Former Guatemalan dictator could face genocide trial Hearings are underway in Guatemala to decide whether former dictator Efrain Rios Montt should be tried for genocide against indigenous communities during the 1960-96 civil war. The prosecution claims Rios Montt, who governed the country with an iron fist for 18 months in 1982-83, is responsible for the deaths of 1,770 Ixil indigenous people in the northern region of Quiché during his rule. Images.