Guatemala 'bishop killer' accused of running organized crime from prison
A former army captain convicted of killing Bishop Juan Gerardi ran a massive bribery ring from prison, according to 's anti-impunity commission.
A former army captain convicted of killing Bishop Juan Gerardi ran a massive bribery ring from prison, according to 's anti-impunity commission.
鈥� A version of this post ran on the author's blog, centralamericanpolitics.blogspot.com. The views expressed are the author's own.
Guatemalan authorities, with the help of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), arrested Byron Lima Oliva (an army captain serving time for the murder of Bishop Juan Gerardi) and聽Edgar Camargo, director of the Guatemalan Penitentiary System this week. Mr. Camargo was arrested on charges of conspiracy, bribery, and conspiracy to launder money. Twelve other individuals were also implicated in the organized crime racket, although it is not clear if they were all arrested.
Lima, on the other hand, is the big catch.
CICIG's Ivan Velasquez, Attorney General Thelma Aldana, and Interior Secretary Mauricio Lopez Bonilla announced that the investigation into Lima's actions in prison was launched last year. If you remember, Lima was聽apprehended聽last February while going to the dentist [he left prison for longer than he was authorized to do so]. He seemed to have been able to come and go from the prison whenever he desired. Perhaps he was traveling in his Porsche, Jaguar, or armored Land Rover to one of the many properties he acquired while in prison? Maybe even his beach property, which Lima says that Mr. Lopez Bonilla has visited.
How did Lima respond to the charges?
The possible fallout?
When Lima was taken into custody last February, he and his entourage were traveling in vehicles used by the Patriotic Party during their 2011 campaign.
If Lima built this empire over the last fifteen years, as has been alleged, there are hundreds of people, perhaps more, complicit in this single case.