Guatemalan Pentecostals - Efrain Rios Montt, Zury Rios Montt (Paperback)

Chapters: Efrain Rios Montt, Zury Rios Montt. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 23. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Jose Efrain Rios Montt (born June 16, 1926) is a former de facto President of Guatemala, dictator, army general, and former president of Congress. In the 2003 presidential elections, he unsuccessfully ran as the candidate of the ruling Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG). Huehuetenango-born Rios Montt remains one of the most controversial figures in Guatemala. Two Truth Commissions, one sponsored by the Roman Catholic Church and the other conducted by the government as part of the 1996 Accords of Firm and Durable Peace, documented widespread human rights abuses committed by Rios Montt's military regime, including widespread massacres, rape, torture, and acts of genocide against the indigenous population. Supporters claim that he had to rule with an iron hand because the country was becoming unstable due to the civil war. Rios Montt has, at times, had close ties to the United States who gave him aid to fight against left-wing guerrillas. Rios Montt is best known outside Guatemala for heading a military regime (19821983) that was responsible in some of the worst atrocities of Guatemala's 36-year civil war. The war ended with a peace treaty in 1996. The civil war pitted left-wing rebel groups against the army, with huge numbers of Mayan campesinos caught in the crossfire. At least 200,000 Guatemalans were killed during the conflict, making it one of Latin America's most violent wars in modern history. Indigenous Mayans suffered greatly under his rule, and it is documented that his government deliberately targeted thousands of them since many of them in the countryside were suspected of harboring sympathies for the guerrilla movement. The UN-backed official Truth Commission...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=27196