Medical historian Susan M. Reverby stumbled upon the Guatemala research while exploring the infamous Tuskegee syphilis study in the United States. The revelation has forced President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton to express shock and revulsion over the unconscionable involuntary use of Guatemalans as medical subjects.
Government officials and representatives of various sectors
of civil society have compared the experiments conducted on 1,500 people in
Guatemala by the U.S. Public Health Service between 1946 and 1948 to the
genocidal policies of Nazi Germany.
Congress President Roberto Alejos said that the body will
want to participate in the commission of inquiry that the U.S. government will form
to clarify how experiments came about in which sex workers, prisoners, the mentally
ill and soldiers in Guatemala were infected with venereal disease.
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Referring to the apology offered by U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton, Representative Zury Ríos, a member of
the Health Committee, said that “asking forgiveness is important, since there were 64 years of silence,” but “there can be no
apology without restitution”. She added that the Guatemalan government should
demand compensation from the United States of at least $50 million per year.
She also stressed the importance of learning who in Guatemala
“facilitated access to the people who were victims of these experiments” which
she compared to “the cruel treatment of the Jewish community” perpetrated by the
Nazis.
Human Rights solicitorSergio
Morales said he would back lawsuits by those affected and Frank La Rue, former
presidential commissioner for human rights and currently the U.N. special
rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion
and expression, said that “legal actions on the part of the families are
definitely what should occur,” and he stressed the necessity of creating a compensation
plan.
DEBATE OVER ROLE OF ARÉVALO GOVERNMENT
The fact that these human rights violations, committed in
collusion with the administration of Juan José
Arévalo, came to light just as the current government is celebrating the October Revolution (1944) with
great fanfare, has became a matter of controversy.
Political analyst and columnist Adrián Zapata expressed incredulity
at newly-published findings and said it seems strange to him that “a government
with humanist orientation" like that of Arévalo would lend a hand to such
actions.
He questioned the authenticity of the documents, saying that
it seems strange that they would come to light precisely in the month when the
Revolution is being commemorated.
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Alfonso Bauer Paiz, former minister of labor and economy in
the Jacobo Arbenz government
(1951-1954), also expressed disbelief at the alleged collusion of the Arévalo Government
in the running of the experiments.
“I don’t recall this, but I'm not surprised that the
gringos, knowing Arévalo is dead, would try to accuse him of such things,” Paiz
said.
BILATERAL RELATIONS WILL NOT
SUFFER
Finally, the President Colom assured [the public] that far
from damaging relations with the United States, this will strengthen them.
“I appreciate the courage of Mrs. (Hillary) Clinton; she said
she felt great shame and concern over the case,” said Álvaro Colom. “Let us
hope we can establish the names of those affected and, although it's doubtful that
there are survivors of this type of experiment at this late date, there may be
families; and if there is compensation, the government will file suit,” the president
said.
