LATIN AMERICA WEEKLY REVIEW

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06626235
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: March 9, 2023
• Document Release Date: January 23, 2020
• Case Number: F-2016-02132
• Publication Date: January 12, 1978

Approved for Release: 2020/01/21 C06626235
National
Foreign
Assessment
Center
--Secret_
Latin America
Weekly Review
12 January 1978
RP LAWR 78-002
12 January 1978
Copy 1 I ';)
Approved for Release: 2020/01/21 C06626235
Approved for Release: 2020/01/21 C06626235
--StetitE,L
Guatemala: The Pressures of Burgeoning Political Violence
Guatemala is experiencing an upsurge in political
violence that is symptomatic of, if not directly attrib-
utable to, the coming presidential election. Typically,
radical groups believe that forcing the administration
to declare a state of siege and suspend the election
will foster public dissatisfaction and political chaos,
enabling them to build popular support. President
Laugerud, despite mounting public and personal pressures,
seems determined to keep security forces in line and
hold the election as scheduled on 5 March.
Aside from the abduction of several wealthy busi-
nessmen last fall, the two spectacular kidnapings last
month by Guatemala's largest terrorist group, the Guer-
rilla Army of the Poor (EGP), are the first major inci-
dents of political violence in the election campaign.
They once again impressively demonstrate the daring as
well as the substantial capabilities of the EGP to act
throughout most of the country.
On 13 December, the EGP kidnaped and killed Luis
Canella, a prominent businessman and member of the
President's Council of State. On 31 December, it kid-
naped Roberto Herrera Ibarguen, whom it still holds.
Herrera Ibarguen was Minister, of Government and Minister
of Foreign Relations under former President Arana,
Laugerud's predecessor. Herrera is currently vice
president of Laugerud's Council of State, a member of
Guatemala's Belize negotiating team, a wealthy business-
man, and a close personal friend of the President.
The EGP, which claims that Herrera organized and
directed government "death squads" in the early 1970s,
demands wide media dissemination of its propaganda and
$2.5 million in ransom by 19 January in exchange for
Herrera's release. The government and the Herrera
family are complying with the demands, although Laugerud
reportedly believes the EGP will execute its captive on
some pretext.
12 January 1978
18
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President Laugerud would like to leave�office�with
his comparatively good human rights record intact, but
he is under considerable pressure from rightists and
businessmen to crack down on the terrorists. � Although
he has called for stronger measures to combat violence,
including the death penalty for kidnaping, he has publicly
asserted that he will not impose a state of siege. Per-
sonal concern for Herrera has led Laugerud to prevent
security and military forces from pursuing the case and
perhaps jeopardizing family negotiations with the kid-
napers. the President
believes the best course is to encourage a media cam-
paign aimed at discrediting the EGP action by character-
izing Herrera as a leading citizen.
Last week, Laugerud called on the three presidential
candidates to confer with him on ways to discourage. cam-
paign violence. Former President Enrique Peralta Azurdia,
candidate of the conservative National Liberation Move-
ment, showed up, but the other two candidates did not.
Fernando Lucas, the semiofficial candidate, was late
returning from-a trip to Venezuela, while the Christian
Democratic candidate, Ricardo Peralta Mendez, refused
to�attend.unless the press was permitted to participate.
Cooperation by the political parties would help ease cam-
paign violence, but in the absence of a government crack-
down, terrorist incidents are likely to continue..
(
Even so, the election will probably come off as
scheduled, and the cycle will play itself out with the
level of violence declining after the new president as-
sumes office in July. A tangential but major implication
of the latest kidnaping is that it distracts Laugerud
from the Belize issue. His attention is critical now if
a settlement is to be achieved this year, since, he will
]anednck2residertt in lust ei ht weeks.
This is still possible, but wilI
require more attention than Laugerud is presently able
to provide.
Approved for Release: 2020/01/21 C06626235