U.S. Imperialism in Central America
Thank you for posting this message about the remaining effects of the civil war in Guatemala [see previous article]. I have been fortunate to be able to visit Central America in recent years and get to know some of the wonderful people there. It is clear that the effects of the wars there weigh heavily on everyone.
We USers need to recognize that these wars were largely the result of U.S. government actions. The United States financed and trained dictatorial governments and paramilitary forces that were seeking to keep power in the hands of the corporate elite and prevent democratic control of the human and natural resources of Central America. The effects of the wars still reverberate here in the United States, in the plight of refugees fleeing from poverty and gang violence.
We USers have a lot of work to do on our oppressive role of paying taxes to a government that funded genocide and imperialism. Let us all work on the ways in which imperialism has hurt the people we know and care about, as well as ourselves. Simultaneously, let us work for governmental policies that enhance solidarity and community and give all people the freedom of self-determination.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Reprinted from the RC e-mail discussion list for leaders of wide world change
(Present Time 184, July 2016)