Human rights group Amnesty International called the ruling a "devastating blow for the victims of the serious human rights violations committed during the conflict".

An estimated 200,000 people were killed in Guatemala's 1960-1996 civil war, the vast majority of them indigenous Mayans. Gen Rios Montt's 17 months in power are believed to have been one of the most violent periods of the war.

He is accused - among other charges - of ordering the deaths of 1,771 people of the Ixil Maya ethnic group during his time in office in 1982-83. He has denied any responsibility.

“I think the release could be an acknowledgment that I wasn’t doing anything wrong,” Mr. Wyss said. “I think there was a lot of tension along the border, and I got scooped up in it. It became clear to them I was just a reporter trying to do a job.”

Venezuela is struggling with economic problems, including a 54 percent annual inflation rate and shortages of basic goods.

President Nicolás Maduro says right-wing enemies here, in Colombia and in the United States are waging an economic war against his socialist government.

He and other officials have suggested that the local and foreign news media are conspiring against the government.

She accused the international news media of following “this script of a continuous and silent coup in Venezuela.”

he declared that the war on drugs had failed and that the international community needed to end the "taboo" of debating decriminalisation

Pérez Molina is unequivocal about the need to search for an alternative to the current paradigm,

For Colombia, drugs are a matter of national security; for other countries it is mainly a health and crime issue."

The cartels have grown in strength, the flow of arms towards Central America from the north has grown and the deaths in our country have grown. This has forced us to search for a more appropriate response."

The situation in Guatemala has become more serious as Mexican cartels – taking refuge from an attempt to militarily defeat them – have inserted themselves into Guatemala and sought to control the trafficking routes through that country

with the cartels come other nightmares: kidnapping, extortion, contract killers and people trafficking.

Pérez Molina concedes: "Drug traffickers have been able to penetrate the institutions in this country by employing the resources and money they have.

western countries fail to understand the reality that countries such as Guatemala and those of Central America have to live in," said Pérez Molina

due to a lack of understanding on the part of western countries.

arguing explicitly for the introduction of a regulated market for drugs. Not full legalisation, but a controlled, regulated market for the production, distribution and sale of narcotics.

the Guatemalans have been consulting with the Beckley Foundation, probably the leading global advocate of deploying science and empirical evidence to drive the debate about the war on drugs

"I believe they should reflect on this, to avoid these deaths that are occurring in transit countries. We don't produce and we don't consume, but we are countries that suffer deaths and place our institutions and our democracy at risk.

Guatemala produces opium poppy and synthetic drugs for export

ombating drug trafficking one of his administration’s top priorities.

President Otto Perez Molina

government’s extensive anti-drug efforts and established a mobile land interdiction unit charged with targeting DTOs operating in remote areas

Guatemala’s pressing issues include high levels of violence fueled by the drug trade, money laundering, and other organized criminal activities; corruption within the police; and an overburdened and inefficient judicial system

Guatemala confronts continuing fiscal challenges in seeking to fund its counternarcotics initiatives. The country has the lowest tax collection rate in Central America and one of the lowest in Latin America.

Guatemala had the eighth-highest murder rate in the world

Guatemala worked with the United States to arrest high-profile traffickers in 2012

Guatemala is a party to the Central American Commission for the Eradication of Production, Traffic, Consumption and Illicit Use of Psychotropic Drugs and Substances

Inter-American Convention against Corruption

A maritime counternarcotics agreement with the United States is fully implemented

Guatemala is one of six countries (along with Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, France, Belize and the United States) that ratified the Caribbean Regional Agreement on Maritime Counter Narcotics, which is now in force.

590 hectares of opium poppy on these missions

air interdiction efforts, supported by six U.S.-titled helicopters, have significantly deterred drug flights from entering the country.

Guatemala seized 4.7 metric tons (MT) of cocaine in 2012,

eight kilograms of heroin

$5.6 million in drug-related assets

United States intends to work with Guatemala to build capacity for proper storage and/or destruction.

uatemala lacks current information

underfunded with an annual budget of $450,000, of which approximately 80 percent was used to cover salaries

SECCATID developed a school-based drug prevention program, “My First Steps,

United States continues to work with the Guatemalan Police Reform Commission to address police reform.

Guatemala cooperated with the United States and regional partners on several important counternarcotics initiatives in 2012

Guatemala and the United States continued to collaborate on a range of ongoing citizen security, counternarcotics, law enforcement, and rule-of-law initiatives in 2012, including the Central America Regional Security Initiative. U.S. assistan

United States provided support to an inter-agency anti-gang unit that brought together the PNC, Attorney General’s office (MP), and analysts from the PNC’s criminal analysis unit (CRADIC) to investigate and dismantle local gang organizations.

.S. support for rule-of-law activities, Guatemala increased its capacity to prosecute narcotics traffickers, organized crime leaders, money launderers and corrupt officials.

productive relations with Guatemala and will continue to support the government’s efforts to improve its technical and organizational capacity in the security and justice sectors.

better equipped to combat narcotics-related crimes in the country by fully implementing the Organized Crime Law

The United States encourages the Government of Guatemala to continue implementation of the Asset Seizure Law; quickly implement an anti-corruption law enacted by the Congress in October; approve legislation to regulate the gaming industry; and reform its law governing injunctions, which is often used to delay processes and trials

Concrete and substantial police reform, with appropriate budgetary support, is necessary for sustained progress in Guatemala.