Rights Action - August 20, 2011
GUATEMALA: PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, EX-GENERAL OTTO PEREZ MOLINA, ADMITS / DENIES LINKS TO NARCO-TRAFFICKERS
NO MORE 'POLITICS & BUSINESS AS USUAL' WITH WAR CRIMINALS IN GUATEMALA
BELOW: A news article based on Wikileaks information -- Otto Perez Molina links to Guatemalan narco-traffickers
BACKGROUND: In the "Allegation Letter" (http://rightsaction.org/articles/Sign_on_Guatemala_081411.html), that will be re-submitted to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture on August 22, 2011, read of Otto Perez Molina's history as an intellectual and material author of war crimes, including torture, disappearances & genocide.
* Please re-send this information to your own politicians and media, demanding "No More 'Politics & Business As Usual' with War Criminals in Guatemala [or anywhere]
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WHAT TO DO: see below
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GUATEMALA PRESIDENTIAL FRONTRUNNER LINKED TO NARCOS: WIKILEAKS
by Ronan Graham, 19 August 2011
http://insightcrime.org/insight-latest-news/item/1433-guatemala-presidential-frontrunner-linked-to-narcos-wikileaks
A U.S. diplomatic cable leaked by Wikileaks revealed that Guatemalan presidential hopeful Otto Perez admitted to past links with the Mendoza family, said to be one of the country's biggest drug trafficking clans.
According to the leaked cable, obtained by Guatemalan website Plaza Publica, the retired army officer, current frontrunner in the Guatemalan presidential race, admitted that his party had a relationship with a member of the Mendoza family. He had denied this in an interview with the same website less than a month ago.
In July, Plaza Publica asked Perez whether a member of his party had proposed one of the Mendozas as a Congress candidate. He denied it, and said "Furthermore, we asked the people from the party not to build relationships with them. That relation never existed."
According to the document, entitled "07GUATEMALA1941" and sent by the US Guatemalan Embassy to the State Department and Pentagon on September 25, 2007, Perez admitted in a meeting with the U.S. ambassador to Guatemala, James Derham, that the his party had a "minimal relationship" in 2003 with one Mendoza brother, but "not with the narco-trafficker who lives in Peten."
The Mendozas offered support to Perez's party, according to the candidate, but when he met with the family he asked them to withdraw from the campaign.
According to the leaked cable, Perez also revealed details of those who were financing his 2007 presidential campaign, admitting that the bulk of funding for his campaign came from four of Guatemala's wealthiest families.
Perez lost the 2007 presidential election to incumbent Alvaro Colom. However, according to recent polls, Perez is leading the current presidential race with more than 40 percent of support and a 30-point lead over his two closest competitors. The first round of voting will be held on September 11.
Perez also apparently told the diplomat that he had "proof" that Colom's campaign was funded by drug money.
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for Guatemalan organizations working for justice for war crimes and human rights violations, make check payable to "Rights Action" and mail to:
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RECOMMENDED DAILY NEWS: www.democracynow.org / www.upsidedownworld.org / www.dominionpaper.ca
RECOMMENDED BOOKS: Eduardo Galeano's "Open Veins of Latin America"; Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States"; James Loewen's "Lies My Teacher Told Me"; Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine"; Paolo Freire's "Pedagogy of the Oppressed"; Dr Seuss's "Horton Hears A Who"
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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
info@rightsaction.org
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