Louisa Reynolds /

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supporters, mostly members of the Guatemalan Association 
of Military Veterans (AVEMILGUA), only Pimentel Ríos’ 
son, Juan Carlos, attended every single hearing, from the 
beginning to the end. Pimentel Ríos’ sisters and uncles 
arrived towards the end of the trial and they hardly seemed 
surprised when the verdict was announced.

The sarcastic smile had been erased and he now frowned 
slightly and bowed his head, with the countenance of 
someone who is doing penance. His entire demeanor seemed 
to have been carefully rehearsed in order to inspire pity. Who 
could believe that that insignificant little man had slain a 
young girl in front of the entire troop to demonstrate “how 
to kill someone”?

Lima allowed me to interview Pimentel Ríos during one of 
the recesses and he began by saying that “all the army has ever 
done is safeguard the borders and look after the population”. 
He added that the army is being prosecuted for war crimes in 
response to pressure from foreign governments and NGOs, 
something that Guatemala’s military veterans have repeated 
incessantly since the Peace Accords were signed.

I asked him whether he had participated in the massacre 
and he replied that “no one could prove that” and that the 
perpetrators could have been guerrilla groups and not the 
army. 

What about the testimonies given by the protected witnesses, 
former Kaibil soldiers who stated that he participated in 
the massacre and was part of the “tropa de asalto”? “Well, 
my theory is that the Attorney General’s Office and human 
rights NGO’s recruited those people. Why? I don’t know”, 
he said.