"The Guatemalan police were eager to have you."

The Guatemalan police don't think so.

The hotel clerk who found the body notified Guatemalan police and United States Embassy personnel immediately.

Mr. Rodil's message to Congress is that the Guatemalan police are so poorly trained they cannot investigate crimes or produce evidence that holds up in court.

At the time, the Guatemalan police ruled the death a suicide by machete stabbing, and the American Embassy, after its own investigation, accepted the ruling.

After several weeks passed without a call from the alleged kidnappers, the case was turned over to the Guatemalan police.

The Embassy's version of the circumstances of his death was based on a report prepared by the Guatemalan police, characterized by State Department officials as "well trained and professional."

"And the Guatemalan police will be eternally grateful."

For the first time, the Guatemalan police are being instructed in basic investigative techniques such as the use of fingerprints.

By the 1970s, violent confrontations with the Guatemalan police were common.