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[UpInArms]

U.S. must face its role in Guatemala's tragic past - beginning with the CIA-backed overthrow of the Arbenz government, the US is heavily implicated in the decades of violence and death in that country - Editorial

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_n15_v34/ai_20324605

Guatemalan Catholics displayed a faith that was frighteningly courageous during hellish decades of repression and slaughter. Now they have added profound wisdom to that witness by refusing to allow the past to slip, without accounting, into oblivion.

The story as recounted by Paul Jeffrey (page 3) is at once haunting and life-giving. But a major component of the violence that ripped that society apart for more than 30 years -- U.S. interference in the government of Guatemala and its complicity in the crimes of increasingly brutal regimes -- remains in the shadows.

As a result of the war, Guatemala's Supreme Court registered more than 35,000 widows and 200,000 orphans due to political violence; more than 440 villages were destroyed; at least 100,000 civilians have died due to political violence since 1954.

There was wanton killing on both sides, but, as was the case in neighboring El Salvador and elsewhere in Latin America, the use of mass slaughter, torture and terror was overwhelmingly the domain of the ruling military dictatorship.

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and

CANDIDATE ROBERTSON'S CENTRAL AMERICA POLICY

http://www.holysmoke.org/wb/wb0239.htm

TV preacher Pat Robertson is the only prospective
presidential candidate who not only has a Central America policy
but also provides Bibles, beans, and maybe even bullets to U.S.
backed forces in the region.

Until recently, Robertson was seen by most as just another
slick televangelist. But his soft-spoken style is misleading; his
actions speaker louder than his words.

Robertson's controversial activities include: support for
the slaughter of thousands of Indians by a Guatemalan dictator;
public praise for the reputed leader of Salvadoran death squads;
collaboration with murky U.S. mercenary groups; and the provision
of chaplains and funds to the contra army seeking to topple the
government of Nicaragua.

Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network is the largest
non-commercial TV network in the world, with an annual budget of
about $230 million. The most popular of all religious TV shows,
Robertson's 90-minute weekday "700 Club" has an estimated 28.7
million regular U.S. viewers. CBN also broadcasts to 65 foreign
countries, including Israel, Argentina, Namibia, El Salvador, and
Honduras.

<snip>

By late 1983, Robertson shifted his attention to El
Salvador, where he interviewed President Alvaro Magana and
individuals connected with Salvadoran death squads. Robertson
returned about the same time that the Kissinger Commission made
headlines with recommendations for unprecedented levels of U.S.
aid to Central America. On the "700 Club" Robertson stressed that
the Magana government was getting a bum rap. He warned his
audience not to rely on the "biased liberalism" of Newsweek, Time
and U.S. News and World Report, while he praised death squad
leader Robert D'Aubuisson as a "very nice fellow."

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and on to Robert D'Aubuisson:

America's Fear Factory: The School of the Americas

http://www.trentu.ca/arthur/archive/36/36-10/feature.shtml

excerpt:

Attendees of the SOA

It is impossible to sufficiently explore the long list of SOA graduates who have been linked to human rights abuses throughout the Americas. Although this list is by no means extensive it will hopefully raise questions as to the meaning of the phrase "state-sponsored terrorism" and the SOA's culpability in atrocities that have occurred within the Americas at the hands of its graduates.

Robert D'Aubuisson of El Salvador

D'Aubuisson planned and ordered the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero, who worked extensively with the poor in El Salvador. D'Aubuisson also organized El Salvador's death squad network from 1978-1992.

Multiple leaders and participants of Argentina's "Dirty War," including military dictators Leopoldo Galtieni and Roberto Viola In 1985, Viola was convicted of murder, kidnap and torture for his actions during the "Dirty War." Participants also include infamous torturer Sergeant Elpidio Rosario Tejeda who played a large role in the Argentine concentration camp of La Perla.

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