Canada to revoke citizenship of Guatemala suspect

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Ont. (AA) – Canada is in the process of revoking the citizenship of a man who allegedly slaughtered villagers in Guatemala in the 1980s, Canadian media reported Monday.

In court documents, the government accuses Jorge Vinicio Sosa Orantes of hiding his participation in a 1982 massacre by the Guatemalan military when he applied for Canadian citizenship in the early 1990s, Global News reported.

Sosa Orantes, who is serving a 10-year sentence for immigration fraud in the U.S., was also a United States citizen until that status was revoked in 2014, the Toronto Star newspaper reported.

The 59-year-old was arrested in 2011 in Canada. He was extradited to California and prosecuted for lying about his role in the massacre in which he is alleged to have used a grenade, gun and sledgehammer on villagers during Guatemala’s civil war, according to The Associated Press.

When he sought asylum in the U.S. in 1985, Sosa Orantes claimed he was fleeing from guerrillas in Guatemala.

His role in the slaughter went unheeded by authorities for years, even though 17 arrest warrants were issued by Guatemala, but in 2009 the American Court of Human Rights insisted he be prosecuted.

Sosa denies he was in Las Dos Erres when the massacre occurred.