It Took Years, but Guatemala Held a Brutal Dictator Accountable. What Can We Learn?

Opening Arguments

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Atheist, Opinion, Harvard, News, Politics, Legal, Law, Liberal, Supremecourt

4.3 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 20 May 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

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Summary

OA1159 - We are so pleased to have Temple Law Professor Rachel López on the show to discuss her work in shining light and digitally preserving court records related to the trials following the Guatemalan Civil War. Not only is the archiving of this material so important to those impacted by the government regime over the 30 year conflict, it also demonstrates early examples of transitional justice and what we might learn from it when applying it in the future to governments that commit human rights abuses. Listen in to hear the efforts she undertook to be sure these stories would not be forgotten.

Truth Commission Report (February 1999)

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0:00.0	You must never ever give out or give in. You must keep the faith and keep your eyes on the prize.
0:07.6	That is your calling. That is your mission. That is your moral obligation. That is your mandate.
0:13.4	Get out there and do it. Get in the way. Change happens because people care.
0:26.6	You the people have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure.
0:36.6	I still believe with all my heart, America can't. free and beautiful to make this life a wonderful adventure.
0:48.3	I still believe with all my heart, America can be a place where no child is left hungry, no community is left behind, and no one gets told they don't belong.
0:55.1	The fight for our country is always worth it.
0:58.9	Hello and welcome to opening arguments.
1:00.5	This is episode 1159.
1:02.1	I'm your host Thomas Smith.
1:04.3	And today I've got something really special for you.
1:09.0	You know, it feels like certainly right now, and we may be at a low point, it feels like this administration is committing all kinds of, I don't know if atrocities,
1:15.0	especially in the context of today's show, perhaps atrocity is too strong a word,
1:18.5	but certainly crimes and offenses against civil rights and human rights.
1:23.1	It feels like this administration is committing those multiple times a day,
1:26.7	and it feels like no one will
1:28.4	ever be held to account. So I think Temple Law professor Rachel Lopez is a really interesting
1:33.4	person to talk to right now because she's done some fascinating work related to trials following
1:39.0	the Guatemalan Civil War and genocide that happened during that. Now, I know that sounds like a
1:44.0	really, really grim topic, and it is, but we don't get
1:46.0	into anything grim like that.
1:47.5	It's more about the process of bringing people to justice.
	...

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