Guatemala, Oct 10: Efrain Rios Montt has launched a fierce battle for the presidency after twice being banned from Guatemala's highest office as a one-time coup leader and dictator. The 77-year-old former general is a favorite target of human rights groups who said that under his dictatorship entire villages of native peoples were razed and burned.

However, it is his right-wing Guatemalan Republican Front that is catching fire among Guatemalans who see him as a firm hand who can restore order in this central American country.

Rios Montt had previously been blocked from running by a constitutional clause, written with him in mind, which excluded former coup leaders from the presidency. However, a series of court cases won him permission to stand for the November 9 election. His FRG Party had been in power long enough to have its own Supreme Court judges who saw things his way.

For good measure, Rios Montt threatened violence if he were not allowed to run. His threats were accompanied by riots of hooded armed thugs who attacked reporters and anti-Rios Montt demonstrators.

They also held captive an entire office building in the capital. Three people died and President Alfonso Portillo deployed soldiers on the streets of the capital. Earlier this year, the court found that since Montt's 1982-1983 rein of terror predated the 1985 Constitution, the provision could not be applied retroactively. Since then, Rios Montt has multiplied his public appearances.

Bureau Report