We explore the U.S. policy that helped give corruption a new foothold in Guatemala – and how a prominent journalist landed in prison.

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** THE WEEKLY REVEAL
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Saturday, July 15, 2023

Hello! In this issue:
* Central American politicians are cracking down on independent journalists.
* Expectant mothers in treatment to stay off drugs are losing custody of their children anyway.


** THIS WEEK’S PODCAST
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** Guatemala’s War on Journalists
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Part of the cover of elPeriódico, a Guatemalan newspaper whose final issue was published in May 2023. Credit: Courtesy of elPeriódico

Corruption is a longstanding problem in Guatemala, and it’s intertwined with U.S. policy in Central America. At times, the U.S. has had a corrupting influence on Guatemalan politics; at others, it has supported transparency. This week’s show looks at the root causes of corruption and impunity in Guatemala and how they have prompted generations of Guatemalans to flee their country and migrate north.

Veteran radio journalist Maria Martin takes us to Huehuetenango, a province near Guatemala’s border with Mexico. For decades, residents have been migrating to the U.S. to help support families struggling with poverty. We then connect the migration outflow to U.S. policy during the Cold War and its support of brutal dictatorships in Guatemala that were plagued by corruption.

Then Reveal’s Anayansi Diaz-Cortes introduces us to a crusading prosecutor named Iván Velásquez. In the early 2000s, Velásquez was tasked with running an international anti-corruption commission in Guatemala, known by its Spanish acronym, CICIG. Its mandate was to root out corruption and improve the lives of Guatemalans so they wouldn’t feel compelled to leave their homes. Velásquez had a reputation for jailing presidents and paramilitaries, but met his match when he went after Jimmy Morales, a television comedian who was elected president in 2015. Morales found an ally in then-U.S. President Donald Trump, whose administration helped Morales dismantle CICIG.

With CICIG gone, journalists were left to expose government corruption – journalists like José Rubén Zamora, who was arrested last summer on trumped-up charges. We collaborated with Zamora on an episode that originally aired in September 2020. Diaz-Cortes speaks with Zamora’s son about his father’s arrest and the state of journalism in Guatemala.
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** A Quote to Remember
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“So people that used to do drugs aren’t allowed to have kids?”

Jade Dass lost custody of her newborn after a drug test found Suboxone in her system, and child protective services started an investigation. Dass was in recovery from opioid drug addiction and began taking the anti-addiction medication before she got pregnant. A Reveal investigation ([link removed]) found almost 3,700 women with only medication-assisted treatment drugs in their systems who were reported to child welfare agencies.

Read: A Mother's Worst Nightmare (Reveal and The New York Times Magazine) ([link removed])

Listen: They Followed Doctors' Orders. Then The State Took Their Babies. (Reveal) ([link removed])
Watch our latest documentary, now streaming ([link removed]) .


** In Case You Missed It
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🎧 The Culture War Goes to College ([link removed])

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🎧The Pentagon Papers: Secrets, Lies and Leaks ([link removed])
This issue of The Weekly Reveal was written by Kate Howard and edited by Nikki Frick. If you enjoyed this issue, forward it to a friend ([link removed]) . Have some thoughts? Drop us a line (mailto:[email protected]) with feedback or ideas!

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