Things just went from bad to worse for former Guatemala dictator Gen. Efrain Rios Montt. The 85-year-old is already charged with human rights abuses committed during that country’s 36-year civil war. This week a judge added a second genocide charge against him, the Associated Press reported.
That’s extraordinary. Rios Montt seized power in 1982 in a military coup. During his 17-month rule, troops carried out a "scorched earth" policy that wiped out hundreds of villages in the name of fighting leftist rebels. Until recently, many in Guatemala believed Rios Montt to be untouchable, with good reason. As The Times' editorial board noted in 2003, Rios Montt managed to evade the courts and manipulate government power for years. He twice attempted to get around a provision in the country’s constitution that barred those who took part in a coup from the presidency. And as a member of Congress, he enjoyed immunity until January, when his term ended.
