The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org. May 9, 2013 Closing Arguments Held in Genocide Trial of Former Guatemalan Dictator Efraín Ríos Montt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Closing arguments are underway in Guatemala's historic trial of former U.S.-backed dictator Efraín Ríos Montt. The first head of state in the Americas to stand trial for genocide, Ríos Montt is charged with overseeing the slaughter of more than 1,700 people in Guatemala’s Ixil region after he seized power in 1982. On Wednesday, prosecutors asked for Ríos Montt to be sentenced to 75 years in prison. Defense lawyers are expected to give closing arguments today. We'll have more from Guatemala with journalist Allan Nairn later in the broadcast. .