Guatemalan Suspected in 1982 Massacre Arrested in Florida

Federal agents arrested Gilberto Jordán in Palm Beach County, Florida on Wednesday for suspicion of lying on citizenship paperwork processed years ago.

Normally that sort of charge wouldn't make headlines, but Jordán is no normal ICE case. It is suspected that he was one of the members of Guatemala's elite Kaibiles unit who massacred 217 civilians in the village of Las Dos Erres.

The massacre was one of the worst in the 35-year-long Guatemalan Civil War. From the Miami Herald article reporting details of his arrest:

In a chilling interview Tuesday with ICE special agents, Jordán, now 54, "readily admitted that he threw a baby into the well and participated in killing people at Dos Erres, as well as bringing them to the well where they were killed,'' according to an affidavit filed with the criminal complaint.

Two other former Kaibiles who currently reside in the US, Jorge Vinicio Sosa-Orantes Pedro Pimentel-Rios, are also being sought on similar grounds.

The Kaibiles were and are a highly skilled jungle warfare group with a dubious human rights record. More recently, several Kaibiles have joined ranks with the violent Los Zetas organization - originally a force protection group for the Gulf Cartel who are now operating more independently in the Mexican drug arena.

It remains unclear whether there will be additional charges against Jordán besides the immigration violation - a charge that could lead to 10 years in prison and revocation of his naturalized US citizenship.

Image Source: Global Post - "The wood boxes that once contained the victims' remains decomposed long ago, leaving bundles of bones, boots and clothes."

Online Sources: Miami Herald, NY Times, Mexidata.info, Wikipedia, Sun-Sentinel

ICE: No detentions during Gustav evacuations

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials claimed that they will not conduct any arrests of illegal immigrants trying to evacuate due to Hurricane Gustav. “There are no immigration enforcement operations,” said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson Kelly Nantel to ABC News as Latinos in the New Orleans area are worried of ICE authorities:

A dearth of Latinos through the day at a train and bus depot dubbed "The Gate" because it is the New Orleans staging spot for evacuees worried volunteer Lucas Diaz.

"Latinos are fearful that by being taken to shelters they will be turned over to immigration officials," said Diaz, a member of a nonprofit group that works with the Latino community in New Orleans.

"They don't trust," Diaz told AFP. "Often people along the way, like shelter workers, take to being ICE agents and turn people in."

New Orleans has received an influx of Latino laborers and businesses that have assisted in the post-Katrina reconstruction. Their presence has not always been welcomed, however, and recent mass raids in Iowa and Mississippi have provoked fears in the community.

The category 3 hurricane with possible 130 mile-per-hour winds is expected to hit the Gulf coast around midday on Monday. Analysts believe that Gustav will cause as much or more damage than Katrina did three years ago.

Gustav ravaged through the Caribbean over the past week and killed at least sixty people on Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Image- Newsweek.com (“Residents of New Orleans carry their belongings while evacuating at the city's Greyhound Bus and Amtrak station.”)

Sources- AFP, sunherald.com, Associated Press, The Latin Americanist, ABC News, Reuters, China Daily, IHT