Nations Close In On Guatemalan Massacre Suspects

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nearly 30 years after an elite Guatemalan military force raped and slaughtered residents of a tiny village, U.S. and Canadian authorities are closing in on some of the alleged perpetrators.

The arrest of four ex-soldiers in a little more than a year has raised hopes among advocates of victims' relatives that at least one suspect might stand trial for the killings.

Jorge Sosa Orantes was arrested in January in Canada on U.S. charges of lying on his citizenship application about his ties to the Guatemalan military. He faces U.S. charges of immigration violations -- but not for allegedly carrying out the 1982 massacre in the village of Dos Erres.

Activists in Canada, where he is jailed, want him tried for crimes against humanity, noting the case languished in Guatemalan courts.

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