César Montenegro Paniagua

Who was César Montenegro Paniagua?

César Montenegro Paniagua was a communist Guatemalan politician, who was assassinated on April 7, 1970.

Montenegro was born into one of Guatemala's largest and most influential families and was one of twelve children. His father was a successful army general while his mother was a home maker. He graduated as a teacher but quickly became involved in politics and enthralled with the inequality and poverty in Guatemala. He became involved in Guatemala's first Socialist party and quickly became a syndicalist.

In 1945, Montenegro married hotelier and socialite Maria Dolores Vega Correu, with whom he had three children, Maria Teresa, Francisco and Domingo Rafael.

Montenegro served as a member of parliament during the presidency of Guatemala's freely-elected, socialist-leaning president Jacobo Arbenz, who was overthrown by a small group of Guatemalans backed by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA codename for the coup was Operation PBSUCCESS, its second successful overthrow of a foreign government. During the coup, Montenegro and his family escaped into the Mexican Embassy where they claimed political refuge and went into exile.

After his return to Guatemala with his family, César Montenegro was kidnapped, tortured and murdered during Julio César Méndez's presidency, and it is rumored the assassination was undertaken with presidential sanction. Méndez was his first cousin and did not attend the funeral however he did send a funeral wreath.