Colonel Byron Lima Estrada, center, shows a group of international journalists a cache of weapons recently found by the military in a Ejército Guerrillero de los Pobres, Guerrilla Army of the Poor, EGP, safe house at the regional military garrison in Santa Cruz del Quiché, Guatemala, February 1, 1982. Col. Lima Estrada was commander of the Quiché department army garrison. He received U.S. Army counterintelligence training at Fort Benning, Georgia, the School of the Americas, and instruction from the U.S. Army Mobile Training Team (MTT) and the U.S. Military Assistance Program (MAP). Following his term as intelligence chief, Lima Estrada served as senior officer in key operational units during the Guatemalan Armed Forces' "scorched earth" campaigns in the 1980s. Lima Estrada was convicted in 2001 for the 1998 murder of Catholic Bishop Juan José Gerardi Conedera, which is considered one of the most infamous crimes of Guatemala's post-war history.
A group of international journalists are shown a cache of weapons recently found by the military in a Ejército Guerrillero de los Pobres, Guerrilla Army of the Poor, EGP, safe house with General Benedicto Lucas García, far right, at the regional military garrison in Santa Cruz del Quiché, Guatemala, February 1, 1982. Colonel Byron Lima Estrada, the Santa Cruz del Quiché garrison commander, center, observes the guerrilla equipment. In 1981 the military regime and the Guatemalan army initiated a brutal counterinsurgency program of scorched earth tactics to consolidate control over civilians and counteract the influence of the guerrilla insurgency. The genocidal policies enacted by President Fernando Romeo Lucas García and later by Efraín Ríos Montt were also intended to eradicate the culture and identity of the indigenous population. For his role as army general in the internal armed conflict, General Benedicto Lucas García was sentenced on May 23, 2018 to 58 years in prison for crimes against humanity, aggravated sexual violence, and enforced disappearance. Col. Lima Estrada was convicted in 2001 for the 1998 murder of Catholic Bishop Juan José Gerardi Conedera, which is considered one of the most infamous crimes of Guatemala's post-war history.
Guatemalan army Colonel Byron Lima Estrada, center right, the commander of the Quiché department army garrison, looks over captured weapons and explosives found in a Ejército Guerrillero de los Pobres, Guerrilla Army of the Poor, EGP, safe house outside of Santa Cruz del Quiche, Guatemala, February 1, 1982. Lima Estrada received U.S. Army counterintelligence training at Fort Benning, Georgia, the School of the Americas, and instruction from the U.S. Army Mobile Training Team (MTT) and the U.S. Military Assistance Program (MAP). Following his term as intelligence chief, he served as senior officer in key operational units during the Guatemalan Armed Forces' "scorched earth" campaigns in the 1980s. Lima Estrada was convicted in 2001 for the 1998 murder of Catholic Bishop Juan José Gerardi Conedera, which is considered one of the most infamous crimes of Guatemala's post-war history.
Guatemalan army Colonel Byron Lima Estrada, left, meets a wounded soldier brought for medical aid to the army base in the central highlands after a battle with guerrillas from the Ejército Guerrillero de los Pobres, Guerrilla Army of the Poor, EGP, in Santa Cruz del Quiché, Guatemala, January 20, 1982. Over 100 EGP guerrillas attacked the military's highland base in San Juan Cotzal leaving 12 soldiers dead in the official count. According to local civilians and unofficial reports, 34 army soldiers were killed. In retaliation, the Guatemalan army killed 67 civilians in San Juan Cotzal in the following week.
General Benedicto Lucas García, center, receives a map reading from his base commander Colonel Byron Lima Estrada, right, at the regional military base in Santa Cruz del Quiché, Guatemala, January 20, 1982. In 1981 the military regime and the Guatemalan army initiated a brutal counterinsurgency program of scorched earth tactics to consolidate control over civilians and counteract the influence of the guerrilla insurgency. The genocidal policies enacted by President Fernando Romeo Lucas García and later by Efraín Ríos Montt were also intended to eradicate the culture and identity of the indigenous population. For his role as army general in the internal armed conflict, General Benedicto Lucas García was sentenced on May 23, 2018 to 58 years in prison for crimes against humanity, aggravated sexual violence, and enforced disappearance. Col. Lima Estrada was convicted in 2001 for the 1998 murder of Catholic Bishop Juan José Gerardi Conedera, which is considered one of the most infamous crimes of Guatemala's post-war history.
General Benedicto Lucas García, left, prepares to board a Bell helicopter with Colonel Byron Lima Estrada, right, on the tarmac of the military base in Santa Cruz del Quiché, Guatemala, January 21, 1982. During the flight, General Benedicto Lucas García ordered his two door gunners to shoot at local campesinos on the ground below. Lucas García claimed that since the civilians ran from the approaching military helicopter, they must be guilty of being guerrillas. He later denied that he ordered the gunners to fire. In 1981 the military regime and the Guatemalan army initiated a brutal counterinsurgency program of scorched earth tactics to consolidate control over civilians and counteract the influence of the guerrilla insurgency. The genocidal policies enacted by Lucas García and later by Ríos Montt were also intended to eradicate the culture and identity of the indigenous population.