Kidnaping of Menchu’s Nephew Reported Fake
Police arrested a sister and brother-in-law of Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu on Thursday and charged them with faking the kidnaping of their own 22-month-old son.
“We needed money, but we knew Rigoberta would never give us any, so we decided to say the child was kidnaped and ask for ransom money,” Menchu’s sister, Cristina Menchu, told reporters after her arrest.
The child, Carlos Velasquez Menchu, was reportedly kidnaped this month by two unidentified gunmen outside Menchu’s Guatemala City home. Menchu had said the crime was politically motivated because of her role in fighting human rights abuses in Guatemala.
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