Dos Erres massacre suspect deported from the US

On Wednesday, Santos Lopez Alonzo was deported Wednesday from the United States. Lopez is wanted for his role in the 1982 Dos Erres massacre in Guatemala. If you remember the ProPublica report on Finding Oscar (I use this in my classes; it is excellent), Lopez is the soldier who participated in the killings and then took five-year-old Ramiro Osorio Cristales as his own son. While Oscar was treated well by his adoptive family, perhaps because the man who stole him died shortly afterwards, Osorio Cristales was not. 

Ripped from his village, which was decimated by the soldiers, Osorio Cristales said he found himself living with a soldier who ordered him to call him "Dad," refused to answer questions about where he came from and made him toil in the pineapple crops while subjecting him to years of physical abuse.

Osorio Cristales is willing to travel to Guatemala to testify against Lopez. He currently resides in Canada with his wife and children.

Here is part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's statement:

 “The long-awaited return of this human rights violator to his native country is hugely gratifying for the many men and women in ICE who work tirelessly to seek justice in these kinds of cases,” said ICE Deputy Director Daniel Ragsdale. “While more than three decades have passed since the Kaibiles commandos indiscriminately slaughtered dozens of innocent men, women and children, it’s a tragedy their loved ones will never forget. We owe it to them, and to all victims of war crimes and human rights abuses around the world, to use every resource at our disposal to ensure the U.S. offers no refuge for those involved in such atrocities.”

Lopez is the fourth Dos Erres massacre participant living in the U.S. to be targeted by ICE for enforcement action.

And look El Salvador, no instability. When you find an example of transitional justice causing instability, let me know.