Word: guatemala
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...attempts have occurred in Latin America. All the victims but Von Spreti were freed, most after as many as 20 political prisoners had been released. But nobody is likely to forget Von Spreti's fate-or how U.S. Ambassador John Gordon Mein was gunned down on a Guatemala City street nearly two years ago as he tried to escape an ambush. Indeed, even as Guatemalans were searching for Von Spreti, U.S. Consul Curtis C. Cutter barely escaped from a similar bushwhacking in Porto Alegre, Brazil. When four masked men blocked his station wagon with a Volkswagen, Cutter gunned...
Painful Questions. The death of Von Spreti raised painful questions. Why had the Guatemalan government refused to negotiate his release? It had done so for Foreign Minister Alberto Fuentes Mohr and U.S. Labor Attache Sean M. Holly. The Von Spreti case was unfortunately complicated by Guatemala's domestic politics. A strong law-and-order current is running in the country; it swept hard-nosed Colonel Carlos Arana Osorio into the presidency last month and he vigorously opposes further concessions to kidnapers...
...request for help, Washington had the CIA contact the guerrillas, to no avail. Still, there was a feeling that more pressure should have been used by the one country in a position to use it. "Only two forces could have saved Spreti," said a West German official. "The Guatemala government didn't want to and the American government was not inclined...
Grisly Solution. The death of Von Spreti pushed the Washington visit of Chancellor Willy Brandt off front pages in West Germany. Foreign Minister Walter Scheel flew to Guatemala City to escort Von Spreti's body back to Germany. Germans argued over breaking relations with Guatemala and refusing to drink its coffee...
There are reports that Guatemala is trying to solve the problem in a grislier way. Some of the political prisoners demanded in exchange for Von Spreti are reported to have been killed in "prison riots." Some Latin Americans speculate that such disturbances will continue until all 22 are dead...