A path to justice?

A landmark case of belated punidad has been widely reported in Guatemala these last few weeks. Using documents unearthed in the Archivo Histórico de la Policia Nacional two men have been arrested for the abduction (and presumed extrajudicial murder) of union activist Fernando García 25 years ago.

One of the accused is Héctor Roderico Ramírez Ríos, a police officer with 28 years of service. On Feb 18, 1984 he and a younger colleague called Abraham Lancerio Gómez were supposedly 'attacked by subversives' in the Mercado de la Guarda, a place and date which concur with the known circumstances of García's sudden disappearance.

The dead man's wife at the time, Nineth Montenegro (Pictured), now sits in congress (WINAQ) and has dedicated her life to the fight for justice. She considers that the arrests indicate that not everything is 'descompuesto' in the state of Guatemala, and hopes that the two men will now spill the beans on the location of her former husband's burial place, and name some more senior figures involved in the crime.