Guatemala: Blunt Messages

The opposition grows louder

In the 15 months since General Efraín Ríos Montt seized power in Guatemala, the born-again Protestant has sharply reduced a serious guerrilla threat, attacked corruption and cut down on the activities of death squads. In an effort to win popular support for his policies, he even established a series of Sunday-night TV sermons. Nonetheless, a number of his countrymen, led in part by the local hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church, are tiring of Ríos Montt's oldtime religion. Earlier this month, according to some reports from Guatemala, 14 young army officers walked into the general's office in the ornate National Palace and politely asked him to resign. The story has not been confirmed, but it is known that on the morning in question, the palace was hurriedly closed down for a "security exercise" while loyal army troops replaced the palace guard.

Ríos Montt has survived other challenges to his authority since the March 1982 coup that put him in the presidential palace. Leading the chorus of protest is the powerful Roman Catholic Guatemalan Bishops' Conference, which last month issued a pastoral letter condemning the government's human rights record, including its use of military tribunals that order secret executions of suspected terrorists. "Massacres still continue," the bishops charged. "There are frequently cases of missing people. It is only right to condemn unacceptable abuses of power from some authorities."

The bishops' letter was quickly followed by criticism from other quarters. In a peculiar but highly publicized campaign, an obscure army general, José Echeverría Vielman, bought time on television to appeal to the President to separate the army from all government activities and to call National Assembly elections immediately. Shortly after that, Secretary-General Mario Castejón of the National Renovation Party accused Ríos Montt of using his influence to help his church, the California-based Christian Church of the Word.

Ríos Montt, who only a few months ago enjoyed support for ending the repressive regime of his predecessor and for quelling guerrillas in the Guatemalan countryside, responded to the latest criticism by forcing Echeverría into retirement and ordering the arrest of Castejón and two other political foes on charges of "injuring the presidency."