Monday, October 3, 2011

Guatemala Targets Intellectual Author of 2008 Bus Massacre

Guatemalan authorities will officially ask the Mexican government to extradite Marvin Barrios. Barrios is the alleged intellectual author of a massacre that killed sixteen people (Nicaraguans and a Dutch man) on a bus in November 2008. He was arrested in Mexico in August.
Guatemala is also filing an extradition request for Barrios’s girlfriend, Sara Mansilla, who was arrested along with him and allegedly participated in the massacre, the Cicig spokesman said.
Barrios faces murder, criminal conspiracy and drug trafficking charges in connection with the attack on a bus in November 2008 in eastern Guatemala that left 16 people dead.
The bus was attacked because the killers thought cocaine was hidden in one of the vehicle’s compartments, Cicig investigators said.
Juan Carlos Policarpio (life) and Rony Terraza (three years) were convicted and sentenced for participating in the massacre in 2010. 
CICIG and the Guatemalan courts have definitely had their successes in recent years. At the same time, there appear to have also occurred gross miscarriages of justice (Portillo). If Mexico does extradite Barrios and he is convicted in Guatemala, it will be another important victory for the Colom administration, the judiciary, and CICIG.    

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