BONN: The West German Government today [April 6] “froze” relations with Guatemala following last night’s assassination of West Germany’s Ambassador to that country, Karl Von Spreti, by his kidnappers, Foreign Minister Walter Scheel announced here.

Mr Scheel said at a news conference that the Charge d’Affaires in the West German Embassy in Guatemala City had been recalled home. He said it was possible today’s decision could lead to complete breakdown in relations between the two countries and withdrawal of all German diplomatic staff from Guatemala…

The West German Ambassador, kidnapped last Wednesday by revolutionaries who demanded the release of a number of jailed revolutionaries as a ransom, was shot dead in a village outside Guatemala city during the night after the Government had refused to meet conditions laid down for his release… The body of the 62-year-old German nobleman… was found late last night in an abandoned house on the northern outskirts of the capital after an anonymous telephone call.

He was the second Ambassador to die in Guatemala — one of the Latin American countries where kidnapping of diplomats to force governments into political concessions has become increasingly frequent.

Published in Dawn, April 7th, 2020