Jorge Carpio Nicolle

Who was Jorge Carpio Nicolle?

Jorge Carpio Nicolle was a prominent Guatemalan politician and newspaper publisher. He was the founder of the Unión del Centro Nacional in 1984, and ran as the party's candidate for president in the elections of 1985 and 1990. He came in second in both elections. He was the founder, director and editor of El Gráfico, at one time one of Guatemala's largest newspapers. He also founded La Tarde, El Deportivo, La Razón, and other newspapers during his career. He also served as Guatemala's Ambassador to the United Nations, and formed part of the commission on human rights He was assassinated on July 3, 1993, along with three other political leaders of the UCN, in the municipality of Chichicastenango, El Quiché. Surviving witnesses reported that the murders took place after the group was intercepted by members of a Guatemalan Civil Defense Patrol, a type of paramilitary unit under the control of the Army. According to his widow, Marta Arrivillaga de Carpio, who was with Carpio and the others during the attack, the party's minivan was stopped by a group of armed men in ski masks. The assailants said "You're Jorge Carpio" and then shot him three times. The other victims of the attack were Juan Vicente Villacorta, Alejandro Ávila Guzmán, and Rigoberto Rivas González.