Rios Montt's lawyer and others believe that the trial is a “political lynching [1]” […] It doesn't matter if the guerrilas were going to turn “Guatemala into another Cuba;” the rape, torture, starvation and murder of civilians who might or might not have supported the guerrillas is just indefensible. But Rios Montt now has the opportunity to defend his actions and those of the officers who carried out orders on his and the state's behalf.
Mike Allison in Central American Politics [2] refers to the trail [3] against Guatemala's former military dictator Efraín Ríos Montt, which began today, March 19, 2013.