Scorched Earth Policy

It’s a rational argument. Whether its people in Oswego, or throughout the country, we hold illegal immigrants to the same standard. You have to come to this country legally. Last Friday, Reuters reported, “Two U.S. military aircraft, each carrying about 80 migrants, flew from the U.S. to Guatemala.” It was a deportation flight of expelled Guatemalans. However, it begs the question. Do we apply the same standard to ourselves that we apply to others? In 1953 Guatemala was a capitalist democracy under President Jacobo Árbenz. The same year, the US State Department published a classified document: NIE-84. It stated “the principal objective of the Arbenz Administration,” was an Agrarian [land] Reform Law. It continued “Redistribution of their land will be used to mobilize the hitherto inert peasantry in support of,” Arbenz. This was a problem. The Arbenz Administration was “hostile toward US private economic interests in Guatemala.” Specifically, the stranglehold the United Fruit Company had over Guatemalan land. There was a solution. A CIA.gov declassified secret document explained how to deal with disobedience. “The Central Intelligence Agency directed covert operations aimed at removing the government of Jacobo Arbenz Guzman from power in Guatemala.” CIA Operation PBSUCCESS commenced. The National Security Archive wrote it was “authorized by President Eisenhower in August 1953.” It “carried a $2.7 million budget for ‘psychological warfare’… and ‘subversion’.” CIA.gov continued “The CIA ‘drew up lists of individuals for assassination, discussed training Guatemalan exiles for assassination teams, and conducted intimidation programs against prominent Guatemalan officials.’” President Arbenz fled the country. Then “after the CIA installed Castillo Armas in power, hundreds of Guatemalans were rounded up and killed.” The New York Times summarized the horrendous consequences of the CIA coup. “Violence has been chronic in Guatemala since a United States?backed military coup,” in 1954. The bloodiest period in Guatemala’s history was under Ríos Montt. Over 70,000 people were killed or disappeared in Montt’s ‘scorched earth’ policy. In 2013 a court convicted Ríos Montt of genocide and crimes against humanity. This was the same Ríos Montt Ronald Reagan described as “a man of great personal integrity.” The National Security archive documented “Washington’s unabashed support for the dictator at the height of his powers, and the US Embassy’s determination to ignore the violence unleashed by his Army against civilians.” At the height of the dictator’s crimes, the Washington Post reported on US “sales of civilian helicopters to Guatemala with the full knowledge that they would be converted to military use.” In 1982 the Reagan administration continued to supply military aid to the dictator of great personal integrity. The deportation flight of expelled Guatemalans forced people to return to Guatemala. A country Washington has brought misery to with its coups, support of dictatorships, and illegal military aid. Provided by taxpayer money, of course. Our standards are clear. You can not come to our country illegally. But, we can overthrow your government, install dictators, and commit crimes in your country. It’s a double standard of awesome proportions.

 

Anton Porcari

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