U.S. Judge Orders Guatemalan to Pay for Atrocities

A Guatemalan general running for president of his country was ordered by a U.S. judge Wednesday to pay $47.5 million to eight Guatemalans and an American nun who were victims of atrocities committed by his soldiers in the 1980s.

U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock held Gen. Hector Alejandro Gramajo responsible for the torture and murder of thousands of civilians in the Central American nation while he was vice chief of staff and director of the army general staff in the early 1980s, and defense minister from 1987 to 1990.

Gramajo was found liable by default, meaning the judge ruled against him because he did not contest the lawsuit.

Gramajo, who is seeking the nomination of his rightist party in Guatemala’s presidential election sometime later this year, denied any role in the alleged crimes and said he had not defended himself because he didn’t have the money.

Eight Kanjobal Indians who fled Guatemala after soldiers ransacked their villages and killed their relatives, and Sister Dianna Ortiz, who was kidnaped, raped and tortured while working in Guatemala, accused him of being personally responsible for the campaign of terror.