Ex-militiaman arrested in Guatemala in war crimes case

Francisco Cuxum Alvarado is alleged to have taken part in crimes against women between 1981 and 1985

People cross Suchiate river on rafts, between Mexico and Guatemala, as seen from Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares

A former member of Guatemala's paramilitary community patrols was arrested Wednesday on charges of crimes against humanity, after he was deported from the US.

Francisco Cuxum Alvarado allegedly took part in mass rapes of indigenous women between 1981 and 1985, during the country's 36-year civil war.

He was a member of a militia that helped government troops to violently remove, rape and massacre Maya Achi people from the Rio Negro area.

Cuxum Alvarado, 64, was found in Waltham, Massachusetts, in 2018 working as a landscaper.

He was sentenced to six months in prison for illegal re-entry into the US.