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2 July 1998 Edition

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Murder collusion in Guatemala

By Dara MacNeil

On 26 April Bishop Juan Gerardi was brutally beaten to death in Guatemala City. His assailants dropped a concrete block on his head, just in case he'd survive the assault. Three days previously, the Bishop had published a report entitled Nunca Mas (Never Again).

The report, an exhaustive investigation into Guatemala's long years of conflict, contained evidence that tied the army to a huge and horrific catalogue of mass murder and atrocities.

Nonetheless, the Guatemalan authorities quickly denounced Gerardi's murder as the work of `delinquents'. Few believed them. In order to bolster their hastily-contrived fabrication, they even arrested two men. To date, however, they have been unable to connect the two with the crime.

Indeed, their persistence was made all the more remarkable by the fact that, within days of Gerardi's murder, an organisation known as Jaguar Justice had claimed the killing. The group are known right-wing paramilitaries.

In late May, the Catholic Church in Guatemala signalled its disgust at the official investigation and said it had no confidence the killers would be caught.

However, it would appear the prosecutor in charge of the case - Otto Ardon - may possess enough independence of mind to put an end to the official charade.

Earlier this month, Ardon demanded the exhumation of a number of bodies that had been discovered on 27 April - the day after Gerardi's murder. The number of bodies is unknown, but it is believed all had been mutilated.

It is believed Ardon suspects he may find at least one of the murderers among their number. He wants the bodies examined for traces of Gerardi's blood which, given the violent nature of the original murder, is thought to have literally covered the Bishop's assailants.

It is widely believed that the Bishop's murderers were in turn murdered by others, in order to cover up the intellectual authors of the crime.

And in late June, a Catholic Church spokesman rubbished the notion that Gerardi had been the victim of a random, motiveless attack and stated bluntly that the motive had been political.

In addition, US citizen Jennifer Harbury has claimed that Jaguar Justice is known to have links with the Guatemalan military and US intelligence services. Harbury was married to Guatemalan guerrilla commander, Efrain Bamaca. He disappeared in 1992 and is believed to have been executed while in custody.

Last year, Harbury revealed the murder of Bamaca had been carried out with the authorisation of the CIA.

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