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Kiriakou's volunteer trip to Guatemala

A visit John Kiriakou made to Guatemala to volunteer for a couple of weeks at an orphanage, which he recounts as the closing evidence in his argument about the 1954 coup: the orphanage was ringed by a twenty-foot concrete wall, and he could barely sleep for the gunfire outside.

John Kiriakou ends his account of the 1954 overthrow of the Guatemalan government with a personal visit rather than a historical judgement. Having described the installation of a military dictatorship that “brutalised the population for the next twenty-plus years,” he adds that the country “still hasn”t gotten over that coup — it”s still one of the most dangerous places in the world.”[1]

“I went to Guatemala a couple of years ago to volunteer for a couple of weeks at an orphanage. And thank God that the orphanage had a twenty-foot-high concrete wall all the way around it, because I could barely get to sleep at night for all the gunfire outside.” His conclusion is causal and unqualified: “It”s still a terrible place. And it”s a terrible place because we made it that way.”[2]

See also

References

  1. One America News Network, 2026-02-2749:29 on YouTube · Transcript
  2. One America News Network, 2026-02-2750:00 on YouTube · Transcript

Sourced from John Kiriakou's on-record public statements. See his profile for the full body of his interviews, podcast appearances, and short-form video.