"The Registry of Death: Se lo llevo PANCHO"

- By Grahame Russell
May 1999

In Guatemala, "se lo llevo pancho" is a somewhat blunt or crude way of saying that 'she' or 'he is dead,' akin to saying 'so-and-so bit the dust.' In the language of the Guatemalan military, "se lo llevo pancho" indicates that the person in question was "disappeared" or assassinated, usually after being tortured.

In May 1999, Washington-based human rights groups released a Guatemalan military document that carefully listed 183 students, union leaders, professors, doctors and housewives who were illegally detained and disappeared or assassinated by the Army between 1983 and 1985. Reading the pages of typed profiles of civilian victims (with their photos), one is amazed at the bureaucratic concern for tidiness and detail. Many profiles end with the statement: "Se lo llevo PANCHO."

In keeping with lies used during the 'cold war', this registry of death linked each victim to the rebels - a 'justification' for their detention, torture and disappearance. Not surprisingly, the Guatemalan Defense Minister, Hector Barrios, denied that the document belonged to the army. This document is available at the website of the National Security Archives or from Rights Action (Guatemala Partners.)

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The following statement was made by family members of victim #132: UNTIL THEY ARE FOUND -- UNTIL JUSTICE IS ACHIEVED May 24, 1999.

We are family members of Carlos Ernesto Cuevas Molina, one of the tens of thousands of "disappeared" Guatemalans. In light of the release of a document of the Guatemalan Army's Intelligence Unit, in which Carlos Ernesto appears as person number 132, we declare:

On May 15, 1984, Carlos Ernesto was kidnapped by unidentifiable people who grabbed him in front of witnesses at the corner of 3rd Avenue and 5th Street, Zone 1, Guatemala City. They took him to a place unknown to us. After this, we family members began a search process that ended up exposing to us the reality of "disappearances." This phenomena was a product of barbaric military thinking and planning, whose goal was to eliminate all possibilities of organization by the civilian population. . . .

In searching for Carlos, we approached numerous Guatemalan individuals and agencies, including: then head of state Oscar Humberto Mejía Victores; the Ministries of the Interior, Defense, Foreign Relations and Police; the Supreme Court of Justice; Congress; . . . . We submitted writs of Habeas Corpus . . . , attempting to safeguard his physical and psychological well being.

Contrary to and in spite of our efforts, our family was the victim of new abuses. In April 1985, Rosario Godoy de Cuevas, Augusto Rafael Cuevas Godoy (two years of age) and Mynor Godoy -- respectively Carlos' wife, son and brother-in-law -- were assassinated, after being kidnapped and subjected to torture. . . .

We were forced to flee Guatemala to save our lives. Even abroad, we were victims of threats and psychological torture carried out by emissaries of the regime who attempted to silence our voices. . . .

To this day our questions remain unanswered. If Carlos was accused of some crime, why was he not turned over to the courts of justice? Why did they kidnap him? Where was he held prisoner? When and by whose order was he executed? Where are his remains?

Because we are convinced that only truth, transparency and accountability will enable the construction of a new Guatemala, we reaffirm our requests:

• Apply justice to the material and intellectual authors who, enjoying impunity, deny knowledge of and responsibility for these violations.
• Investigate exhaustively the abuses ordered by, and then dissolve the militarized Presidential Chief of Staff.
• Publish all military files that will lead to the clarification of the 45,000 cases of "disappeared" persons in Guatemala.
• Protect family members of the disappeared who are presenting lawsuits in the courts.
• Ensure that the Public Ministry, Supreme Court of Justice and Human Rights Ombudsman investigate, identify and sanction the criminals, as well as locate our loved ones.
• Ensure that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Inter-American Human Rights Court and the UN Working Group on Forced Disappearances prioritize efforts to resolve these and other cases of "disappeared" persons in an expeditious manner.

To all citizens, we ask for your support and solidarity for the work of families of the disappeared who are suffering once more the pain and silence imposed by impunity.

Ruth Molina de Cuevas, Rosario Cuevas Molina, Ana Lucia Cuevas Molina, Claudia Cuevas Molina, Luis Eduardo Cuevas Molina, Rafael Cuevas Molina. The atrocities of the Guatemala security forces have been well documented. The complicit role of the United States, in knowingly supporting the genocide in Guatemala (as determined by the United Nations Historical Clarification Commission), has been well documented.

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For years to come, support will be needed for efforts in Guatemala to confront and seek justice for the political and civil rights violations of the past. For efforts in the US to declassify all information the US has concerning these violations and to hold US officials accountable for their role.