Vanessa Avina
A documentary film, titled “The CIA involvement in Guatamala,” was shown by professor Fernando Oleas Thursday in the Student Community Center for the second installment of this semester’s Foreign Film Lecture Series, hosted by the modern language department.
The documentary film was about how the CIA had control of Guatemala and its decision-making process. An example would be the 1951 election of their president, Jacobo Arbenz, who was elected by the government and not the citizens of Guatemala.
When Arbenz was young, he wanted an education and joined the service with some of his close friends who were part of the Communist party.
The film also talked about the business aspect of one of the largest businesses there is in Guatemala — bananas.
A major Guatemalan corporation mentioned in the film was The United Food Company, which owns 70 percent of the land.
The documentary mentioned how the people were being manipulated. For example, when the CIA was no longer allowed to enter Guatemala, they set up a fraudulent radio station in Honduras called “The Voice of the People.”
“It tricks people. It invades their rights,” Oleas said of how the CIA used the radio station to its advantage by pre-recording 35 minutes of voices in Miami. They then played the recording in Guatemala, making the people believe it was one of their own citizens talking.
The film showed how violent it was during this hard time, when more than 100,000 people were killed.
“Yes, it has turned violent. A lot of killings, people disappearing,” Oleas said about how dangerous it has become or can become.
The purpose of showing the film, according to Oleas, was to “become aware of the deception and manipulation in the media.”
Oleas said he wants the younger students to see what the media can do to make them believe something is true.
“Question everything that is given,” he said.
After the documentary was finished, a panel discussion took place with audience members who had questions or comments for Oleas and professor Jaime Soto, a guest speaker.
Soto pointed out some comparisons between the media and the influence and bias exhibited.
“CNBC (is pro) Obama/Biden and Fox News (is pro) McCain/Palin. It is wrong that stations are taking sides in the media,” Soto said.
Guillermo Robles, a student at Pierce College, said, “You know (the documentary) was truthful. It came to me as no surprise.”
Soto spoke about what he wants the younger generation to know about the problems that were brought up in the film.
“(Be) more conscious about critical issues today,” he said. “Labor, third world and migration.(Know) why they migrate here.”
Soto urged listeners “not to take our freedom for granted. Protect our freedom.”
Oleas said the success of the Foreign Film Lecture Series is due to the fact people want to know the truth about the world.
He said there will be a new student lecture series next semester, which may combine the professor lecture series with a new series that will have students from one of his classes do a presentation on a country that the student has researched and present it in front of them.
“I like to inspire people to push themselves beyond their limits,” Oleas said.
Guest speaker Jaime Soto discusses issues of manipulation in Guatemala (Aisha Ahal)