The New York Times Buries
Story About U.S.-Connected Atrocities in Honduras
September 7, 2001
The nonchalant way the
mainstream press treats discoveries about American-connected atrocities
abroad infuriates me.
The following one-paragraph item
appeared in The New York Times about a week ago:
HONDURAS: BODIES FOUND AT
EX-U.S. BASE
Forensic researchers have
uncovered the remains of 15 people at a former American base used to
train the Nicaraguan Contras in the 1980's. Prosecutors expect to find
the remains of as many as 80 leftists who disappeared between 1979 and
1990. Human rights
groups say some were tortured and buried at El Aguacate base, which the
United States built in 1984. It was turned over to Honduras, then
abandoned in 1994. (AP)
During the following six
days, The New York Times has had nothing further to say about this.
I guess it's no big
deal. Scores of people were tortured and killed at the precise
location where U.S. advisors or their surrogates trained the terrorist
contra army (which itself tortured and killed civilians throughout the
Nicaraguan countryside in the late 1980's). The people tortured and
killed were the opponents of those being trained by the U.S. advisors or
their surrogates. But hey, that was long ago, these dead people were
only Hondurans and probably Commies, so bury the story inside the paper and
don't follow up on it.
Disgusting.
Even more remarkably, the
story is particularly relevant now since John Negroponte, the U.S.
ambassador to Honduras during part of that time period, has been nominated
to be the U.S. representative to the U.N. Human rights groups have
strongly opposed
his nomination because Negroponte was involved in covering up precisely
these types of atrocities by U.S.-trained Honduran troops.
Whoops! Might that be
precisely why this story was buried and never followed up on? |
