Last Updated on October 5, 2013
Anyone familiar with the political career of former U.S. president Ronald Reagan knows that fascism was his modus operandi. From his role as anti-socialist FBI snitch in Hollywood, to his brutal anti-democratic repression of the free speech movement as governor of California, Reagan was the archetypal ugly American.
So when I read of his cozy relationship with the brutal fascist dictator of Guatemala he assisted in the campaign of genocidal terror against the indigenous Maya, I was not surprised that a man so grotesquely inhumane as Rios Montt — who soon goes on trial in Guatemala for genocide — found a loyal companion in Reagan.
And while it is good that Montt is finally being tried, it is disturbing that Reagan’s self-identified ideological protege, Barack Obama, is now pursuing the same agenda of U.S. hegemony in Guatemala and the rest of Latin America.
Across the world right now, Indigenous peoples are facing a renewed assault on their lands, rights, and ways of life.
From extractive industries pushing deeper into ancestral territories, to governments rolling back hard-won protections,
the threat is global—and it is growing.
What makes this moment especially dangerous is how little attention it receives.
Stories like this are disappearing in real time. Mainstream media
barely covers it and the coverage is fragmented. The public is left without the context
needed to understand what is truly at stake.
That is exactly why IC Magazine exists..
For more than 20 years, IC has reported on Indigenous struggles worldwide — consistently, independently, and without compromise.
We don’t follow news cycles; we trace patterns. We don’t sensationalize; we provide context.
And when the world looks away, we stay focused.
But this work is increasingly difficult to sustain.
We refuse to lock our reporting behind a paywall. We don’t sell access through subscriptions.
And we don’t answer to advertisers. IC Magazine survives solely because readers like you choose to
support independent Indigenous journalism.
Please donate today if you can. Every contribution helps us to continue this crucial work.
Thank you,
John Ahni Schertow
Founder and Editor in Chief
