re "Has the country really escaped the controlling grip of ruthless foreign interests by electing Arévalo, or has the mechanism of control just been transformed? I hope I’m wrong, but I suspect it’s the latter."
Unfortunately, you're probably not wrong. I hope the old people of corn are not wrong as well.
Excellent overview of the brutality done to the Mayan people by so called western 'democracies' such as the U.S. and Israel. Anthony Lowenstein has written a book detailing Israel's role in supporting fascist governments commit massive, brutal human rights abuses throughout the world. Here is an excerpt from an article by Thomas Fazi -https://www.thomasfazi.com/p/israel-arming-and-supporting-fascism, on Lowenstein's book on Israel's role in helping commit atrocities in Guatemala.
Loewenstein describes Israel’s technical-material support for this genocidal campaign:
One of the most effective ways that Israel assisted the Guatemalan regime was the installation of a computer listening center by the private Israeli company Tadiran Israel Electronics Industries. It became operational in late 1979 or early 1980 and housed the names of at least 80 percent of the population. The Israeli media reported that the aim was to “follow up the guerrilla movements in the capital”, and there were allegations that the facility was connected to the US Army’s Southern Command at Fort Gulick in the Panama Canal Zone.
Israel’s marriage with Guatemalan tyranny was cemented with the elevation of President Efrain Ríos Montt, who ruled between 1982 and 1983 and committed mass violence against the indigenous Maya population, possibly killing up to 75,000 people. Israel’s involvement was not hidden. The Israeli media reported when Ríos Montt carried out a coup on March 23, 1982 that Israeli military advisors had assisted in the operation. Ríos Montt told an ABC reporter that the coup was a smashing success “because many of our soldiers were trained by the Israelis”. Declassified documents show that Israel hoped that its strong support for Montt might generate support for its occupation of the West Bank and lead him to move Guatemala’s embassy to Jerusalem. Montt was found guilty of genocide in a Guatemalan court in 2013, the first time a former head of state was tried for these crimes in his own country, and was sentenced to eighty years in jail. After years of legal wrangling, a retrial was underway in 2018 when Montt died at age ninety-one.
The most notorious massacre occurred at the small village of Dos Erres on December 6, 1982, where around 300 people were slaughtered. The brutality was shocking. Skulls were smashed with sledgehammers and bodies were thrown down a well. Israel had played its part in the Dos Erres massacre. The 1999 UN Truth Commission, after visiting the area to exhume the bodies, detailed in its forensics report that “all the ballistic evidence recovered corresponded to bullet fragments from firearms and pods of Galil rifles, made in Israel”.
Brilliant article, thank you.
re "Has the country really escaped the controlling grip of ruthless foreign interests by electing Arévalo, or has the mechanism of control just been transformed? I hope I’m wrong, but I suspect it’s the latter."
Unfortunately, you're probably not wrong. I hope the old people of corn are not wrong as well.
Excellent overview of the brutality done to the Mayan people by so called western 'democracies' such as the U.S. and Israel. Anthony Lowenstein has written a book detailing Israel's role in supporting fascist governments commit massive, brutal human rights abuses throughout the world. Here is an excerpt from an article by Thomas Fazi -https://www.thomasfazi.com/p/israel-arming-and-supporting-fascism, on Lowenstein's book on Israel's role in helping commit atrocities in Guatemala.
Loewenstein describes Israel’s technical-material support for this genocidal campaign:
One of the most effective ways that Israel assisted the Guatemalan regime was the installation of a computer listening center by the private Israeli company Tadiran Israel Electronics Industries. It became operational in late 1979 or early 1980 and housed the names of at least 80 percent of the population. The Israeli media reported that the aim was to “follow up the guerrilla movements in the capital”, and there were allegations that the facility was connected to the US Army’s Southern Command at Fort Gulick in the Panama Canal Zone.
Israel’s marriage with Guatemalan tyranny was cemented with the elevation of President Efrain Ríos Montt, who ruled between 1982 and 1983 and committed mass violence against the indigenous Maya population, possibly killing up to 75,000 people. Israel’s involvement was not hidden. The Israeli media reported when Ríos Montt carried out a coup on March 23, 1982 that Israeli military advisors had assisted in the operation. Ríos Montt told an ABC reporter that the coup was a smashing success “because many of our soldiers were trained by the Israelis”. Declassified documents show that Israel hoped that its strong support for Montt might generate support for its occupation of the West Bank and lead him to move Guatemala’s embassy to Jerusalem. Montt was found guilty of genocide in a Guatemalan court in 2013, the first time a former head of state was tried for these crimes in his own country, and was sentenced to eighty years in jail. After years of legal wrangling, a retrial was underway in 2018 when Montt died at age ninety-one.
The most notorious massacre occurred at the small village of Dos Erres on December 6, 1982, where around 300 people were slaughtered. The brutality was shocking. Skulls were smashed with sledgehammers and bodies were thrown down a well. Israel had played its part in the Dos Erres massacre. The 1999 UN Truth Commission, after visiting the area to exhume the bodies, detailed in its forensics report that “all the ballistic evidence recovered corresponded to bullet fragments from firearms and pods of Galil rifles, made in Israel”.
Such a powerful and well-researched article Linda. Thank you.