s fairly new constitution, adopted in 1985, does bar family members of coup leaders from running for the highest office in the country.

Article 186 of that document states, “The relatives [of coup leaders] to the fourth degree of consanguinity and second of affinity” are not allowed to run for the office of president or vice president.

This year, the country’s top electoral body — the Supreme Electoral Court or TSE for its Spanish name’s acronym — filed an appeal to the country’s top constitutional court against provisional protection granted by the nation’s Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court cleared the way for her to continue with her presidential campaign this year, echoing its decision that allowed Rios to run in 2015.

During the Breitbart News Saturday show on Sirius XM Patriot Channel 125, Cristy Lopez-Ibañez, a Guatemalan-Cuban columnist and political activist who supports Rios for president, stressed to host Matthew Boyle that it is unfair for the candidate to be held responsible for her late father’s actions in the early 80s.

Referring to the electoral body, the Guatemalan activists told Breitbart News, “They’re opposing her candidacy because she is the one person who can actually change things. Of course, they’re talking about a constitutional [ban] they want to apply that, in my opinion, doesn’t apply to her.”

“This constitutional prohibition that they want to apply, I think, is ridiculous because you don’t punish a daughter for something that you’re dad supposedly did,” she added.

Lopez-Ibañez argued that the constitutional ban was only meant to stand for a limited time, adding that it now violates her “human right” to run for office.

“She shouldn’t have to pay for the sins anybody [else] committed,” she said.

Rios’s detractors, coming from both the right and the left, just do not want her to be president, Lopez-Ibañez declared.

“Her chances of winning are very high. So, it’s not only the left that’s against her. There are also various groups that are from the right that are also [plotting] against her,” she said.

Lopez-Ibanez described Rios as a Christian conservative. She acknowledged that although the candidate is not perfect, the public trusts her to keep her promises, which she said makes the candidate similar to U.S. President Donald Trump.

Guatemala’s constitutional court is expected to issue a final decision on whether or not to allow Rios to continue with her campaign on Monday, making the upcoming week decisive for the upcoming general election on June 16.

Rios, one of the top lawmakers in the country, also contends that the Guatemalan government should not punish her for her father’s sins.

“My father is my father. I love him. I respect him. But he was president in the last century. The person running for president this century is me,” Rios declared recently.

In 2013, a Guatemalan court convicted Rios Montt of genocide and crimes against humanity targeting the country’s indigenous Maya population during his short 1982 to 1983 reign, but officials reportedly set aside the ruling.

Rios Montt died before another trial was held. Lopez-Ibanez praised Rios Montt, noting that he was closed to former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, improved human rights, restored order, and defeated communist guerilla groups.

She said the charges against the former dictator stem from the left’s resentment towards him taking power.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Rios Montt did not actively participate in the 1982 coup.

On February 13, Guatemala’s Supreme Court unanimously cleared the way for aspiring president Rios to run in the nation’s looming elections.

The country’s top electoral body, however, has filed an appeal against the provisional ruling, citing the constitutional ban for coup-linked candidates. It made a similar attempt in 2015, but the court ultimately allowed Rios to run.

Some local analysts, including Stephanie Rodriguez, believe that the constitutional court will uphold the ban.

“I think the Constitution is very clear and although it seems unfair, this is already established by law,” she told Guatemalan newspaper La Hora.

If the constitutional rules in favor of Rios, the nation’s electoral body can file another appeal to render her candidacy invalid once again. Guatemalan presidents are limited to one term. </s> GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Guatemala’s top judicial body said on Monday that it had barred the daughter of former military dictator Efrain Rios Montt from participating in the country’s presidential elections in June.

Guatemala’s Constitutional Court rejected a challenge by Montt’s daughter, right-wing politician Zury Rios, to a lower court’s decision to block her candidacy for the presidency, the court said in a statement.

The court based its decision on an article of the Guatemalan constitution that bars close relatives of the leaders of coups d’etat from serving as president or vice president.

