Page "History of Guatemala" Paragraph 49

Ríos Montt was by this time a lay pastor in the evangelical Protestant Church of the Word.

In his inaugural address, he stated that his presidency resulted from the will of God.

He was widely perceived as having strong backing from the Reagan administration in the United States.

He formed a three-member military junta that annulled the 1965 constitution, dissolved Congress, suspended political parties and canceled the electoral law.

After a few months, Ríos Montt dismissed his junta colleagues and assumed the de facto title of " President of the Republic ".