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The response of the terrorist government of General Romeo Lucas García was to enter the building, violating the extraterritoriality of the diplomatic delegation, proceeding to set fire to the facilities, and massacring the occupants.
As a result of this action, 37 people died, including campesinos, workers, residents, Christians, students, visitors and administrative staff of the Embassy.
Ambassador Máximo Cajal and the campesino Gregorio Yujá Xona survived the carnaje. Gregorio was soon after kidnapped from the hospital where he had been transferred to treat his burns. He was later killed and his body dumped in front of the Rectory of the USAC.
Prior to the departure of the funeral procession of the massacred, on February 2, students Gustavo Adolfo Hernández and Jesús Alberto España, members of the FERG of the Faculties of Medicine and Law respectively, who had participated in the visitation for the victims in the University Auditorium, were murdered.
On January 19, 2015, the First Court of Criminal Sentencing, Drug Activity and Crimes against the Environment, determined, in a trial against Pedro García Arredondo, former Lieutenant Colonel of the National Police and former First Chief of the Sixth Command Corps, that the death and damage caused was
"unquantifiable and irreparable for the following reasons: I) the lives of productive people were ended, young people, diplomatic personnel, professionals, women, in a despicable and irrational way; the diplomatic headquarters of the Embassy of Spain was violated (...) The stigma, contempt and rejection that the victims had to live, under control, monitoring, persecution and murder by the accused and people under his command (...) and the collateral suffering that their families have had to suffer, who have been treated with contempt, dishonor, and discredit."
And, in point VII of the decisión, the court called for the punishment of the crimes of MURDER, ATTEMPTED MURDER AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY.
This ruling reflects the importance that the justice system regain its independence and not be manipulated by the Covenant of the Corrupt (Pacto de los Corruptos) in favor of the authoritarianism of Guatemala’s traditional, predatory elites who have done so much damage to our country.
On the contrary, let the ruling be a guarantee of the non-repetition of crimes against the life and integrity of the people.
Unfortunately, the structural causes that have motivated the struggles of the population - racism, dispossession of lands and natural resources, exploitation and poverty, inequality and others - have not been overcome.
Similarly, repression is not something of the past, but is still present: the assassination of ancestral Indigenous authorities and community leaders; the criminalization of defenders of Mother Earth, human rights defenders, students, journalists and people who have tried to fulfill their functions within the State in a correct and honorable manner.
In Guatemala today we have a Public Prosecutor's Office and Justice System that are co-opted by what has been called the Criminal Covenant of Corruption and Impunity, which serves to protect those who have been prosecuted for crimes against humanity and to prevent new trials, while also serving to persecute those who want the country to have a real democracy and a State at the service of the population.
As a country, we are going backwards in terms of human rights and access to justice when people accused and/or convicted for their participation in massacres, murders, human rights violations and crimes against humanity are released.
Generalized impunity continues to be a pillar of the current injustice, of the violation of human rights and limitation of access to justice.
IN VIEW OF THIS:
We pay tribute to our heroes and heroines, an example of struggle, organization and determination for the common good, who literally merged in a shared action to change this country.
We demand that the State of Guatemala assume responsibility for what happened and take the appropriate measures so that there is justice and reparation for the families of the murdered people.
We condemn the fact that, at present, the institutions responsible for applying justice - the Public Prosecutor's Office, the Judicial Branch and the Constitutional Court - are used to maintain impunity.
We demand that the judiciary fulfill its duties under national law and international conventions to protect human rights and the commitment to non-repetition.
We demand an end to the repression against human rights defenders, defenders of Mother Earth, students, journalists and people who seek to honestly comply with justice and democracy.
We call on all organizations to struggle and alliances to build a just, supportive society, in which all people and peoples have a dignified life.
45 years after the massacre at the Spanish embassy, we do not forget our heroes. The fight continues!
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