25-July-2003
Breaking News! "Jueves Negro"
Yesterday morning, organized mobs of Rios Montt's
supporters (the FRG political party) unleashed terror
upon the capital city with their violent
demonstrations, demanding the authorization of their
leader as a presidential candidate. Earlier this week,
Guatemalan courts denied him the chance to participate
in elections due to the coup of 1982. The
demonstrators came to the capital from around the
country, armed with weapons ranging from machetes to
mini-uzies. The mobs attacked reporters on sight; one
was doused with gasoline, but managed to escape being
burned. Another died of a heart attack, trying to
escape his persecutors. Windows were smashed on cars
that had a political sticker of an opposing political
party. Hostages were taken. Tires, taken from a
property belonging to the Rios family, were burned in
the streets to create barricades. The organizers
carried cell phones and radios for communication.
Meals, snacks, and water were provided for the
protestors. Cars carrying the leaders had their
license plates covered or removed. Many of the
demonstrators wore ski-masks to protect their
identity, but among the leaders of the mobs several
people were recognized: an FRG congressman, an FRG
candidate for congress, the secretary of Rios Monttīs
daughter, Zury Rios (Zury Rios is also a member of
congress and one of the FRG's leaders). With the
exception of guarding a couple of buildings (the
Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court), the
police merely watched or stayed away. Eight HOURS
after the disturbance began, the president (also FRG)
announced that he had ordered the security forces to
reestablish order. But nothing was done. Several days
earlier, Rios Montt had warned that he might not be
able to control his supporters if he was not allowed
to participate in the presidential elections.
Nevertheless, despite all the evidence to the
contrary, he admitted that the mobs supported him, but
that he had not organized them. The press, human
rights organizations, embassies, and anybody with a
conscience are mad as hell about the violence provoked
by the man of "great integrity" and "committed...to
reestablish democracy".
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