hope@gatech.UUCP (08/12/83)
In response to someone's recent article titled 'US Policy in South America',
specifically regarding the remark about "maybe we shouldn't have overthrown
Guatemala's President Arbenz", I say:
It was then evident that Arbenz was not only a self-proclaimed socialist, but
a Soviet fan. Ok, he did improve the country by implanting extensive land
reform and other things (I'm not going to go into detail about them now),
but had the US not intervened when they did, the commies would have walked
right in. Remeber, Guatemala is RIGHT ON OUR DOORSTEP (for you nonadepts,
it is next door to Mexico on Mexico's south border). Since then (late 50's,
early 60's), the country has been plagued by several military dictatorships
and political instability. However, we can say that they are "on our side".
Of course, now we must help them fight the Soviet/Cuban-backed guerrilla
movement and save them from communism.
--
Theodore Hope
CSNet: hope @ GATech ARPA: hope.GATech @ UDel-Relay
uucp: ...!{sb1,allegra,ut-ngp}!gatech!hope
...!duke!mcnc!msdc!gatech!hopelarry@grkermit.UUCP (Larry Kolodney) (08/15/83)
From: hope@gatech:
It was then evident that Arbenz was not only a self-proclaimed socialist,
but a Soviet fan. Ok, he did improve the country by implanting extensive
land reform and other things (I'm not going to go into detail about them
now), but had the US not intervened when they did, the commies would have
walked right in.
Using that logic, you have no right to complain about the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan. The rebels there are open admirerers of the U.S., and if the
Kremlin didn't intervene, the dirty capitalist pigs would walk right in.
That also applies for pakistan, and turkey.
Remeber, Guatemala is RIGHT ON OUR DOORSTEP (for you nonadepts, it is next
door to Mexico on Mexico's south border). Since then (late 50's, early
60's), the country has been plagued by several military dictatorships and
political instability. However, we can say that they are "on our side".
Of course, now we must help them fight the Soviet/Cuban-backed guerrilla
movement and save them from communism.
SAve them from WHAT? What makes you so sure they want to be 'saved' from
communism? Do you really think the peasants are so concerned about the lack
of abstract political freedoms under communist rule when now, under american
sanctioned fascists they are murdered by government troops while they are
not busy starving to death? 30% of the italian electorate supports
communism, don't you think its conceivable that starving latins do to?
HUMPH!
--
Larry Kolodney
{linus decvax}!genrad!grkermit!larry
(ARPA) rms.g.lkk@mit-ai