This American Life on Guatemalan Genocide

[Judi Lynn]

This American Life on Guatemalan Genocide

Washington's role is a story not worth telling

By Keane Bhatt

On the evening of December 4, 1982, President Ronald Reagan informed reporters assembled at an Air Force base in Honduras that he had just engaged in a “useful exchange of ideas” with Efraín Rios Montt. The Guatemalan military general was the most recent in a succession of U.S.-backed dictators who had been governing the country since the CIA first toppled its democratically elected president, Jacobo Arbenz, in 1954.

“I know that President Rios Montt is a man of great personal integrity and commitment,” Reagan continued. “I know he wants to improve the quality of life for all Guatemalans and to promote social justice. My administration will do all it can to support his progressive efforts.” In a question-and-answer period, Reagan also shrugged off accusations of human rights violations committed by Rios Montt and his military: “Frankly I’m inclined to believe they’ve been getting a bum rap,” he declared.

Just two days later, on the evening of December 6, a 20-member team of Kaibil forces—elite Guatemalan commandos—initiated a military operation that decimated the inhabitants of the remote village of Dos Erres in the Petén region. The murder count of over 250 only hints at the savagery: In a matter of hours, the Kaibiles raped children (ProPublica, 3/25/12), forced miscarriages by jumping on pregnant women’s abdomens (Inter-American Court of Human Rights Judgment, 11/24/09) and flung at least 67 children down a well to their deaths (Seattle Times, 8/10/11), among other atrocities.

Dos Erres was just one of over 600 towns to be ravaged by the military in a scorched-earth campaign by Rios Montt during his brief 17-month tenure. Like his predecessor Gen. Lucas García, he presided over a strategy to defeat the country’s leftist insurgency while also destroying its “civilian support mechanisms,” according to national-security documents unearthed by investigative journalist Robert Parry at the Reagan Library (Consortium News, 5/11/13).

Given Reagan’s collaboration with and defense of Rios Montt, along with a Guatemalan judge’s finding of “sufficient evidence tying Rios Montt to the Las Dos Erres massacre” (Reuters, 5/21/12), one would expect an acclaimed public radio show to make this obvious connection in the course of an hour-long episode titled “What Happened at Dos Erres?” (This American Life, 5/25/12).

More:
http://fair.org/extra-online-articles/this-american-life-on-guatemalan-genocide/

[Judi Lynn]

1. Opinion: The myth of the squeaky-clean US

Opinion

The myth of the squeaky-clean US

In describing the Guatemalan civil war, media reports often omit important context and downplay the US role.

Last Modified: 13 Oct 2013 15:37

Mike Allison

Mike Allison is associate professor in the Political Science department at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania.


Jorge Vinicio Sosa Orantes, a former second lieutenant in the Guatemalan military, was recently convicted in the US of making false statements while seeking to obtain US citizenship. Because he failed to disclose his involvement in the Guatemalan army, Orantes could be sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Orantes' story would not have made national news had it not been for the fact that he is also accused of having led a massacre in Guatemala. In 1982, more than 200 men, women, and children were killed during the attack at Dos Erres. The soldiers were allegedly looking for stolen weapons when they entered the village but, after not finding any, proceeded to rape the women and kill all the witnesses, including many young children. All the soldiers were forced to participate in the massacre, so that they would all be equally guilty.

Unfortunately, US media coverage of the Orantes case has been severely lacking. Most media stories failed to mention the US' intimate involvement in the Guatemalan civil war, which is unforgivable. In articles that do mention that the US backed the Guatemalan military, the wording is often not strong enough. While it is difficult to uncover the exact contours of US support, there is no doubt that the US provided military, economic, and political assistance to the Guatemalan government during its 1960-1996 civil war.

The US cut off direct military aid to Guatemala in 1977 during President Jimmy Carter's administration, but aid previously promised continued. President Ronald Reagan tried to convince Congress to lift the ban on direct military aid but, to its credit, Congress did not go along.

More:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/10/myth-squeaky-clean-us-2013101393636747448.html