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March 20, 2009

Documents: Reagan Officials Knew of Guatemalan Abuses
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Newly declassified material has provided further evidence the Reagan
administration knowingly supported the Guatemalan government’s human
rights abuses in its crackdown on guerrillas and leftist dissidents. The
National Security Archive has released documents showing State
Department officials directly reported that Guatemalan forces targeted
anyone suspected of involvement with guerrillas or dissident groups. In
1984, then-US Ambassador Frederic Chapin also reported labor activists
were being “rounded up” for interrogation. More than 200,000 people died
under the US-backed Guatemalan military between 1960 and 1996.



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