On March 10 Rigoberta Menchú Tum, the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize winner, gave an emotional testimony in court
recounting the racial harassment she experienced in Guatemala due to her indigenous
heritage. The trial marks the first racial discrimination case heard in the Guatemalan
court system. Menchú Tum has charged five members of the Guatemalan Republican
Front with verbally attacking her on October 9, 2003, during a public hearing
opposing the presidential candidacy of General Efrain Ríos Montt. Menchu
Tum alleges Juan Carlos Ríos, Ana Cristina López Kestler, Elvia
Domitila Morales de López, Vilma Orellana Ruano, and Enma Concepción
Samayoa de Rosales racially insulted her with slurs such a “dirty Indian” and “shameless
Indian.”
