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the UCN and “El Gráfico.” The loss of his father was extremely distressing and
left him “up in the air” for many years.
After Mr. Carpio Nicolle’s death, the UCN rapidly began to disperse.
Eventually, it did not obtain enough votes to continue being a political party
and broke up. “El Gráfico” became a newspaper focused on clarifying the
death of Mr. Carpio Nicolle and those who had accompanied him. From 1993
to 1998, its main pages contained articles and information on the Carpio case
and related development in the political and judicial spheres.
“El Gráfico” closed, above all, because the PAN Government, under President
Álvaro Arzú, strangled it commercially.
The boycott, designed by the
President himself, who was bitter enemy of Mr. Carpio Nicolle in the 1990
elections, was due particularly to the insistence of the Carpio Arrivillaga family
and the newspaper in escalating the investigations into Mr. Carpio Nicolle’s
murder. Also, the absence of Mr. Carpio Nicolle’s image weakened the image
of “El Gráfico,” which made it even more vulnerable to this boycott.
In the absence of “El Gráfico,” he was unable to finance his children’s
education or pay off his employees, and had to “start again, from below.”
He asked the Court for justice and that the State should be declared guilty for
its lack of interest in the case. He also requested that the designation of a
street, avenue or park in Antigua, Guatemala, with his name, and the
creation of postgraduate grants with the name of Jorge Carpio Nicolle for
young journalists and politicians at prominent international universities should
be done to honor Mr. Carpio Nicolle posthumously. He also requested financial
compensation for the Carpio family and the next of kin of the other victims,
because the State had not provided justice.
b)
Testimony of Mario Arturo López Arrivillaga, businessman
He had a professional relationship with Mr. Carpio Nicolle and the latter was
his uncle-in-law on the maternal side, and next of kin to the third degree on
the paternal side. Mr. López Arrivillaga loved Mr. Carpio Nicolle as a father; he
admired him greatly and believed in him.
In 1983, Mr. Carpio Nicolle invited him to work on his political project in the
UCN for the 1985 general elections. He occupied several positions within the
UCN. In 1992, the UCN won the presidency of the Legislature and Mr. López
Arrivillaga was appointed Executive Secretary to the presidency. In 1993, he
was sworn in as a deputy of the Congress of the Republic. He hoped to make
a political career in the UCN, allowing him to accede to the highest decisionmaking positions in the party. His effort and dedication were acknowledged.
On July 3, 1993, Mr. Carpio Nicolle and a UCN delegation were traveling to El
Quiché when a group of more than twenty armed men with balaclava helmets
intercepted them. The men made them get out of their vehicle, placed
weapons a few centimeters from their heads, and searched them to see
whether they were armed. Other members of the group identified Mr. Carpio
Nicolle.
The witness saw how they shot Mr. Rivas González, who was traveling in the
delegation’s other vehicle. At the same time, he heard more shots that came