It means military leaders confessing their sin. Until that happens, no political speech is going to begin to cure the open wounds of our history. Meanwhile President Alvaro Arz sat stony-faced in the front row. US government officials denied for decades that they supported repression in Guatemala. Yet official US documents unearthed by the truth commission belie that claim.
Interrogations are brutal, torture is used, and bodies are mutilated.
In his memo, Vaky worried that the image of the United States in Latin America was being tarnished by US support for repressive governments. Just two weeks after the release of the UN truth commission report, US President Bill Clinton visited Guatemala. Clinton's comments were well received by church leaders, rights activists, and indigenous groups, though many wished he had openly apologized for the US role in the war. That role dates back to a CIA coup in 1954 that overthrew a democratically elected government. While not a full apology, President Clinton's attitude is a helpful first step.