OTTAWA — A judge has approved a federal bid to revoke the Canadian citizenship of a former member of the Guatemalan military who took part in the murder of villagers.

In a ruling today, Federal Court Justice Roger Lafrenière says Jorge Vinicio Sosa Orantes deceived Canadian immigration officials throughout the permanent residence application process and obtained his Canadian citizenship by fraud.

The federal government went to court in 2017 seeking declarations that would effectively strip Sosa of his citizenship and make him inadmissible to Canada.

Canada said Sosa was a senior member of a military special forces group that led a mission to the Guatemalan village of Las Dos Erres in 1982 to interrogate residents about some missing rifles.

Lafrenière found that Sosa murdered villagers by throwing a grenade into a well full of people, and that he abetted the killing of others by his subordinates.

The judge rejected Sosa’s claim he was not present at the time, saying the uncontradicted documentary and oral evidence clearly proves Sosa was one of the officers in command of the operation.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 5, 2026.

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press