Three other people were shot and killed in Jutiapa and Izabal provinces. Popular leaders have long charged that the army and security forces protect their members by helping them escape. Serrano Extradition Request Fails Panama, August 25. The Guatemalan government has nearly exhausted its options to have former president Jorge Serrano extradited from Panama to face charges of ursuption of power and embezzlement. The outgoing Panamanian president Guillermo Endara denied the extradition request and ratified Serrano's political asylum status.
Grassroots organizations are disappointed the extradition request failed.
President Ramiro De Leon rejected demands to cut off diplomatic ties with Panama. In May 1993 then president Jorge Serrano assumed dictatorial powers to clamp down on rising unrest and to preempt charges of corruption the Congress was intending to lay against him. But this attempt to stay in power failed and a week later Serrano fled to Panama after the army dropped its support for him. President from 1990 to 1993, Serrano's administration was criticized for failing to prevent a rise in human rights violations and allowing impunity to continue. For the moment Serrano is safe from the Guatemalan government and population.