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The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed the Bishop? |  | Author: Francisco Goldman
Publisher: Grove Press
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
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Rating:  20 reviews
Sales Rank: 192895
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Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Pages: 416
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.2
Dewey Decimal Number: 972
ASIN: B00375LNA6
Publication Date: September 1, 2008
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Product Description
Bishop Juan Gerardi, Guatemalaâs leading human rights activist, was bludgeoned to death in his garage on a Sunday night in 1998, two days after the presentation of a groundbreaking church-sponsored report implicating the military in the murders and disappearances of some two hundred thousand civilians. Realizing that it could not rely on police investigators or the legal system to solve the murder, the church formed its own investigative team, a group of secular young men in their twenties who called themselves Los Intocables (the Untouchables). Known in Guatemala as âThe Crime of the Century,â the Bishop Gerardi murder case, with its unexpectedly outlandish scenarios and sensational developments, confounded observers and generated extraordinary controversy. In his first nonfiction book, acclaimed novelist Francisco Goldman has spoken to witnesses no other reporter has reached, and observed firsthand some of the most crucial developments in the case. Now he has produced The Art of Political Murder, a tense and astonishing true detective story that opens a window on the new Latin American reality of mara youth gangs and organized crime, and tells the story of a remarkable group of engaging, courageous young people, and of their remarkable fight for justice.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 20
 If you read one piece of non-fiction this year.... September 30, 2007
J. Simon (DC)
43 out of 48 found this review helpful
read Frank Goldman's book, The Art of Political Murder. Even if you are not interested in Central American politics, this is still a page turner. Unlike scores of other journalists who parachuted into Central America over the past 25 years to get the scoop and then go on to the next newsworthy story somewhere else, Frank Goldman's seven-year quest for the truth behind the murder of Guatemalan Archbishop Gerardi deserves kudos for its indefatigable research as well as his ability to spin a yarn, albeit one that sadly is true, that one simply cannot put down. And even those well-versed in the brutality of Guatemala's history of military rule -- whether by decree or by civilian proxy -- will be riveted by the seamless tale that Frank Goldman expertly tells. Read it and weep.
Timely, Taut, and Terrific October 22, 2007
David Corbett
31 out of 37 found this review helpful
Francisco Goldman has written a brilliant non-fiction account of the 1998 murder of Bishop Juan Gerardi and the ensuing investigation and trial of the persons responsible for the crime: a conservative closeted homosexual priest who was sharing the parish house with the bishop, and several military officers with the Presidential Military Staff (Estado Mayor Presidencial--EMP) who are also linked to organized crime.
At the heart of Goldman's story is the account of how a group of human rights investigators, lawyers, prosecutors and judges, a small circle of whom jokingly referred to themselves as Los Intocables--The Untouchables-- pursued justice despite the onslaught of violence, threats, slander and condemnation hurled at them from virtually every direction: the military, politicians, defense lawyers, the press, even respected Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa. One lost his brother to an unspeakably vicious death. Several had their homes bombed, or were forced into exile when military thugs followed their children to school to let them know how easy it would be to kill them. All endured countless death threats that they never disclosed to Goldman personally, out of an intrinsic sense of honor (he learned of the threats from other investigators, or by reading documents related to the case). But these people were true believers that justice had to be done, despite the cynicism of most of their countrymen. The story of that courage, plus the marvelous depictions of the inimitable characters involved, from ex-army street hustlers to inhabitants of Guatemala's gay demimonde, as well as an informed and daunting portrait of where Guatemala stands today--a country where criminal mafias led by military chieftains vie for control of the insanely lucrative narcotics, human trafficking, car theft and kidnapping rackets, and where "the line between crime and politics can be so fine as to not even exist"--and a clear-eyed analysis of the "schizophrenic" role of the United States in both some of the most galling and the most inspiring episodes in that country's recent history, make this a book that is simply too good to miss.