“The measure limiting a close relative from assuming the position of president or vice president of the republic is logical because it prioritizes the common good over individual interest,” the court said.

A lawyer for Rios, who was vying to succeed Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Rios wrote in a post on Twitter that she would respond to the court’s decision in a television interview later on Monday evening.

The Supreme Electoral Tribunal will have 24 hours to revoke Rios’ registration, Martin Guzman, the constitutional court’s secretary general, said in a press conference.

The Guatemalan constitution prohibits relatives within four degrees of the architects of coups d’etat, armed revolutions and similar movements from seeking the nation’s top offices, the constitutional court said.

Rios, who had planned to run representing the Valor party, also sought the presidency in 2015. She was among the frontrunners for the presidency but trailed behind Thelma Aldana, the country’s former attorney general, in polls.

Her father, Rios Montt, was convicted in 2013 of genocide and crimes against humanity. But barely a week later, judges on the country’s top court overturned the sentence.

Rios Montt, who headed a junta that removed President Angel Guevara from power in 1982, died last year at the age of 91. </s> When Guatemalans head to the polling stations on Sunday, two of the candidates who until recently had been tipped as favourites to win will not be on the ballot papers.

Both the former attorney-general, Thelma Aldana, and Zury Ríos, the daughter of the late military ruler, Efraín Ríos Montt, have been barred from running for the presidency and another candidate was arrested in Miami on suspicion of conspiring to import cocaine to the US.

Here is a look at the candidates and the main issues.

How does it work?

The president is elected by absolute majority for a single four-year term. Under Guatemalan law, current President Jimmy Morales cannot stand for a second term.

If no candidate gets more than 50% in the first round on 16 June, the top two candidates will go through to a second round on 11 August.

Nineteen candidates are competing for the presidency, down from the original 24.

Who are the top candidates?

Sandra Torres: 'Leaving a loving marriage for the sake of a nation'

Sandra Torres, 63, is hoping it will be third time lucky for her. She failed in her two previous attempts to be elected president but the most recent opinion polls put her in the lead.

Ms Torres was married to Álvaro Colom, who governed Guatemala from 2008 to 2012, and who is currently under investigation for alleged fraud.

She divorced him in 2011 in order to bypass a law which banned close relatives of the president from succeeding him. At the time she said that "I'm divorcing my husband but I'm getting married to the people".

She also said that she had found it "very difficult" to leave her "loving marriage" to Mr Colom.

In the 2011, her candidacy was rejected by the Constitutional Court but she was allowed to run in 2015. That time, she had enough votes to get her into the second round where she was defeated by Jimmy Morales by a large margin of almost 35 percentage points.

Ms Torres is running for the social-democratic National Unity of Hope party (UNE).

She and her party are under investigation for alleged illegal campaign financing during the last election, which she has denied.

Ms Torres says she will provide "comprehensive solutions like development, fight against poverty and job opportunities" to try to convince Guatemalans to stay in the country rather than migrating to the United States.

The 63-year-old candidate is standing for the right-wing Vamos (Let's Go) party and this is his fourth attempt at becoming president. Each time, he has run for a different party.

Mr Giammattei is a trained doctor who was named director of the Guatemalan prison system in 2006.

That same year, he led a controversial operation to take control of the Pavón prison, which had been run by inmates for a decade. Seven inmates died during the raids by the security forces.

Mr Giammattei was among eight people accused over the incident and after spending 10 months in pre-trial detention, he was acquitted due to lack of evidence.

He came fourth in the 2015 election.

He says that if he is elected he will build "a wall of prosperity" to keep Guatemalans from migrating to the US.

In order to lessen the disparity between the rich and the poor, he wants to attract more foreign investment to Guatemala by strengthening the protections granted to private property.

The 49-year-old conservative businessman wants to follow in the footsteps of his late father Álvaro, who governed Guatemala from 1996 to 2000.

Roberto Arzú has never held public office but did preside over one of Guatemala's most successful football teams. He has had a string of businesses ranging from sports centres to shopping malls.

