Oscar Castañeda, Steve Inskeep, Erica Chenoweth, Maria Stephan, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, EfraÃn RÃos Montt, Steve Curwood, Helen Palmer, Michael Obeiter
In 1982, the Guatemalan military massacred the villagers of Dos Erres, killing more than 200 people. This is the true story of Oscar Alfredo RamÃrez Castañeda and genocide in Guatemala. Guatemala is a mainly mountainous country in Central America.
Civil war existed in Guatemala since the early 1960s due in part to inequalities existing in the economic and political life. In the 1970s, the Mayans began participating in protests against the repressive government, demanding greater equality and inclusion of the Mayan language and culture. In 1980, the Guatemalan army instituted Operation Sofia, which aimed at ending insurgent guerrilla warfare. This program specifically targeted the Mayan population, who were believed by the Guatemalan army to be supporting the guerilla movement.
Over the next three years, the army destroyed 626 villages, killed or âdisappearedâ more than 200,000 people and displaced an additional 1.5 million, while more than 150,000 were driven to seek refuge in Mexico. Podcast source: This American Life: What Happened At Dos Erres
Clinton States Support for Guatemala Was Wrong
GUATEMALA, March 10, 1999 â President Clinton apologized today for United States support of right-wing governments in Guatemala that killed tens of thousands of rebels and Mayan Indians in a 36-year civil war.
"For the United States," Mr. Clinton said, "it is important that I state clearly that support for military forces and intelligence units which engaged in violence and widespread repression was wrong, and the United States must not repeat that mistake." Source: Washington Post: Clinton: Support for Guatemala Was Wrong
Also see The New York Times: Clinton Offers His Apologies To Guatemala Finding Oscar: Massacre, Memory and Justice in Guatemala This American Life on Guatemalan Genocide Washington's role is a story not worth telling By Keane Bhatt
Why Civil Resistance Movements Succeed
Steve Inskeep talks to Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan about why non-violent resistance campaigns work better than armed rebellion. Podcast source: npr: Why Civil Resistance Movements Succeed
The Growing Threat From Methane
Over the short term, methane is 80 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. The White House has launched plans to control methane emissions from most U.S. sources, but as Helen Palmer and Michael Obeiter tell Steve Curwood, evidence from prehistory suggests methane was a major factor in Earth's largest extinction, and warming projections warn of ballooning emissions in the future. Podcast source: living on earth: The Growing Threat From Methane
Music includes Chumbawamba - Jacobs Ladder, Rise Against - Hero Of War, Alex Smith - Too Hot, Chocolate Ghost House - Party at the NSA, Cisco Houston - Pastures of Plenty, Capitol Steps - Obama Mania, Alpha Blondy - Bloodshed in Africa, Odetta - With God On Our Side, Capitol Steps - Sony, Capitol Steps - Who'll Drop a Bomb in Ramadan?, Buffy Sainte-Marie - No No Keshagesh, Roy Zimmerman - Vote Republican 2.0, Pete Seeger - Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream, Fred Steiner - Perry Mason, Central American Marimba Band Of Guatemala - Captain Betty 1917
This American Life: What Happened At Dos Erres http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/465/what-happened-at-dos-erres
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