Bishop Gerardi was found dead several hours later. Robbery is not considered a possible motive as several items of value remained on his person. The Guatemalan Catholic Church has stated that the assassination of Bishop Gerardi is a severe blow to the peace process and demanded that the government of President Alvaro Arzu give a full accounting of the murder within 72 hours. The murder of Bishop Gerardi brought widespread condemnation from Guatemalan civil society leaders and human rights organizations.
Impunity continues and murderers still walk the streets freely and act when they want.
Call your local newspapers, and radio and tv stations and ask to speak to the editor for international news. Urge the editor to run any wire stories they receive about this attack. If your Representative or Senators have not signed onto this bill, urge them to do so now. Tell them that declassifying U.S. government documents is one of the most important things they can do to help end the culture of impunity in Guatemala. Tell the President to declassify all human rights documents immediately.