'The Art Of Political Murder': Was Bishop Gerardi's death a homosexual crime of passion? How truth was distorted
Powerful and gripping, HBO documentary 'The Art Of Political Murder' details the investigation into the brutal murder of Catholic Bishop Juan Gerardi, who had spent years compiling a report on the human rights abuses committed by government forces during the civil war that had ravaged Guatemala. Several associates had made significant contributions to the investigation, in order to prove that there had been a gross violation of human rights that had occurred during the civil war. Owing to his hold over the peasantry, Gerardi had been the target of the military for several years.
On April 24, Gerardi presented an exhausting treatise, exposing the atrocities committed by the government and also provided the way forward to recovery and healing. Two days later, he was murdered in the courtyard of his church. He had been beaten beyond recognition with a concrete slab. The documentary portrays the war for justice in his name and the long hunt for the killers. It was a herculean task. For starters, the crime scene was botched from the start by an inept police force. Worse, Gerardi was killed for the second time as the media slandered his name. A crime of homosexual passion, that was the theory that began to do the rounds. It began to be published in the papers and magazines, fuelled further by witness Ruben Chanax's testimony that he saw a 'shirtless' man coming out of Gerardi's home.
How did they manage that? Otto Ardon, was the first special prosecutor assigned to the case by the Ministry of Justice. He had close links with the military and that's what fuelled the false stories that began to emerge after Gerardi's death. The story that began to seep through the nation: It was a crime of homosexual passion, and Gerardi was killed by Father Mario Orantes, Gerardi's assistant priest who was also at the San Sebastian Church. Ardon insisted that Gerardi had been mauled to death by Orantes's German Shepherd, Balu. The dog was arrested and the press had the time of their lives. It took a second autopsy to rubbish these claims.
However, the investigators continued with their deadly task, despite intimidation and threats to their lives.
By early 2000s, the truth slowly tumbled out, as witness Chanax, began to provide more crucial details in the lengthy trials. He said that he had been intimidated by Colonel Byron Disrael Lima Estrada and Captain Byron Lima Oliva and José Obdulio Villanueva, who were later convicted in Gerardi's murder.
'The Art Of Political Murder' is an HBO production, and released on December 16, 9 pm.
