13 February 2010

Rogelia Cruz Martinez, a Miss Guatemala who was brutally murdered and raped by the government

Rogelia Cruz Martinez, Miss Guatemala 1958 who competed in Miss Universe 1959, was believed to have been murdered by the Guatemalan government, by a paramilitary death squad, when she was 27. She was a left-wing activist for Juventud Patriotica del Trabajo (JPT) party. The death was 8 years after she competed in Miss Universe.


Her naked body was found under a bridge in Central Guatemala. She was believed to have been brutally tortured and raped. Her death was caused by her association with her boyfriend, Leonardo Castillo Johnson, the commander of Guatemalan Labour Party.

She was originally arrested for a traffic violation, but was released due to threats made by the PGT and the Fuerzas Armadas Rebeldes (FAR) on the judge presiding over the case.

In December 1967, she was kidnapped and disappeared until her corpse was found January 11, 1968.

Her boyfriend Johnson retaliated by attacking a group of US military personnel, killing two and wounding a third. The Guatemalan military responded by assassinating Johnson.

The president at that time, Julio Cesar Montenegro, ordered an immediate investigation but until today, the case was never resolved.

You may rest in peace, Rogelia.


 

 

SOURCE: Wikipedia and Critical Beauty

4 comments:

  1. That sucks to go out like that :(

    RIP Rogelia Cruz

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  2. Rogelia wasn't nicaraguan, She was Guatemalan, as were the troops that gang raped, maimed and strangled her. She was a member of the Fuerzas Armadas Rebeldes, a Guatemalan resistance organization and her death came on the heels of the FAR's declaration of war against the Guatemalan government. Her boyfriend, Leonardo Castillo Johnson (Nayito)was a prominent leader in the Guatemalan resistance movement as well. He was killed in a battle with U.S. military officers in Guatemala City shortly after her death.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rogelia Cruz era ciento por ciento de Guatemala, por favor corrijan la informacion porque ella nunca tuvo nada que ver con Nicaragua, gracias,

    ReplyDelete
  4. Rogelia Cruz Martinez was GUATEMALAN, represented GUATEMALA in the 1959 Miss Universe contest. Please correct your blog.
    Thank you,
    Ethel

    ReplyDelete