Hard to do in a letter.

Ultra-briefly, Guatemala lived under a brutal

US-backed dictatorship until 1944. Then came what are called there "the 10
years of spring," as a democratic political system was established, along
with civil rights, distribution of unused land to peasants, and other
similar indecencies. The US carried out a military coup in 1954,
instituting a reign of terror that peaked under Reagan, who effusively
lauded the worst killers. People are still fleeing from the ruins,
particularly Mayans, the victims of virtual genocide in the highlands. The
country remains a horror story.
In the case of Nicaragua, Iran-contra was merely a toothpick on a mountain.
It's considered significant in the West because it was so trivial and can be
exploited to conceal what in fact happened.
The US (Carter) supported the Somoza dictatorship until it could no longer
be sustained, even after it killed 40,000 people in major massacres. Reagan
came in shortly after, and pursuing his highly developed killer instinct,
launched the contra war, attacking Nicaragua from foreign bases. Nicaragua
brought a case against the US to the World Court, argued by a distinguished
Harvard U lawyer, Abe Chayes. Most of his case was thrown out because when
the US joined the Court, it added a reservation saying that the US cannot be
tried on any charge that relies on international treaties, specifically the
UN and OAS charters. The Court was therefore restricted to a bilateral
US-Nicaragua treaty, and even on those narrow grounds convicted the US of
"unlawful use of force" (international terrorism, in lay language), and
ordered it to cease the attack and pay very substantial reparations. Reagan
of course ignored it. Congress increased funding of the contras. The NY
Times dismissed the Court as a "hostile forum," therefore irrelevant.
Nicaragua brought a resolution to the UN Security Council calling on all
states to observe international law. The US vetoed it. Britain and France
politely abstained, always shining the master's boots. The war went on. It
devastated Nicaragua. Finally the US won an election with a gun to the
heads of the population: vote for our candidate or we'll completely destroy
you. The press reacted with euphoria. NY Times headlines read "Americans
United in Joy" (like North Koreans) at this "Victory for US Fair Play." The
country may never recover.
Almost all of this has been wiped out of polite history. But this much, and
far worse, quite definitely happened, as you can discover (with a little
work).
NC
-----Original Message-----
From: Allen, Michael (by way of Noam Chomsky <chomsky@mit.edu>)
[mailto:M.K.Allen@warwick.ac.uk]
Sent: Monday, April 25, 2011 1:46 PM
To: Noam Chomsky
Subject: Guatemala and Nicaragua
Dear Mr. Chomsky,
I am a student at The University of Warwick in the UK and am writing
a paper on US intervention comparing Guatemala (the 1954 coup) and
Nicaragua (the Iran-contra scandal).
I was wondering if you could provide me with a very short (I
understand you are very busy) comment on your interpretation of one
or both of these events?
Thank you very much,
Michael Allen