Guatemala apologizes to Cuba for Bay of Pigs (US Invasion of Cuba)

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Feb 17, 5:29 PM EST

Guatemala apologizes to Cuba for Bay of Pigs

HAVANA (AP) -- Guatemala's president has apologized to Cuba for his country's allowing the CIA to train exiles in the Central American country for the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion.

Alvaro Colom says he wants to "officially ask Cuba for forgiveness as president and head of state, and as commander in chief of the Guatemala army."

He made the apology Tuesday during a speech at the University of Havana.

About 1,500 Cuban exiles trained under CIA guidance in Guatemala before invading the island in April 1961 in an unsuccessful bid to overthrow Fidel Castro's communist government. The Bay of Pigs invasion ended after three days with about 100 invaders killed and another 1,000 captured by Cuban forces.



Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CB_CUBA_GUATEMALA_BAY_OF_PIGS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-02-17-17-29-21

[Smarmie Doofus]

1. Can a US gov't apology to Guatemala be far behind?

I.e. for overthrowing its democracy and installing a puppet state in '54.

[EFerrari]

2. I wonder if Guatemala had any say in CIA using it as a training ground.

:shrug:

[Smarmie Doofus]

4. I think not. It was the same puppet state....

.. or a variant.

Puppet states do as they're told.

It's what makes 'em puppets.

[Peace Patriot]

3. I'm glad to see all these different actions being taken by Latin American governments

to regularize relations with Cuba and pressure the U.S. to do so also. Many of the Latin American presidents' messages of congratulations to President Obama, on his inauguration, contained pleas to lift the embargo on Cuba and normalize relations. And I'm so glad to see the simple human decency of someone like Alvaro Colom--not exactly leftist, but a good man, whom I heard had engaged in intense study of the Mayan culture and is a Mayan priest--issuing an apology to Cuba.

Now the U.S. needs to apologize and make recompense to Guatemala for the 200,000 Mayan villagers who were slaughtered on suspicion of being leftists, with Reagan's direct complicity during the 1980s.

[Smarmie Doofus]

5. Me too. With the hard-core barbarians in DC at least temporarily...

... out of power, there's a fantastic opportunity for the US to make things right and for real development to take hold in the region.

A once in a lifetime chance.

[bluesmail]

6. "Domino Effect' going backwards/reverse/righting the mistakes of the past.

La Revolution. Power to the People. The Domino Effect! Finally falls in the right/left direction.

[bottomtheweaver]

7. It's long past time for us to do the same.

Some day the CIA reign of terror will be just another dark, shameful stain on the pages of history. I hope that day comes soon or so will we.