Five lies exposed By PISTA QUICHI t ORMAN GALL, writing in the Toronto Star of Nov. 10 on Guatemala had five lies, only five, but it destroys his whole work like a few drops of poison in a good wine. T have been here in Guatemala living among the people, study- ing the situation. Unlike the “experts” I’m not just here for a few days. I don’t have to cover up or justify Yankee propagan- ists I am not being paid by them. His first lie is, “this octopus has been in bad health for years.” This octopus, though un- der different names, is still very powerful. It is devouring the economy of this country and also its people. Their agents are leading the miiltarists, the arm- ed forces and secret organiza- tions to kill all opposition. In Guatemala, as in other Latin American countries, the great American monopolies con- trol 80 percent of the imports and exports. They control 94 percent of transportation. Everybody, in- cluding Gall, should know who controls gasoline here so that it sells for 50 cents a gallon in this country where wages are about $1.46 a day. But Gall didn’t want to see this. He mentions the eastern por- tion of the United Fruit empire where production is much re- duced and unemployment has increased. But he should know that the military dictator in 1955 gave the United Fruit Company a great portion of the western Part of the country, which the company is finding more suit- able for their interests. Gall should know that the rail- roads, the electric company, the telephone company are owned by the octopus. They also own the banks and insurance com- panies, 16 in all, which collect savings from the people on which they receive no interest and lend it out at 8 or 10 per cent interest. The second lie is, “when the CIA organized the 1954 over- throw of the pro-communist Ar- benz government.” First, Arbenz was not pro-communist, did not have communist members in his government, In CIA phraseology © everyone is a communist who is a real revolutionary and good ° democrats are the bloody mili- tary dictators like in Brazil, Ar- gentina and Vietnam. The third lie is, “Some neutral Observers of these events said ‘the repression that followed the 1954 invasion was roughly equi- valent to the terror launched by the Arbenz regime in its final months to stay in power.” This lie about red terror was ~ not from neutrals but an inven- tion of the CIA to justify their Invasion and their killing of The poverty of the Guatemalan population, particularly in the rural areas, is worse than almost any other part of Latin America. Death from starvation is very common and child mortality is the highest in the world. Photo shows mother with her dying child. 50,000 rebels and supporters of Arbenz, those who wanted to give the land to the landless peasants. j Arbenz said himself in a speech Jater that they had made many mistakes such as not giv- ing arms to the people to defend themselves and the government which had been elected by 84 percent of the voters. They had also trusted army officers and counter - revolutionaries among the landlords and allowed some of them to work inside the gov- ernment. : The fourth lie is, “More and more people are getting disgust- ed with the unwillingness of the government to combat the guer- rillas. The army of course pre- sents special problems. The one thing you'll never do in this country is to get a man in uni- form to fight.” Only the counter- revolutionaries are disgusted, men like Alejoes, a very rich landowner and the vice-presi- dent, Marroquin Rojas. Most of the army, even the officers, are unwilling to fight their brothers, fathers, friends just because an American “expert” tells them to do so. Gall also must know that there is a force of some 2,000 soldiers under the expert direc- tion of six high American army officers, all expert in anti-guerilla warfare, who are attacking and killing the guerillas and sympa- thetic peasants. Besides these army experts there is a herd of civil experts here. CJA agents are covering the districts as Peace Core mem- bers, photographers, etc. They pose as friends of the people. While Gall was here civil war was going on (or civil action as General Porter calls it). The government allows no reports in the newspapers on the war. The revolutionary wecklies are for- bidden to appear. There is a strict censorship over all news. Six students connected with the newspaper EL Studente have been arrested and charged with communism in the usual CIA manner. I know many of them and while they are revolution- aries they are not yet commu- nists although the way they are treated may turn them into com- munists. The fifth lie, and the most po- tent poison, is ‘Most unfortun- ately many Guatemalans will be forced to choose between the shrill tyrannies of communism and bloody defence of the kind of system that has no reason to exist in the twentieth cen- tury.” Gall should know there is no communist tyranny in the so- cialist countries. Here as every- where else people will have to choose between revolution and counter-revolution, or between capitalism and socialism. Even Robert Kennedy, the sen- ator from New York, saw this when he visited many Latin American countries and_ said, “Revolution is coming even if we want it or not.” The fact is, that the people of Guatemala and all Latin Americans realize this is true. The capitalists and_ their friends, and the prostitute writ- ers, would like to hinder this revolution and save the capital- ist system wherever they can. For that they speak of revolu- tion and mean counter-revolu- tion. In every country they have the big landowners, military leaders and counter-revolution- aries on their side, those who hate real revolution. They want to stop or hinder real revolutions even if they have to kill millions of people, including presidents, who get in their way to dominate the world at le lonecr. BUENOS: AIRES |