Council on Hemispheric Affairs

Amazingly enough, there seems to be some confusion about whether or not genocide actually occurred in Guatemala’s lengthy civil war (1960-1996). This unlikely debate has come to life due to the ongoing trial of former dictator General José Efraín Ríos Montt, charged with genocide and crimes against humanity committed during…

Cesare Battisti, a member of Italy’s Armed Proletarians for Communism (PAC), lives comfortably in Brazil, thanks to former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.  The iconic former head of state signed a decree on his last day as president in December 2010, which stated that Battisti could not be extradited…

Justice has suffered a heavy blow in the hemisphere as Guatemala restores its mantle as the home of some of the hemisphere’s worst human rights violators. The international human rights community stands in awe and deep disappointment at this setback. On May 20, 2013 Guatemala’s five-member Constitutional Court voted three…

The author would like to thank COHA Director Larry Birns and recently appointed COHA trustee, Henry Raymont (formerly with The New York Times and the International Press Service), for their cooperation and sharing their extensive, first-hand expertise of Argentina’s Dirty War. COHA Senior Research Fellow Frederick B. Mills deserves thanks for his…