Francisco Goldman, author of the book "The Art of Political Murder, who killed the bishop?" is interviewed about his book discussing the murder of Bishop Juan Gerardi Conadera on Democracy Now! This book has caused great interest, not to say controversy, in Guatemala as it alleges that one of the presidential candidates, Otto Perez Molina, was directly involved in the murder of Bishop Juan Gerardi. Goldman has spent years researching the murder of Bishop Gerardi, which occured two days after he had released the report "Guatemala: Nunca Mas!". This brought together years of patient gathering of testimonies by the Archbishop's Human Rights Office into what had happened during the internal armed conflict.

The legal machinations that followed the murder would tax anyone's understanding and patience, and had all the usual hallmarks of human rights cases in Guatemala: cover up, an infinite series of litigious prevarications, bizarre elements such as the arrest of the Bishop's dog and a dose of intimidation and murder thrown in. Three military officers, one from the former Estado Mayor Presidencial, and a priest, were eventually convicted of the murder and imprisoned, but this being Guatemala there were always rumours that they were the just fall guys. For some very interesting and highly topical new information on the case Goldman's interview is recommended.  Access it from the link above: you need to look at the transmission for 31 October, which will be on the front page for a few days, after which it will be available in their archive. It lasts about 15 minutes and starts about 45 minutes into the transmission.

An excerpt from the book also appears on the New Times website

This is the first non-fiction book by Goldman. He has written three other novels: the excellent "The Long Night of the White Chickens", which tells the story of a young man's search to find out the truth behind the murder of his former maid in Guatemala; the equally excellent "The Ordinary Seaman", about a group of Central Americans who are tricked into becoming crew on a ship that is going nowhere, but sits rotting in a harbour in Brooklyn; his third novel, "The Divine Husband", also set in Guatemala I can't comment on as I haven't read it yet.

Watch this space for a review of "The Art of Political Murder"!