Friday the United States government issued an official apology for the 1940 Guatemalan syphilis experiments. The ghastly accounts of US scientists infecting Guatemalan women with the venereal diseases, then telling them to have unprotected sex, and finally treating those infected to find cures – mirror the infamous Tuskegee experiments that went on from the late 1930′s until 1972.
In the Tuskegee version of this horror story African American men in late stages of syphilis were told they were being “observed” for “bad blood” rather than sexually transmitted diseases. Even when it was discovered that penicillin would cure the disease, still the infected patients in the Tuskegee experiment were not given the drug.
As for Guatemala, about the time Adolf Hitler was engaging in what was called “the final solution” against the Jews, it turns out the United States government was committing its own version of crimes against humanity.
Original flier enticing African Americans to the Tuskegee Experiment
The Guatemala human experiments would likely still be undiscovered had Wellesley College Professor Susan M. Reverby found evidence of the secret tests while studying the Tuskegee incidents. After examining letters and other evidence in the archives at the University of Pittsburg, Reverby was aghast at the implications and impact of what she found. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a statement that reads in part:
“Although these events occurred more than 64 years ago, we are outraged that such reprehensible research could have occurred under the guise of public health….. We deeply regret that it happened, and we apologize to all the individuals who were affected by such abhorrent research practices.”
The dark nature of the story extends far deeper than just stoically observing some people with a progressive disease actually. The participants in these secret studies were never actually told what was going on, and in the case of the Guatemala participants, those never gave their permission. When not enough participants came forward, scientists actually rubbed the infections onto the genitals of mental patients to get their quota. The gruesome nature of what those scientists did will obviously taint America’s reputation even farther, especially in Guatemala.
President Alvaro Colom has called these events tantamount to crimes against humanity, and despite a personal call from Clinton, he suggested Guatemala reserves the right to petition the highest international court. The United States government is reportedly investigating the evidence to determine culpability and what can be done to balance the scales.
With news of US soldiers killing civilians in Afghanistan, this is the last bit of news President Obama wanted to hear. This also makes this writer wonder why Obama did not call the Guatemalan president – seems bad PR just keeps on rolling in 2010? The video report below gives more details.
About Phil Butler
