Interesting Video of New Presidents History in Genocide

In a previous post i had mentioned the trial of current president Mondtt in the involvement of genocidal crimes during the Guatemalan civil war.  However i found this clip of current president Otto Perez being interviewed that shows that he was a also involved in giving orders to kill "counter-insurgents" during that time.  This video points out that Guatemala's president has immunity from being put on trial, but when/if he leaves he may be put on trial just as Mondtt has been put on trial.  This is the CURRENT president standing over these dead bodies, he went by the name Major Tito at the time, and he was a major player in implementing the murders of thousands of people.  He talks about US support with counter insurgency, and the possibility of supplying helicopters to the Guatemalan government.  He is is also caught on tape saying straight out that the weapons he will be using from the US/Israel will in fact be used against the people of Guatemala.   

Witnesses still recall the horrors of army-led massacres before Major Tito's arrival: soldiers executing 20 people in front of the church, cutting off the arms and gouging out the eyes and tongues of the villagers while the rest of the town was forced to watch. Forty more villagers were burned alive in another incident, and hundreds fled into the mountains for months to escape further attacks.[1] However Perez is no longer seen as this ruthless General, once ruling with an iron fist, the citizens of Guatemala actually like that trait in him.  "Today, many Guatemalans see Perez as the man who can keep drug traffickers and youth gangs at bay. They have turned to him not in spite of his perceived iron fist but because of it."[1]  His promise to crack down on drug trafficking that spills over from Mexico has been a major factor in his ability to win support among Guatemalans.  He has yet to take a stance on the trials of former generals in the genocide case, neither stanidng behind it or against it.  

"Certainly Perez's military background ... poses some very interesting questions for the country going forward," said Daniel Sachs, an analyst at consultancy firm Control Risks in London. "It's assumed that he was involved in some pretty nasty stuff but there has been no real international investigation either by a civil society group or actually even possibly by a court into what he was up to."[1]




1.http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/11/us-guatemala-perez-f-idUSTRE7AA38320111111