Harbury denounced the Guatemalan government at the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva in March 1996 and filed a civil-rights suit against officials in the CIA, State Department and National Security Council, according to her book.

The Organization of American States (OAS) Inter-American Commission on Human Rights found that the government of Guatemala had illegally detained, tortured and murdered Everardo, Pertierra said. As a result of the judgement, the Guatemala government is liable for damages to Harbury, he said.

The Guatemalan government has refused to accept the judgement and the case has been sent to the Inter-American Court in Costa Rica and is set for an international trial in early 1998, Pertierra said.

Lawyers working on Harbury's case have been attacked, Pertierra said. He said his own car had been a target of a fire bomb.

As Everardo's widow, Harbury can act as a special prosecutor on her husband's murder case in Guatemala, Pertierra said.

"The government of Guatemala has been adamant about refusing to accept her marriage and got a judgement from the Constitutional Court, the highest court in Guatemala, saying her marriage would not be recognized in that country," Pertierra said.

"A marriage valid in Texas is valid everywhere and the OAS made a finding that she was Everardo's wife," he noted.

Proceeds from the book will go to the Everardo Foundation, which was founded by Harbury to help implement the Guatemalan peace accords signed on Dec. 29, 1996, Pertierra said. The Guatemalan peace accords marked the close of 35 years of bloodshed in Guatemala and ended the longest civil war in Latin America.

"Money [from the book] will be used so people can start development projects in their villages," Pertierra said.

Harbury's struggle to find Everardo, as outlined in her book, also contributed to a more favorable set of accords, Pertierra said.

"This case showed the international community that the Guatemalan army needed to be purged," Pertierra said.

"[The case] has led to a reduction in the size of the army and the purge of human-rights violators in the military."

Despite Harbury's efforts and book, the Guatemalan government has not turned over Everardo's remains.

"We were told that Everardo was buried on a military base, which we have not been able to excavate," Pertierra said. "A Guatemalan government lawyer showed up [at the burial site] and stopped the exhumation because the two goons surrounding him had automatic weapons."

"If the army gives up Everardo's remains, it will show he was brutally tortured and that would be embarrassing to the army," Pertierra said.