It also couldn't be more timely. It was hoped that continuing investigation would pursue other officers believed to be linked to the murder, including General Otto Pérez Molina--now a candidate for president of Guatemala, who is facing center-left businessman Álvaro Colom in a runoff scheduled for November 4th. If he is elected, as is expected--the general has received a baffling nod of approval from our own embassy, due to his impeccable anti-Chávez credentials (better a killer and a narco than a leftist, one assumes)--this path to justice will get closed for good, unless the U.N. Commission for the Investigation of Illegal Bodies and Clandestine Security Apparatus (CICIACS) enters the fray with the authority it deserves.
All of which is detailed in this terific book. Buy it, read it, talk about it, share it.
an outstanding book February 21, 2008
Daniel Wilkinson
8 out of 12 found this review helpful
I'm surprised by David Stoll's review of Goldman's book. I had a very different reaction when I read it. Like both Stoll and Goldman, I have lived in Guatemala and written about the history and impact of political violence in the country. In addition, as a human rights lawyer, I have worked with prosecutors, rights advocates, and victims in countries throughout the region as they've struggled to ensure that cases like the Gerardi assassination do not end in impunity.
Knowing first-hand the complexities of such cases, I found that Goldman did a masterful job of sifting through the evidence in the Gerardi case and reaching conclusions that were entirely judicious, sober, and convincing. Part of what makes the book so fascinating, in fact, is Goldman's very careful exploration of the limits and strengths of the case put together by the prosecutors and the Archbishop's Office--the contradictory testimonies, the dubious witnesses, etc. And what makes the book such a gripping read is how Goldman, a phenomenal storyteller, narrates the inevitably imperfect but remarkably audacious effort by a group of young lawyers to do something that most of their countrymen thought entirely impossible at the time--bring high level military officers to justice.
This is easily one of the best books written about political violence in Latin America in the past several decades.
The Heart out of Guatemala April 10, 2008
James Flynn (Park City, UT)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I've been to Guatemala many times before and since Bishop Juan Gerardi's murder, and Francisco Goldman electrifies readers of "The Art of Political Murder" about one famous Guatemalan murder among thousands of others. His title using "the art" is so well chosen, since that word expresses so well the clever yet insidious minds who designed his murder. Despite those clever designers and their plots to hide their crime, and at the same time because of the courage of many Guatemalans in pursuing those murderers, some element of justice has been meted out to them.
I found Goldman's chronicle of the assassination of Bishop Gerardi to be so engaging that it encourages a reading almost without stopping.
Why Bill Clinton apologized. May 9, 2010
Gregory Bascom (San Jose Costa Rica)
This review is for the Grove Press hardcover first edition, January 1, 2007, 357 pages of narrative plus appendices. THE ART OF POLITICAL MURDER is not listed on the USA Today's Top 150 Best-Selling books.
This book details the murder of Bishop Juan Gerardi in Guatemala in April 1998 and the ensuing nine years of investigation and prosecution of persons complicit in the killing. The author, a journalist born in Guatemala but working in New York, also wrote three novels. THE ART OF POLITICAL MURDER reads like, and is as engaging as, a mystery thriller. But the characters, plot, twists, intrigues and horrors were provided by the Guatemalan oligarchy, not the author's imagination.
The bishop's murder appears to be in retaliation for the publication of the REMHI report, the result of the Archdiocese survey of atrocities committed by the Guatemalan Army during the 36 years of internal war. But a smokescreen of alternative motives emerges along with the intimidation of witnesses, lawyers, prosecutors and judges, forcing many of them to flee the country.
Goldman weaves an easily understandable narrative and structure for the nearly 200 named players in these intrigues. For easy reference, appendices provide a list of the primary persons involved, a timeline, the author's sources and notes and an index with page references for all individuals mentioned.
THE ART OF POLITICAL MURDER vividly portrays army officers accustomed to impunity, judicial officials fearful for their families and the terrified, street-smart indigents who know what really happened to the bishop. In relating the arrogance and fears of the adversaries, Goldman enlightens us on the long conflict between the wealthy Guatemalan oligarchy and most everyone else in a country where the army directly or indirectly controlled the government for decades. As a bonus, read this book to understand why President Bill Clinton, in February 1999, apologized to the Guatemalan people for the United States having supported the Guatemalan Army during the past fifty years.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 20
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