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Much of the killing is linked to Mejía's success against the insurgents. The army claims to have nearly eliminated guerrilla strongholds in the northern highlands, reducing the armed resistance to 3,000 men. But Mejía's methods have come under fire from human rights groups. In a 260-page report, Manhattan-based Americas Watch, a controversial group that is often accused of being too sympathetic to the left, called Guatemala "a nation of prisoners." One of its targets was a government plan that moved some 10,000 Indians into well-guarded compounds. The Guatemalan army notes that its security is designed to keep rebels out, not peasants in. "What they call a concentration camp," says Lieut. Colonel Edgar Dominguez, "we call a model village."
Mejía's mixed record has caused problems for the U.S. When an army patrol shot and killed a U.S.-employed linguist and three companions in February 1983, Ambassador Frederic L. Chapin asked Mejía, who was then Ríos Montt's Defense Minister, for an explanation. But none of Mejía's responses were satisfactory. Then in November two more linguists working on a U.S. AID program were found burned to death on a rural highway. The Guatemalan government called it a highway accident, but the U.S. embassy suspected that some members of government security forces, who routinely consider educators to be radicals, were responsible. Chapin will leave his post by the end of this month; his colleagues say that he has long felt frustrated and ineffective in his dealings with Mejía.
The latest State Department report holds Guatemala's security forces responsible for some of the arbitrary deaths and disappearances; it also accuses them of torturing suspects. Nonetheless, the Reagan Administration last month approved the sale of helicopter parts worth $6.4 million to the Guatemalan army, even though Congress last November voted to continue denying military aid to Guatemala because of human rights violations.
Mejía has promised to hold elections for a new constituent assembly in July, to be followed by presidential elections in July 1985. But some Guate-"malans doubt Mejía's commitment to democracy. He has fragmented an already weak opposition by allowing minor civic committees to compete with existing political parties. He also abolished the Council of State, a relatively ineffectual body that had the merit of including representatives of the country's 4.7 million Indians. Says Christian Democratic Leader Vinicio Cerezo Arévalo: "The military can accept the democratic process, but not the loss of power."
Meanwhile, Mejía imposed early retirement on all army officers who had served in the high command in previous governments or been out of active duty for more than five years. In one stroke, he reduced any potential challenge from ten generals and 25 colonels. If nothing else, Mejía is determined to avoid leaving office the same way he entered. —By Laura Lopez.
Reported by John Burnett and David DeVoss/ Guatemala City