In the shadow of the Cold War and at the height of its war on Communism, the U.S.’ destructive role in Guatemala began with a CIA coup d’état in 1954 to overthrow democratically-elected leader Jacobo Árbenz, who had stopped the exploitative practices of the U.S. multinational United Fruit Company.

The U.S. continues to use Guatemala’s military for its own interests, primarily stopping migration. We traveled to Guatemala and spoke to military officers trained by the notorious School of the Americas, a U.S. Army program aimed at defeating Communism in Latin America, who are implicated in some of the darkest genocides in the country against Indigenous people.

The victims of those genocides shared their open wounds with us, as they continue to fight to bring the perpetrators who acted on behalf of the U.S. to justice.