47
drivers comprised 12 persons, divided into two groups and he served Luis Alberto
Gómez Guillermo directly and drove him from his house to the National Palace. He
did not meet José Víctor Cordero Cardona, known as “La Yegua” (pilot of an Army
helicopter), there.
He denied knowing about the Army practice of presenting all the guerrillas, both
those captured in combat and those who gave themselves up voluntarily, to the
corresponding civil authorities where they could claim amnesty. And, during his 17
years and 10 months of service, he had not heard of any former guerrilla who
worked for the Army.
He did not know whether the Army had organized a special force in March 1992 to
operate in San Marcos, or whether someone was captured as a result of an
encounter in which this special force took part. Lastly, he denied knowing anything
about the detention, torture and transfer to different military detachments of
Bámaca Velásquez.
l.
Testimony of Luis Alberto
Colonel in
the Guatemalan Army
Gómez
Guillermo,
Lieutenant
He has been an Army officer and formed part of the intelligence unit called G-2. He
later stated that he had not worked as an intelligence officer.
He did not know that the Army captured or arrested members of the guerrilla, or
that there were clandestine detention centers for those who had been captured.
When such persons gave themselves up they were not mistreated. The sources of
information available to “military intelligence” to find out about guerrilla activities, in
the context of the “armed conflict”, were the local population or information provided
by guerrillas who had given themselves up voluntarily.
The Army did not conduct interrogations, but rather “interviews” of the former
guerrillas who gave themselves up voluntarily and claimed amnesty, such as the
former guerrillas, de la Roca and Boitsiu. In these circumstances, the procedure
followed was to immediately inform the superior officers and “then, bring the press
so that, both their families and the rebels would know [...] that this man was now
'adaptado a la vida política' (re-adapted to society)”. The “interview” was carried out
by the competent judge, in the presence of representatives of the Public Ministry and
lawyers, so that it could then be “used for or against in a formal proceeding.”
He was acquainted with Otoniel de la Roca, and knew that he was a former member
of the guerrilla, and did not work in the Army. He had spoken to him and to Luis
Boitsiu, in 1991, regarding the existence of “schisms” in the guerrilla. He did not
know that Otoniel de la Roca had been captured by the Army, tortured and used to
“obtain intelligence” about the guerrilla.
Later he heard that Otoniel de la Roca Mendoza had been detained by the National
Police Force because he was carrying a gun and uttering threats. He heard that de la
Roca had made declarations to the press, but not that he had said that “something
would happen to him or his family” if he did not make such declarations.
He was not acquainted with either Santiago Cabrera López or Anastasia López Calvo,
or a member of the armed forces named José Víctor Cordero Cardona.
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