U.S. deports Guatemala massacre suspect
A former member of an elite Guatemalan military force suspected of carrying out a 1982 massacre was extradited from the United States on Tuesday, ending a two-decade exile in which he spent years working in a southern California sweater factory.
Pedro Pimentel Rios, 54, was flown on a government-chartered plane to Guatemala and turned over to authorities, said Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The news was celebrated in Guatemala by a lawyer for victims of the Dos Erres massacre, in which more than 150 people were killed. Witnesses say men, women and children were tortured and robbed by the soldiers as part of a “scorched earth” effort to eliminate communities supporting insurgent groups at the height of Guatemala’s 36-year civil war.
Attorney Edgar Perez said more than 100 witnesses would be available to testify in the case.