Hidden In Plain Sight Analysis

After watching this video, it seems as if the United States had no respect for the Monroe Doctrine because they did the opposite on various occasions. Which is sad. Some of the things that the United States did is completely devastating and degrading. The idea that the United States feels that they can do whatever they please using national security interest is nonsense. One event where the United States interfered in European colonization was when they played a major part in overthrowing Salvador Allende who was democratically elected just to replace him with Pinochet who was a monster who committed heinous crimes because he believed that the end justified the means. He tortured and killed thousands of people. The United States had a school in Georgia named the United States Army School of America where they taught Anti-communism and counterinsurgency training. Within the training, Major Joseph Blare taught Pinochet’s military members about the values that America shares along with interrogation and torture techniques. The training these military members were taught were used in the most horrific ways, they would kidnap people and take them to a place that was the size of a dog kennel in width and keep them separate and torture them.

In this primary document, Cotton Mather, a Puritan theologian, writes about his fears of losing the entire country to the devil and his minions as the Christian religion, in his mind, is being slowly eradicated from the entire country due to witchcraft. In 1693 Cotton Mather wrote a literary piece called The Wonders of the Invisible World a year after questionable events in defense of the persecutions of those accused and convicted in Salem for witchcraft.

In Cotton Mather’s The Wonders of the Invisible World, he explores the evidence presented at the Salem witch trial of Martha Carrier. Mather explains the spectral evidence presented at the trial as strange phenomena worked by the devil, when in reality it is simply the exploitation and fear that brewed underneath the surface colonial America.

Also, the growing presence of the Soviets and Cuba in Nicaragua escalated the cold war and in order to ‘draw the line” the Reagan administration “doubled economic aid for El Salvador to a hundred and forty four million dollars” (pg 40). According to Danner, “the priorities of American Policy in El Salvador had become unmistakable” (pg 41).Second, The American government was “opposed to dispatching American combat forces to Central America” (pg 22) and in order to prevent another Nicaragua, Congress agreed to “reform” the Salvadoran Army by financing, training and arming its troops to fight the FMLN. As Danner notes, “the Americans had stepped forward to fund the war, but were unwilling to fight it”. Third, the Monterrosa led Atlacatl led batallion through American funding descended in El Mozote with “the latest M-16’s, M-60 machines guns, 90 millimeter recoilless rifles, and 60- and 81 millimeter mortars”(pg 39) and with a list of names massacred an entire village because “communism was cancer”(pg 49). The U.S. government was clearly responsible for the Massacre at El Mozote because without the funding, supporting, and training of El Salvador troops the war would have been tilted in the guerillas favor as they had managed to hold the disorganized army in certain areas. In contrast to neighboring departments El Mozote and its inhabitants of born-again Christians did not fit in as guerilla sympathizers. In fact, the training at American hands

Among the ways the United States tried to curb the spread of communism in Latin America, was interfere in the inner policies of their countries. They were involving themselves in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala. They were trying to convince Latin America that it was in their best interests to stay away from communist beliefs.

In the book The Last Colonial Massacre: Latin America in the Cold War, author Greg Grandin traces Guatemala’s evolutionary period from the late 19th century to the early 1980s. What he dubs as ‘the last colonial massacre,’ the Panzós Massacre of 1978 was the mass murder by the Guatamalan army of 35 Q’echi-Mayan men, women and children who had gathered in the town square demanding democractic representation, land reform and higher wages. Outrage over this massacre led many Guatemalan peasants to join the communist Guerilla Army of the Poor (EGP) which prompted violence and repression by the US backed right-wing government. Grandin’s thesis is that Cold War terror unleashed or excused by the United States, weakened the advancement of democracy

The U.S. involvement with these countries began in 1951. Jacobo Árbenz was a military officer who used his military forces to suppress laborers and take what he wanted. Hearing about this the current U.S. President Eisenhower sent weapons to guerrilla groups in order to help over throw Árbenz. Fast-forward a few years and the Cuban revolution happens and results in Cuba becoming a communist government. Around this time many of the guerrilla groups started disappearing but still remained intact. Most people who have an opinion on the matter agree that supplying arms and providing aid to these extremist groups was the starting point to forming the current gangs in Central America. “We made policy decisions that put short-term prioritization of winning battles against insurgents and people we considered communists over the long-term stability of those countries, they are now living the results.” (Katel p.7). This quote sums up the idea the U.S had with their

During the 1980s the government of Guatemala decided to carry out systematic killings of Mayan Indians who they believed were working towards a communist-controlled state. The

In the book Among the Hidden, the author uses a very selective choice of vocabulary to convey the mood of events in the story. The mood that the author described is one that is very depressing.

