José Efraín Ríos Montt
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His Excellency General of Division Efraín Ríos Montt |
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| 26th President of Guatemala | |
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In office March 23, 1982 – August 8, 1983 |
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| Preceded by | Romeo Lucas García |
| Succeeded by | Óscar Humberto Mejía Víctores |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
José Efraín Ríos Montt June 16, 1926 Huehuetenango, Guatemala |
| Died | April 1, 2018 (aged 91) Guatemala City, Guatemala |
| Political party | Guatemalan Republican Front |
| Spouse(s) | María Teresa Sosa Ávila (m. 1953) |
| Children | 3 (including Zury Ríos Montt) |
| Profession | Clergy, General |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 Guatemala
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| Service/branch | Guatemalan Army |
| Years of service | 1951–1983 |
| Rank | General |
José Efraín Ríos Montt (Spanish pronunciation: [efɾaˈin ˈri.os ˈmont]; June 16, 1926 – April 1, 2018) was a Guatemalan general and politician who was born in Huehuetenango. A dictator, he served as President of Guatemala, taking power as a result of a coup d'état on March 23, 1982. He was overthrown by his Defense Minister, Óscar Humberto Mejía Victores, in another coup d'état on August 8, 1983. In the 2003 presidential elections, Ríos Montt unsuccessfully ran as the candidate of the Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG). In 2007 he returned to public office as a member of Congress, thereby gaining prosecutorial immunity. He was protected from a pair of long-running lawsuits alleging war crimes against him and a number of his former ministers and counselors during their term in the presidential palace in 1982–83. His immunity ended on January 14, 2012, with the end of his term in legislative office. On January 26, 2012, he appeared in court in Guatemala and was formally indicted for genocide and crimes against humanity.
Two Truth Commissions, the REMHI report, sponsored by the Roman Catholic Church, and the CEH report, conducted by the United Nations as part of the 1996 Accords of Firm and Durable Peace, documented widespread human rights abuses committed by Ríos Montt's military regime. These included widespread , rapes, and torture against the indigenous population in what has been called a Guatemalan genocide. Ríos Montt said there was no government-ordered genocide, and that abuses were only the result of a long, violent civil war. During his time as president, he had close ties to the United States, receiving direct and indirect support from several of its agencies, including the CIA.
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