The outgoing president, Jimmy Morales, named him ambassador with a special mission to promote trade between Guatemala and South America.

He is standing for a coalition made up of the PAN and Podemos parties. His motto has been "Make Guate great!" using the shortened word for Guatemala and imitating US President Trump's campaign slogan.

He has campaigned mainly on security issues, saying that he will crack down on crime.

A judge in Florida has ordered his arrest over an outstanding debt he owes to Miami-based political campaign strategist JJ Rendón. Mr Arzú says he never signed a contract with Mr Rendón and is therefore not liable for the breach of contract payment.

What are the main issues?

The election was overshadowed by the decision by the constitutional court to bar Thelma Aldana, who had been leading the polls, and Zury Ríos from running.

Polls suggest many voters are undecided and the election outcome is therefore hard to predict.

Guatemalans have told pollsters that their top concern is government corruption.

Four years after large-scale anti-corruption protests forced then-President Otto Pérez Molina to resign, many Guatemalans feel not enough has been done by the government of Jimmy Morales to combat corruption.

Mr Morales caused outrage when he tried to kick the UN-backed anti-corruption commission out of Guatemala when it investigated him over alleged corruption.

The most vocal supporter for the commission, known as CICIG by its Spanish initials, has been Thelma Aldana, who as Guatemala's attorney general has worked closely with it. Before she was barred, she said she would strengthen CICIG and make government more efficient and transparent.

Mr Arzú, on the other hand, has been openly critical of the CICIG, accusing it of "violating national sovereignty", and Mr Giammattei said he was opposed to the commission because "justice must be from Guatemalans, for Guatemalans, by Guatemalans". </s> Zury Ríos Sosa, candidata presidencial del partido Valor, durante una entrevista de Sin Filtro Electoral, de Guatevisión, el 7 de mayo. (Foto Prensa Libre: Hemeroteca PL)

Los magistrados que votaron contra la candidatura e hicieron mayoría fueron Bonerge Mejía, Gloria Porras, Francisco de Mata Vela y Mynor Par Usen; votaron a favor Dina Ochoa, Neftalí Aldana y Phillip Comte.

La ponencia del caso fue presentada por el magistrado Neftaly Aldana, quien había sugerido que Zury Ríos sí participara en los comicios. Luego de la discusión, los otros magistrados sumaron más votos en contra de esa propuesta.

Martín Guzmán, secretario de la CC, dijo en conferencia de prensa que la resolución ordena al órgano electoral revocar la inscripción de Zury Ríos dentro de un plazo de 24 horas, de lo cual deberá informar sobre su cumplimiento.

Aún no hay notificación a las partes de la decisión de los magistrados, pero, según Guzmán, esta debería estar el 14 de mayo para que se cumpla la revocatoria, y posteriormente se notificarán los votos razonados.

Luego de esta decisión, al partido Valor solo queda el recurso de aclaración o ampliación, pero en ambos casos no cambian el fondo de la resolución.

El fallo de la CC llega 21 días después de la vista pública, en la que candidata enumeró las razones por las cuales se le debía permitir su candidatura.

La resolución responde a la apelación del Tribunal contra el amparo definitivo de la Corte Suprema de Justicia (CSJ) que le dio el sí a Zury Ríos, luego que tanto el Registro de Ciudadanos y el pleno de magistrados del órgano electoral dijeron no.

No deje de leer: Esta era la oferta de campaña de Zury Ríos

Reacción

Zury Ríos se pronunció en Twitter después de que se supiera la decisión de la Corte.

“Ante los rumores que han surgido durante la última hora sobre nuestra candidatura, quiero decirles que sólo son rumores. Estamos en ley, estamos firmes y vamos”, dijo.

Se oponía

El tribunal electoral no estaba de acuerdo con la inscripción de Zury Ríos porque había violación al artículo 186 constitucional, toda vez que es hija de Efraín Ríos Montt, quien tomó el poder mediante un golpe de Estado en 1982.

