From Preacher to Paratrooper

By James Kelly

The army gives up on Rios Monti's born-again leadership

His downfall surprised no one except perhaps himself. Rumors of plots to oust him had circulated so often during the 16-month rule of Guatemalan President Efrain Rios Montt that observers lost count of the actual attempts. Had there been seven? Eight? Ten? Whatever the tally, last week's coup turned out to be for keeps. After a brief gun duel outside the National Palace in Guatemala City, the country's military leaders toppled Rios Montt and replaced him with Defense Minister Oscar Humberto Mejia Victores.

The change, at least initially, is likely to be more of style than substance. A born-again Christian and onetime Sunday-school teacher, Rios Montt, 56, had displayed a penchant for proselytizing his Roman Catholic country of 7.9 million. In Mejia, 52, the nation has a no-nonsense paratrooper and a Roman Catholic who is not likely to mix politics and evangelism. Though the Reagan Administration had supported Rios Montt's reforms, Washington withheld judgment. Said a State Department official: "We hope Mejia will continue the same programs."

When Rios Montt joined the coup that overthrew the government of General Fernando Romeo Lucas Garcia in March 1982, he made for a refreshing change. Rios Montt reduced corruption and abolished many of the government-sanctioned death squads that had haunted the country. Though his tactics cost the lives of thousands of innocent Guatemalans, the new leader succeeded in subduing a threat by 4,000 leftist guerrillas last year.

Rios Montt made his first serious mistake only three months after he came to power, when he tossed out his two junta partners and declared himself President. He imposed a 10% sales tax that angered the country's businessmen. Wealthy landowners believed, mistakenly as it turned out, that the government planned to launch a land-reform program. Veteran military leaders resented Rios Montt's reliance on younger officers.

But Rios Montt's cardinal sin was being aggressively Protestant in a Catholic country. A member of a California-based sect called the Christian Church of the Word, he appointed two church elders as his principal advisers. He could also be petty: when Pope John Paul II toured the country last March, Rios Montt refused to provide government funds for a specially built car for the Pontiff.

Until June, the occasional coup attempt originated with two fringe groups: friends of the deposed Lucas Garcia or supporters of the right-wing politician Leonel Sisniega Otero. On June 28, however, senior military commanders met with Rios Montt and demanded that he fire his religious aides, disband an advisory group of young officers and set a date for early elections. The President pacified them by agreeing to fire the junior officers, but the effect was fleeting.

On Aug. 6, virtually all of the commanders of the country's armed forces gathered at the Guatemala City barracks of the Guardia de Honor, an elite army garrison. There were impassioned arguments for and against ousting Rios Montt, but gradually the plotters won. The decisive factor: the news that Sisniega Otero was once again planning to move against Rios Montt. Explains a Guatemalan journalist: "The ghost of another coup from the extreme right provoked this coup."

On the morning of Aug. 8, the commanders again assembled at the Guardia de Honor barracks. Rios Montt was asked to stop by. When the President entered the hall, he got the bad news: resign or be ousted. Rios Montt listened and argued for 20 minutes, then agreed to quit. All he wanted to do, he told the officers, was return to the presidential mansion to tidy up his affairs.

As soon as Rios Montt arrived at his office, however, he began calling army and security force units he thought were still loyal to him. The rebellious officers decided to be more persuasive. Planes and helicopters buzzed the presidential palace. Soldiers surrounding the building exchanged gunfire with members of Rios Montt's 1,000-man presidential guard. After a stalemate of about two hours, Rios Montt realized his cause was lost and surrendered his post. He is now likely to be allowed to remain on the army rolls, collecting full pay until he is eligible for retirement. The conservative official toll of the coup: two civilians and one soldier dead, as well as 16 wounded.

In a soothing speech to the nation, Mejia pledged a swift return to "social, economic and political democracy." Besides lifting the "state of alarm" imposed last June that curtailed political activities, Mejia abolished Rios Montt's controversial military tribunals and hinted that the elections might be moved up. Mejia informed intimates that the U.S. had been advised of the coup ahead of time and had "no objection." U.S. officials admit that they had heard rumors of an ouster, but they also insist the word had gone out that such an attempt would be "unhelpful."

An intense, sometimes abrasive, conservative whose career as a military instructor earned him the nickname "the Scholar," Mejia is viewed by many Guatemalans as a figurehead who may allow the generals to resume their corrupt ways. To ensure that elections are indeed held soon, political party leaders plan to ask Mejia to take voter registration away from the army and put it under civilian control. Thus a battle for the future of Guatemala is brewing anew. If Mejia cannot overcome the divisions within the military and be his own man, he may become what Ramiro Pellecer, the acting archbishop of Guatemala, called Rios Montt last week: "Another accident in the history of Guatemala." --By James Kelly. Reported by James Willwerth/Guatemala City

With reporting by James Willwerth This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.