Posted on 03/13/2005 9:54:46 AM PST by Willie Green
Guatemala, where I'll be traveling this week, is one of those mysterious, out-of-the-way countries you never hear much about.
Third World-poor with a population of 13 million, Central America's largest and most populated country has been tortured by earthquakes, corrupt governments and a bloody 36-year civil war that killed at least 100,000 and only ended in 1996.
For most Americans, Guatemala is known -- if it's known at all -- for its ancient Mayan urban ruins, its sad record of human rights violations or the "successful" anti-communist coup orchestrated by our CIA in 1956, which was followed by decades of right-wing military dictators.
Given Guatemala's troubles with both too much bad government and too little good government, it's amazing that it's the home of Francisco Marroquin University, generally touted as the world's greatest libertarian university.
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
Thanks for the post. Would you keep me in mind, if, or when, there is a follow up.
I don't know much about libertarian economics, but I'm interested.
He probably got that from an old travel book -- that may have been the case once (1970?) but it's sure not true today. I keep running into Americans fleeing into Panama from Costa Rica and all the crap the 'Ticos' have been coming up with. The border's only about 20 miles west of here; crossing it represents a big change of lifestyle.
The coup which ousted President Arbenz took place in 1954, not 1956.
Can you tell us more about all the crap the 'Ticos' have been coming up with?
I recommend GUATEMALA by Mario Rosenthal for anyone interested in the coup and lots of good history of Central America. It is out-of-print but available through ABE and other used book exchanges and most university libraries have it.
Rosenthal was a brave maverick and eccentric rightist editor in El Salvador for many decades. He is still alive I believe but up in his 80s now.
Same old rants about dictators, freedom fighters, and "human rights violations". Reality may be confusing the way that there's so little difference between say, a political guerrilla who sells drugs to finance an insurrection, and a drug kingpin that finances guerrilla war to win points with the locals. That's still no excuse for failing to describe the place like it is.
It helps a lot by (like you did) seeing the big differences in how things work between one country and the next. Here in Panama, our violent crime seems to be by immigrants from Colombia, Nicaragua (figures) and youth gangs from Puerto Rico (believe it or not).
It takes several days to do simple government things like getting a drivers liscence (here a couple hours). They shut down the internet connection for a month a couple years ago to raise taxes on it. They always seem to be coming up with some new fee or a tax-- like charging a several thousand dollar bond for leaving the country (but then again they say you get what you pay for). The whole attitude with the CR gov't seems to be one of always trying to milk the gringo cash cow, but they're really just killing the gringo golden goose.
To be fair, I rarely hear from them that like it there, just the refugees that make it out.
Interesting...
Bear in mind that down here we only see the ones that leave. Like the Nicaraguan soldiers that Noriega and Castro sent down here to shoot at me and my kids. But then again it probably serves us right. During the late '70's Torrios raised militia groups of Panamanian 'volunteers' to fight for Ortega.
Let's drink to peace.
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