Un-Hippocratic medicine:
Did Nazi thought rub off on U.S.?
Prensa Libre, Guatemala
'I Witnessed the U.S. Syphilis Experiments'
"Naturally,
the American troops squandered their money by frequenting naive young women and
prostitutes infected with STDs, and thus with great frequency contracted
venereal disease. But they had their own hospitals. We never saw, nor would it
have been possible to tell them, that a U.S. doctor had come to our hospital to
intentionally infect the women."
-- Santiago Villanueva Gudiel, former Guatemala Public Health Service employee
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.
GUATEMALA CITY:
It was the time of the glorious Revolution of October 1944.
We were some of the surviving perpetrators. And it was also the end of the
Second World War. U.S. President Roosevelt was generous with Guatemala due to
his “Good Neighbor”
policy and defensive interests in the war, which is why a U.S. military camp
was set up on the fields surrounding the zoo and La Aurora Airport,
perhaps with a battalion of troops.
For his contribution, a
hospital bearing Roosevelt's name was being built in the capital. INTECAP [The Technical Institute for
Training and Productivity] was created, and its first director was a U.S. woman
scientist. At the Institute, a breakthrough of global significance was made
with the development of protein-rich dietary supplement Incapararina.
The Department of Health was also given an electronic microscope that no knew
how to use; it was installed in the center of a room in the basement of the
newly-inaugurated Palace of Public Health at 9th Avenue, between 14th and 15th streets
in what is now Historic Downtown. By that time, the Inter-American Highway was
also being built, with the participation of the U.S.
I, from 1947 to 1951, was an
eyewitness and active participant in the issue of venereal disease now being
brought to the attention of the Guatemalan public, since our office was in charge
of the provisioning office located the basement of the Department of Health,
under the direction of Dr. Luis Fernando Galich Lopez. Thus we and many of the
health office staff witnessed this - as people working for the well-being of
Guatemala.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
As for the transmission of gonorrhea,
chancroid and syphilis, this
was under the direction of the Department of Health - specifically its hospital
at the corner of 10th Avenue and 14th Street, Zone 1, under the direction of
Dr. Juan M. Funes and other physicians, who examined the prostitutes. Naturally,
the American troops squandered their money by frequenting naive young women and
prostitutes infected with STDs, and thus with great frequency contracted
venereal disease. But they had their own hospitals and doctors at their camp.
We never saw, nor would it have been possible to tell them, that a U.S. doctor
or scientist had come to our hospital to intentionally infect the women.
Health centers and clinics requested
large quantities of Salvarsan
injections to cure syphilis and other venereal diseases. Then penicillin came as
a panacea and replaced Salvarsan. And then DDT arrived to cleanse the world of
many insect-born transmissible diseases and pests like malaria, typhoid, etc. These
diseases have now returned with ever-greater intensity, along with
tuberculosis, because DDT is now among the “tainted” and forbidden insecticides.
The non-toxic substitute for it is said to be education and more effective
techniques of disinfection.
Finally, let me tell you that
among my colleagues at the commissary there was a friend of mine for many years.
His was called Diego Ventura, and he had been the subject of experiments by the
Public Health Office, using mosquitoes caught by the public agency's entomologist.
The intent was for the mosquitoes to bite him and then study his reactions and
diseases. This is also true. And it isn't just something I heard; this is
something that I saw and lived through; now I tell you.
