As is public knowledge, the CIA has been involved with a good number of coups since it came into being after World War II.
One of those coups took place in Guatemala in 1954. This article from Guatemala’s El Periodico is both highly critical of the U.S. due to the consequences of that coup, and extremely complimentary, praising the importance of the United States as an example of a system that works.
For Guatemala’s El Periodico, columnist Edwin J. Asturias writes in part:
The removal of President Arbenz was the end of a young democracy and the beginning of a 40-year storm on earth. With more than 200,000 people killed or missing, its legacy today is reflected by uncontrollable criminal cartels, mafias and corruption everywhere. In 1994, an investigation by the director of the CIA revealed that his agents had funded members of the Guatemalan military who were known “murderers, torturers and thieves.”
At least in the United States, parts of the truth and history eventually emerge, slowly but deliberately permitting mea culpas to fix the system. If only we, as a society, could as thoroughly examine our past and memory and discuss our mistakes, we would certainly be worthy of a more tolerant future and a stronger democracy. In Guatemala, ashes are swept under the rug and skeletons aren’t hidden in closets, but in mass graves.
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