Part 1: Among the Hidden is about a boy named Luke. He is what you would call a shadow child. Lukes mom was NOT supposed to have more than two kids because of government rules. She already has had two boys. Luke was a mistake, he has never had a birthday. Has never had to go to schools or make any friends. There was no one like him… or so he thought. One day he was home alone and he snuck outside. He noticed large mansions that were being built so more people could move next door. This meant that luke could probably never go outside without being seen. If he was seen this would mean that he would have to be killed. If this happened it would not be a good thing. Time skips ahead and all of the houses are built. He’s up in

Certainly, the Republic of Panama paid a heavy price for the excesses of entrenched military regime in power for over two decades and which was the culminating stage narco-dictatorship of Noriega. The secret services of the United States, for which Noriega had worked, were undoubtedly the most responsible for the situation created in Panama. But we must not forget that Carter legitimized the dictatorial and unconstitutional regime subscribing Torrijos in the Torrijos-Carter Treaties. Moreover, Washington sponsored the electoral fraud of 1984 and up to a certain extent the moral corruption and mismanagement, but that was not all. Once the troops invaded Panama and the Defense Force was disintegrated, Americans assumed police functions implementing the order or avoiding the chaos that was produced. The aid pledged for reconstruction was cut by the U.S. Congress to assist Nicaragua. Our country is not even able to recover intact the 375 million that were being held in respect of payments for the Canal and taxes of U.S. companies. United States arranged for a part of it served to pay off part of servicing the external debt had not been paid in recent years.

Central America's everlasting theme of violence, drugs and poverty influence the way many see as a culture of darkness and crime. The great leader of Panama, Manuel Antonio Noriega, was born in Panama City, Panama on February 11, 1934. Noriega’s early path seemed to be winding its way towards failure after being born into a very poor family and abandoned at the age of 5. These emotional and physical hardships could have determined the rest of his life, but Noriega did not allow these events to shape his future. Through hard work and sacrifice, he was awarded a scholarship to the Chorrillos Military School in Lima, Peru, one of the most renowned high schools in all of Central America.3 His major in education was military intelligence and counterintelligence.4

In 1982, filmmaker Pamela Yates traveled to Guatemala to make a film about the nation's ongoing civil war, with General Efrain Rios Montt's military dictatorship on one side and a rebel army of farmers, intellectuals and indigenous Mayans on the other. Yartes stated that she has wanted to see these people pay for their crimes. This documentary link Guatemala’s blustery past and present. At the time Yates completed her film When “The Mountains Tremble,” the world was just becoming aware that Montt and his troops were engaging in genocide, determined to wipe out the Maya people one and for all. However, she narrates the films about the search for evidence of Guatemala’s genocide, much of it drawn from footage she filmed back in 1982. At least

The lectures in class this week and the article “10 of the Most Lethal CIA Interventions in Latin America” by Olivier Acuña has opened my eyes to the U.S.’s international political connections. The U.S. has proved throughout history to be self serving and has proven to intervene in nations that will lead to its own economic and political advantages. I find it unfortunate that the CIA and American government tries to pride itself on our democratic system, but will support corrupt dictators and absolute rulers

In the novel, Behind Closed Doors written by B.A. Paris., power is the focal point of the text portrayed by the antagonist, Jack Angel, whom uses power to manipulate the protagonist, Grace. Paris uses Jack to shine a light on a societal issue dealt with on a daily basis. Paris is able to illustrate patriarchy through the power demonstrated by Jack and the position that he has on Grace which makes him the one always a few steps ahead of her. Power is illustrated through the language and dialogue between the characters as well as word choice. The author’s purpose of the work as a whole focuses on Paris’ concern about a social issue on male authority and inequality or feminism and patriarchy. Paris presents these beliefs she uses to convey the ultimate or the overall meaning of the text through the main characters as well as through tone, voice and the author’s writing style.