Watching: Headline Today: Guatemala

Overview

Headline Today: Guatemala is a war documentary. Two American journalists: Allan Nairn and Jean-Marie Simon explore the internal armed conflict in Guatemala in 1982. After General Efraín Ríos Montt comes to power the few news about Guatemala that appear in the United States' media are apparently positive. The major American media advertises the image of Ríos Montt as a “born again Christian” with a mission to pacify Guatemala. Nothing is further from reality. The Reagan Republican administration hides from Americans the war aid that his administration continues to provide to the Guatemalan army, despite the explicit congressional ban. The international media remains silent about the dimensions of the war in Guatemala while Ríos Montt, with the approval of the local oligarchy, leads for 18 months the largest number of atrocities and human rights violations against the civilian population.