21
1993 statement by Samuel Blake delivered in Washington, D.C.; October
1993 statement by Richard R. Blake, Jr., delivered in Washington, D.C.;
statement
by
Justo
Victoriano
Martínez-Morales
delivered
in
Huehuetenango; photographs of Candelario López-Herrera and Mario Cano
taken by Justo Victoriano Martínez-Morales in May 1989; June 1988
document from the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala to the Secretary of State;
August 1989 document from the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala to the
Secretary of State; March 1990 document from the U.S. Embassy in
Guatemala to the Secretary of State; November 1989 document from the
U.S. Embassy in Guatemala to the Secretary of State; April 1990
document from the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala to the Secretary of State;
and the note of April 3, 1990, from the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala to
Samuel Blake).
(o)
Over more than a seven year period, from 1985 to 1992, members
of the Blake family made numerous attempts to investigate the facts
surrounding Mr. Nicholas Blake's detention, disappearance, death and
whereabouts. They met with officials of the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala,
with Guatemalan civil and military officials, including the President of the
Republic of Guatemala, the President's National Security Adviser, the
Guatemalan Human Rights Ombudsman, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff, the Head of Military Intelligence, the Commander of Military Zone
19, the Commander of Military Zone 20, the Commander of the Las
Majadas Garrison, army colonels and generals, and chiefs and members of
the Huehuetenango and El Quiché Civil Patrols. The State concealed Mr.
Nicholas Blake's whereabouts and hindered his family's investigation; the
patrolmen attempted to conceal the fact that they were members of the
civil patrols, contradicted each other's statements about their actions, and
concealed Mr. Nicholas Blake's remains after the discovery of those of Mr.
Griffith Davis; military authorities refused to take up the case, claiming
that Mr. Nicholas Blake had been seized by guerrillas; the Army was aware
of the deaths shortly after they occurred and ordered the civil patrolmen
allegedly responsible to be questioned, but patrol officials said that "they
[could not] locate the men or that they did not exist"; one soldier, who
had been assisting with the investigation and had claimed that civil patrols
had been responsible, refused to continue cooperate after receiving
threats; on several occasions army officials promised to issue a list of the
civil patrolmen to the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala, but never did so; the
U.S. Embassy in Guatemala gave photographs of the civil patrolmen
allegedly responsible for the acts to army officials who promised to detain
them, but they later denied ever receiving the photographs. These officials
also claimed that they had searched the area; however, it was later
discovered that the purpose of the search was not to locate Mr. Nicholas
Blake's and Mr. Griffith Davis' remains (cf. April 17, 1997 testimony of
Richard R. Blake, Jr.; April 17, 1997 testimony of Samuel Blake; April 17,
1997 testimony of Ricardo Roberto; April 17, 1997 testimony of Justo
Victoriano Martínez-Morales; Anthropological Forensic Report of July 18,
1992, issued by the Smithsonian Institution; October 1993 statement by
Samuel Blake delivered in Washington, D.C.; October 1993 statement by
Richard R. Blake, Jr., delivered in Washington, D.C.; statement by Justo
Victoriano Martínez-Morales delivered in Huehuetenango; June 14, 1993
statement by Michael Shawcross delivered in Antigua, Guatemala;
photograph of the patrolman who indicated the place where the remains
were found; April 1985 document from the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala to
the Secretary of State; April 18, 1989 document from the Consulate to the
United States Ambassador in Guatemala; June 1989 document from the