Rogelia Cruz Martínez (31 August 1941 – 11 January 1968) was a Guatemalan

beauty queen A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

and left-wing political activist. After she won the 1958

Miss Guatemala The Miss Guatemala of Miss Guatemala Universo is a national Beauty pageant in Guatemala. The pageant was founded in 1955, where the winners were sent to Miss Universe. History Miss Guatemala was founded in 1955 and sent its first winner to rep ...

title, she joined the

Guatemalan Party of Labour The Guatemalan Labour Party (''Partido Guatemalteco del Trabajo'') was a communist party in Guatemala. It existed from 1949 to 1998. It gained prominence during the government of Jacobo Arbenz. It was one of the main forces of opposition to the ...

and became romantically involved with its leader,

Leonardo Castillo Johnson Leonardo is a masculine given name, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese equivalent of the English, German, and Dutch name, Leonard. People Notable people with the name include: * Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), Italian Renaissance scientist ...

. She was ultimately kidnapped and murdered for her association with the party and Johnson.

Biography

Early life and pageantry

Cruz was born into a middle-class family in

Guatemala City Guatemala City ( es, Ciudad de Guatemala), known locally as Guatemala or Guate, is the capital and largest city of Guatemala, and the most populous urban area in Central America. The city is located in the south-central part of the country, ne ...

on 31 August 1941, the daughter of Miguel Ángel Cruz Franco and Blanca Martínez Flores. While born in the Guatemalan capital, her family was originally from

Chiquimula Chiquimula is a city in Guatemala. It is the capital of the department of Chiquimula and the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. It is located some 174 km from Guatemala City and within Guatemala known as "La p ...

. As a young adult, attended the Instituto Normal Central para Señoritas Belén, a secondary school that specializes in training future teachers, and went onto study

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

at the

Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala The Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC, ''University of San Carlos of Guatemala'') is the largest and oldest university of Guatemala; it is also the fourth founded in the Americas. Established in the Kingdom of Guatemala during the Spani ...

. It was during her time at university that she won the

pageant. She went onto compete in the

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stre ...

pageant in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

the following year in 1959, but ultimately lost the title to

Akiko Kojima is a Japanese model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 1959, making her the first Japanese and Asian woman to win the title. Biography Kojima was a 22-year-old model from Tokyo, Japan when she bested four other finalists from Nor ...

of Japan. Following her success in pageantry, in 1962, Cruz joined a guerrilla front and, in 1965, she was arrested for storing weapons at her family's farm. After being released from prison, she joined the Juventud Patriotica del Trabajo (JPT) and became romantically involved with Leonardo Castillo Johnson, the leader of the

Partido Guatemalteco del Trabajo The Guatemalan Labour Party (''Partido Guatemalteco del Trabajo'') was a communist party in Guatemala. It existed from 1949 to 1998. It gained prominence during the government of Jacobo Arbenz. It was one of the main forces of opposition to the ...

(PGT).

Murder

Cruz was arrested following a

traffic violation A moving violation is any violation of the law committed by the driver of a vehicle while it is in motion. The term "motion" distinguishes it from other motor vehicle violations, such as paperwork violations (which include violations involving a ...

but was released after the PGT and Fuerzas Armadas Rebeldes (FAR) made threats towards the judge presiding over her case. Shortly after her release, she was kidnapped and then, on 11 January 1968, her body was found, naked, with signs of

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. definitions of tortur ...

and sexual assault, at the foot of a bridge near

Escuintla Escuintla () is an industrial city in Guatemala, its land extension is 4384 km², and it is nationally known for its sugar agribusiness. Its capital is a minicipality with the same name. Citizens celebrate from December 6 to 9 with a small fair ...

. It is believed her relationship with Castillo Johnson was the cause for her murder.

Aftermath

In retaliation for her murder, the PGT attacked US military personnel, killing two men and wounding a third, and the Guatemalan military subsequently assassinated Castillo Johnson in response.

References

1940 births 1968 deaths Guatemalan activists Guatemalan murder victims Miss Guatemala winners Miss Universe 1959 contestants People murdered in Guatemala Place of birth missing Violence against women in Guatemala {{Guatemala-bio-stub