Paramilitary to Be Paid for Help in 1980s
Guatemala agreed to pay former paramilitary fighters hundreds of millions of dollars -- $600 each -- for helping the army crush a rebel uprising in the 1980s.
The former fighters had threatened to block roads and airports if Congress failed to give them the money.
Human rights groups blame the paramilitary groups for some of Guatemala’s worst war crimes, including massacres, torture and rapes.
In 1999, a U.N.-backed report said more than 200,000 people were killed or disappeared during the 35-year civil war that ended eight years ago.
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