Congressional Relations

By vouchey in News on Jul 9, 2004 12:47PM

Engagement announcements of Members of Congress rarely attract any notice. Everyone knows that Brittany's marriage plans are much more interesting, right? But U.S. Congressman Jerry Weller, who hails from the suburbs and farm land of Will and Grundy Counties, recently got engaged to Guatemalan Congresswoman Zury Rios Sosa. It's a nice story, member of House International Affairs Committee meets foreign official, late night chats over merlot and trade documents, farm boy from Illinois, daughter of bloody Guatemalan dictator...

Yep, that's right. Zury Rios Sosa is the daughter of General Efrain Rios Montt who ruled Guatemala from 1982 to 1984, during whcih hundreds of people were killed or "disappeared" by government-backed right-wing death squads.

While one could argue that the sins of the father shouldn't be visited on the daughter, Rios Sosa led numerous rallies for her father when he unsuccessfully ran for president in 2003, and since it's an election year, Weller's opponent, Democrat Tari Renner, isn't letting the issue go easily. "Why in the world would you get involved in a family like that?" he asks.