Unlikely progress for Ríos Montt's prosecution in Guatemala

I spoke with Stephanie van den Berg of the International Justice Tribune last week about developments in the Efrain Rios Montt case in Guatemala. Unfortunately, the write-up of my interview with Stephanie is behind a pay wall in Unlikely progress for Ríos Montt's prosecution in Guatemala.

The trial of ex-dictator Efraín Ríos Montt [IJT-153] resumed last month in Guatemala after his 2013 genocide conviction was annulled on a technicality. The trial was set back to where it left off on 19 April 2013, when the tribunal had heard all prosecution witnesses but still needed to hear some defence witnesses and closing arguments. But just a few days after restarting, the trial ground to a halt again and was quickly suspended with no outlook on when it could resume.

Then you can read the positions from the New York Times Editorial Board and Adriana Beltrán and Marc Hanson of WOLA on US assistance to Central America. Here was my take with U.S. Can’t Solve Central America’s Problems With Money Alone for the World Politics Review.

Here's my question: Is asking for $1 billion for FY 2016 better than asking for $100 million in additional funding for each of the next ten years? (Obviously, the Congress isn't capable of committing to that but while we have to think in the billions, we also have to think in the years, decades.)

Now, maybe the US is thinking the best of both world's - a $1 billion dollar investment in year one followed by significant increases in assistance in following years. That would seem to make sense. Perhaps in 2-3 years, Honduras and Guatemala could make progress to the extent that they would qualify for hundred million dollar plus Millennium Challenge Corporations Compacts.