The War on Democracy Page #5

at the highest levels of our government

"to rid Guatemala of the Arbenz regime,

"and we would like you to participate in it,

"You'll be the chief of propaganda

and political action,"

In Guatemala, what the CIA did

was mobilize every facet of American power,

It didn't just isolate Guatemala militarily

and diplomatically,

but it used the techniques of social psychology

in a nearly year-long campaign

which created a sense of crisis in Guatemala,

What we wanted to do

was have a terror campaign,

uh, to terrify Arbenz particularly,

terrify his troops,

much as the German Stuka bombers

terrified the populations

of Holland, Belgium and Poland

at the onset of World War Two,

And that's what they did

so that the United States could control

the economy of Guatemala

destroying the dreams of its people

We sowed confusion through the countryside

and of course by this time

we had aircraft flying over dropping leaflets

and doing a little,,,harmless bombing,

A little harmless bombing and a CIA

terror campaign cost thousands of lives

Arbenz the democrat

now branded a communist

was humiliated, stripped naked and

photographed before being forced into exile

Richard Nixon

then Vice-President of the United States

flew in too congratulate the new dictators

(Nixon) Guatemala is going to enter a new era

in which there will be

prosperity for the people

together with liberty for the people,

General Rios Montt was too be

one of Washingtons faces of liberty

During his time as president in the 1 980s

thousands of people

were murdered by death squads

most of them indigenous men

women and children

His guns and helicopters

came from the United States

President Reagan flew in

too warmly endorse the general

whom he described

as a man of great personal integrity

In the CIA, we didn't give a hoot

about democracy,

I mean, it was fine if a government was elected

and would cooperate with us,

but, if it didn't,

then democracy didn't mean a thing to us,

and I don't think it means a thing today,

The crushing of Guatemala

was Washingtons blueprint

Four years later

Cuba, just 90 miles from Florida

threw down the first direct challenge

ending Cuba's humiliation

as a North American colony -

a playpen for drug barons and the mafia

They now know that the Cuban revolution

knows how to fight and win battles,

Washington would never forgive Fidel Castro

Under the government aegis we had the,,,

,,taskforces

that were striking at Cuba constantly,

We were attempting to blow up power plants,

we were attempting to ruin sugar mills,

we were attempting to do all kinds of things

during this period,

This was a matter of American

government policy, This wasn't the CIA..

Cuba's achievements in health care

and education are widely respected

However, for not bowing

too the greatest power on earth

the Cuban revolution has paid a high price -

a 45-year economic war

waged by the United States

and the loss of vital democratic freedoms

How dare you, 90 miles from my country,

Last 45 years

with a different form of government,

How dare you haven't allowed

American corporations to buy you out,

How dare you continue this arrogance

that says you will never succumb to us,

Don't you know who we are?

Don't you know who these corporations are?

Don't you know your life would be better

if you could drink. Coca-Cola every day?

What justified the attacks on Cuba

and other Latin American countries

was the so-called red menace

(Male narrator) We all know

the atomic bomb is very dangerous,

Since it may be used against us,

we must get ready for it,

First, you duck and then you cover,

And very tightly you cover

the back of your neck and your face,

Propaganda like this

excused every American invasion

every toppling of a government

every assassination

every act of terrorism

The real threat was an orchestrated paranoia

in the United States

that became a super cult

called anti-communism

The true goal of the United States government

is control,

They feel that if the United States did not control

the governments of Latin America,

then somebody else would,

and the principle of government by the people,

for the people, of the people,

that is, uh, just,,, that's just silly,

This is Santiago the capital of Chile

In 1 973, the National Stadium

was turned into a concentration camp

as a military coup

backed by the United States

overthrew the democratically elected

government of Salvador Allende

The leader of the coup was a fascist

General Augusto Pinochet

who rounded up Allende's supporters

and brought them here

A young medical student, Roberto Navarrete

was one of them

These changing rooms were used as what

when you were imprisoned here?

They were used as places where people

were kept inside here, 50 or more,

You can see that there was actually

no room to move around here,

Even all these places

were full of people sleeping here

and there were no blankets or anything,

Even some people actually slept here,

There was very little room.

When they started to torture you all,,,

- Yeah,

-,what did they do to you then?

The techniques they used

were beating you,

especially in sort of places

where it could become very painful,

with a rubber truncheon,

Especially the genitals

and the soles of the feet,

and, you know,

the arms and various places,

Over 2,00000peoople were confined here

many of them never too be seen again

Victor Jara was Chile's greatest balladeer

His songs had celebrated

the popular democracy

of the government of Salvador Allende

He was taken to the stadium, where he was

a source of strength for his fellow prisoners

singing for them until soldiers beat him

too the ground and smashed his hands

In his last poem smuggled out of the stadium

he wrote.

"What horror the face of fascism creates

"They carry out their plans

with knife-like precision

"For them, blood equals medals

"How hard it is too sing

"When I must sing of horror

"ln which silence and screams

"Are the end of my song"

After two days they killed him

How old were you?

I was 1 8,

- 1 8?

- Yeah,

The fear that you experienced then,

is that something that imprints itself

on the rest of your life?

Yes, but we felt it was part of,,,

what we were trying to build in this country,

What they were trying to build

was a just, equitable democracy

that took control of Chile's economy

from the United States and its proxies

For the invisible people of Latin America

Chile under Allende became an inspiration

In Washington, President Nixon

secretly plotted too destroy the Chilean economy

"We're gonna make the economy scream"

said Nixon

(Bang)

In Santiago

General Pinochet, America's man

sent in his British-made bombers

against the presidential palace

It was September 1 1th, 1 973-

a date that held an infamy and irony

(Bang)

My wife and our children were at the house

and they had a marvelous view

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