Lea más: Obra en lugar de impuesto ofreció Zury Ríos en mitin en Quetzaltenango

“El artículo 186 de la Constitución regula las prohibiciones para optar al cargo de presidente y vicepresidente de la República… a) el caudillo ni los jefes de un golpe de Estado, revolución armada o movimiento similar, que haya alterado el orden constitucional, ni quienes como consecuencia de tales hechos asuman la jefatura de gobierno… c) los parientes dentro del cuarto grado de consanguinidad y segundo de afinidad del presidente o vicepresidente, cuando este último se encuentre ejerciendo la presidencia y los de las personas que se refiere al inciso primero de este artículo”, defendió el tribunal electoral ante la Corte.

El TSE ha señalado que la norma constitucional, al establecer la prohibición a optar el cargo de Presidencia y Vicepresidencia a los jefes de Estado, como a sus parientes dentro del cuarto grado de consanguinidad, persigue no solo sancionar un acto grave, como el rompimiento del orden constitucional, sino también persuadir a los golpistas de cometer tales actos, pues de cometerlos no solo afectarán su participación, sino también la de sus parientes a optar a los cargos relacionados.

Un derecho humano

Zury Ríos esgrimió a ese argumento que ella no tiene impedimento legal porque la prohibición está redactada en presente y no en pasado.

Le puede interesar: Primero sí, luego no: Así cambió criterio el MP sobre Zury Ríos

“En primer lugar, el artículo 186 constitucional tiene una prohibición que no se me aplica, porque el general Ríos Montt no es el jefe de Estado, no está en funciones de gobierno, y por lo tanto ya no se me aplica. Definitivamente que todas las convenciones de derechos humanos no permiten discriminación por aspectos de linaje, raza, religión o de género por lo tanto tengo el derecho de participar”, dijo la candidata al momento de la vista pública del 22 de abril. También defendió el antecedente de que ella ya fue candidata en 2015. “Perdí la elección, pero ya participé como candidata a la Presidencia”, recordó.

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> Sandra Jovel no quiso cooperar con el TSE sobre el voto en Estados Unidos </s> GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Guatemala’s former attorney general Thelma Aldana will seek to overturn a decision from the country’s top elections authority that would prevent the anti-corruption crusader from running for president, a top aide said on Tuesday.

A little over two months from the June vote, the electoral court rejected Aldana’s candidacy in a decision announced on Monday that cited an arrest warrant issued against her, which alleged irregularities during her tenure as chief prosecutor.

The electoral court case against Aldana, who served as attorney general from 2014 to 2018, was pursued by her political opponents.

Among the presidential front-runners in recent polls, Aldana has denied the charges and dismissed them as politically motivated.

“Why are there so many attacks? Because she represents a serious threat to the various economic, political and illicit interests that operate in the country,” Rotman Perez, Aldana’s campaign manager, told Reuters.

Perez said Aldana will opt for one of two options: ask the country’s Supreme Court to reinstate her on the ballot or seek an appeal with the Constitutional Court, Guatemala’s top judicial body.

He did not say when the presidential hopeful would make her next move.

Aldana, 63, leads the left-of-center Seed Movement party and is currently in neighboring El Salvador due to what she has described as political persecution.

Aldana led the field of presidential candidates with 28 percent ahead of the June 16 election in a recent Mitofsky poll, outpacing Zury Rios, the daughter of former dictator Efrain Rios Montt, and former First Lady Sandra Torres.

During her tenure as Guatemala’s top law enforcement official, Aldana helped uncover corruption cases that led to the conviction and imprisonment of ex-President Otto Perez.

She has also been a vocal supporter of the U.N.-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, or CICIG.

Current President Jimmy Morales, who has been a target of CICIG investigators, has ordered the body to end its work and leave the country.
The Constitutional Court determines that Zury Ríos has a constitutional impediment to be a presidential candidate and leaves her out of the electoral contest. Her constitutional impediment is for being the daughter of former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt.