Luis Echeverria

Echeverria, first as interior secretary in the 1960s and as president from 1970-76, allegedly fought a decadelong counterinsurgency campaign against the student pro-democracy movement, as well as small and violent leftist guerrilla groups.

Special prosecutor Ignacio Carrillo, following a two-year investigation, claimed that dozens of students died in clashes with pro-government thugs in the "Corpus Christi massacre" on June 10, 1972, but defense lawyer Juan Velazquez claimed only about 11 people were killed.

Velazquez said charges of genocide aren't applicable because of a 30-year statute of limitations -- a claim that Carrillo rejected.

Prosecutors said they would appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.

The case against Echeverria has threatened to create a crisis in President Vicente Fox's troubled relationship with Congress. Echeverria's Institutional Revolutionary Party holds the largest bloc of seats and could stop cooperating with Fox if the charges go through.

The Japan Times Weekly: July 31, 2004
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