Trembling Mountains, Flaming Frontiers: Two Films on Central America

TREMBLING MOUNTAINS, FLAMING FRONTIERS: TWO FILMS ON CENTRAL AMERICA by E. Bradford Burns Blockading ports and landing marines have been the most consistent reactions of the United States to events in the Caribbean and Central America. In the past century and a half, the United States has intervened in that region more than two hundred times. We are still at it, only more extensively than before. Two documentary films just released by Skylight Pictures, New York City, Nicaragua: Report from the Front (32 minutes) and When the Mountains Tremble (83 minutes) are sobering reminders of the impact of recent interventions, disasterous for Central America and counterproductive for the United States. Central America illustrates the reality that the greater the need for social, economic, and political change, the more violent the resistance to it. No force has been more determined to thwart change than the U.S. government. Whatever interpretations are applied to the current crises in Central America, the basic conclusion emerges that the majority favoring change confronts a brutal resistance from the well-armed and financed minority opposing it. These two films reveal with grim and determined reality this struggle and conclude that the United States thus far has tipped the balance to favor a privileged and selfish minority. E. Bnadfion-d BuAnS Xa Pna^esson. oi Latin Amentcan HXAtotiy at UCLA. fon. mon.e in^onmation on Hicaha.gua: Repont Jn.om The fnxint and When the Mountains Ttumble, uintte: Skylight P-LctuAes, Inc., 330 W. 42nd StAeet, Hew Vonh, H. V. 10036 88 Rigoberta Menchú, an Indian woman, narrates When the Mountains Tremble. The tragic story of her family parallels the drama of Guatemala . Pertinent flashbacks recount the history of military dictatorship from the overthrow of the decade-old revolution by the CIA in 1954 to the present. A year after the United States placed Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas in power, Vice-President Richard Nixon mused, "President Castillo Armas' objective, 'to do more for the people in two years than the Communists were able to do in ten years,' is important. This is the first instance in history where a Communist government has been replaced by a free one. The whole world is watching to see which does the better job." As the film amply illustrates, Castillo Armas and the gaggle of generals following him into the presidency have institutionalized violence , hunger, poverty, and a miserable quality of life for the majority. If there ever were a testimonial to stone-age capitalism, Guatemala provides it. The brutal ization of human dignity illustrated in this film staggers the civilized mind. The young filmmakers—Pamela Yates and Thomas Sigel--have effectively used the statements of Indians and interviews with Guatemalan leaders. The insensitive, not to say foolish, comments of the archbishop as he prattles on will convulse the viewer with amazement . The generals, too, appear as parodies, until one realizes that they take themselves and their statements very seriously. Hollywood casting could not have turned up a more villainous group of bandits, our allies. Comic relief comes from excerpts from the televised homilies of ex-President Efrain Rfos Montt, an actor who rivals Ronald Reagan not just in performance but in nonsense. Little wonder the two of them got along famously when they met. The film makes clear the results of U.S. intervention in Guatemala. Our governments, whether of Democratic or Republican persuasion, have used military strength and financial leverage to maintain in power corrupt and conscienceless men wed to privilege, power, and pesos. In turn, they guarantee U.S. investors a docile labor force and munificent profits . The film makes a valiant effort to end on a positive note. It suggests that the consciousness of the Indian majority has been raised. They are descending from the mountains to take control of their destiny. I hope so. Nicaragua: Report from the Front demonstrates that the U.S. government is as determined in 1983 as it was in 1954 to thwart change. How89 ever, in three decades the Central Americans have learned a good deal about the tactics of the CIA. Nicaraguans will not repeat the mistakes of the Guatemalans. This time the people are armed. They will defend...