06/21/19 06/21/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now!

pres. trump: iran made a big mistake. this drone was in international waters, clearly. we have a documented. it is documented scientifically, not just words. they made a very bad mistake. amy: after threatening to strike iran in retaliation for shooting down an unmanned u.s. drone, president trump reportedly approved and then abruptly called off military strikes thursday night as u.s. warplanes were already in the air ready to attack. we'll go to tehran to get response from mohammad marandi, a professor at the university of tehran who was part of the nuclear deal negotiations in 2015. we will also speak with professor ervand abrahamian, author of several books ciauding "the coup 1953 the and the roots of modern u.s. iran-relation." then, guatemala announces it will hold a recount of last sunday's presidential and

legislative elections amid fraud allegations. we will speak with guatemala's former attorney general thelma aldana. considered a leading presidential candidate but was barred from running. she was forced to flee guatemala after receiving death threats. vengefuluffering this harassment because of the work we did with the international commission against inquiry in guatemala. i hope now the security conditions to make it possible for me to return to guatemala. it would be very easy for them to take me and murder me. amy: we will talk about the elections and her time as guatemala's top electoral prosecutor when she helped investigate hundreds of politicians and businessmen on corruption charges, including former president otto perez molina, who was forced to resign in 2015 and is now in jail awaiting trial.

all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president trump reportedly approved and then abruptly called off military strikes targeting iran on thursday night. "the new york times" reports u.s. warplanes were already in the air ready to attack when trump called the plan off. trump initially ok'd the strikes as retaliation for the downing of a u.s. drone by iran on thursday. iran maintains the drone had entered iranian airspace, while the u.s. claims the drone was in international waters. earlier on thursday, trump was asked about the incident. pres. trump: iran made a big mistake. this drone was in international waters, clearly. we have a documented.

it is documented scientifically, not just words. they made a very bad mistake. amy: on capitol hill, democratic lawmakers insisted president trump must get congressional approval before taking any military action. senate minority leader chuck schumer spoke to the press after meeting with trump. >> i told the president these conflicts have a way of .scalating the president may not intend to go to war here, but we are worried that he and the administration may bumble into a war. we told the room the democratic position is that congressional approval must be required before funding any conflict in iran. amy: we will have more on iran after headlines. the republican-led senate voted thursday to block the sale of billions of dollars worth of weapons to saudi arabia and the united arab emirates. key backers of the bipartisan bill included republican senator lindsey graham and democrat bob

melendez, who spoke before the vote. >> we have heard these weapons are humanitarian weapons. when they're used to precisely target civilians, how can we possibly continue to sell them? these are components of bombs that we no have killed thousands of civilians in yemen, patients and hospitals, children on school buses. amy: the house is also expected to pass the bill, but president trump has threatened to veto the legislation. in related news, a british court has ruled that british arms sales to saudi arabia were unlawful because the government did not consider whether they would be used to commit "serious violations of international humanitarian law." the court's decision came in a case brought by the campaign against arms trade which cited saudi arabia's use of british arms in its devastating war in yemen. andrew smith, a spokesperson for campaign against arms trade, celebrated the ruling. clear, fors makes

far, far too long, the u.k. government has looked the other way as tens of thousands of people have been brutally killed in the most of the stating -- devastating to monitoring crisis in the world. amy: a federal court has ruled the trump administration can go ahead with plans to strip federal funding known as title x for planned parenthood and other clinics that refer patients for abortions or even mention abortion as an option. the so-called domestic gag rule could threaten health care for millions of women who rely on title x health centers for primary and preventive care. planned parenthood president dr. leana wen said -- "the trump-pence administration's gag rule is unethical, illegal, and harmful to public health." meanwhile, in related news, rhode island governor gina raimondo has signed a bill to expand the protection of

abortion rights and abortion providers in rhode island. the associated press is reporting some 250 infants, children, and teenagers have been locked up for up to 27 days without adequate food, water, and sanitation at a border patrol station near el paso, texas. one local lawyer said a sick two-year-old boy was being treated by three girls between the ages of 10 and 15 because no one else was helping him. children have been reportedly fed uncooked frozen food or rice and have gone weeks without bathing or clean clothes. attorney holly cooper said -- "in my 22 years of doing visits with children in detention i have never heard of this level of inhumanity." this comes as the trump administration argued this week in federal court that the government is not required to provide soap, toothbrushes, or beds to children detained on the border. justice department attorney sarah fabian made this argument

before a three-judge panel of the 9th u.s. circuit court of appeals in san francisco on tuesday. all three judges repeatedly questioned the government's claim. this is judge wallace tashima. close if you don't have a toothbrush, if you don't have so come if you don't have a blanket, it is not safe and -- wouldn't everyone agree with that? do you agree with that? is a fair think there reason to find those things may be part of safety. >> not may be, are a part. why do you say maybe? you mean there are circumstances when a person does not need to have a toothbrush, toothpaste, and so for days? well, in seed is the custody, and is frugally intended to be much shorter terms. it may be for a shorter term stay, some of those things may not be required. amy: judge marsha berzon also pointed out that detained

children have been forced to sleep on cold cement floors with just an aluminum blanket. >> you're really going to tell us that being able to sleep is not a question of safe and sanitary conditions? >> your honor, what i would like to stand up and say is the focus -- to focus the court on what the question is. immigrationr news, a group of japanese americans who were once held in u.s. internment camps are planning to protest outside fort sill in oklahoma on saturday. during world war ii, the u.s. government imprisoned about 700 people of japanese ancestry at the base. there were over 100,000 japanese and japanese americans imprisoned around the united states. earlier this month, the trump administration announced it would soon start holding migrant children at the base. meanwhile, colorado immigrant rights activist jeanette vizguerra has been denied an application for a visa in her latest attempt to stay in the

united states where she has lived for almost a quarter of a century. earlier this year, vizguerra took sanctuary at the first unitarian society of denver church after her stay of deportation expired. she also spent 86 days in sanctuary at the church in 2017 before receiving her stay of deportation. she is the mother of four children, three of whom were born in the u.s. as american citizens. visit democracynow.org to see jeanetteviews with vizguerra. this comes two months after federal prosecutors charged a massachusetts state judge and a former court officer with obstruction of justice for allegedly helping an undocumented immigrant evades eyes agents in a district court house in the city of newton,

massachusetts. in news from central america, honduran president juan orlando hernandez has ordered the deployment of at least 25,000 military forces across the country as protests grow over demanding his resignation. recent unrest was triggered in april amidst news of government plans to privatize health care, pensions, and education. an ecuadorean judge has ordered the release of swedish programmer and data privacy activist ola bini after over two months in jail. but bini remains under investigation for allegedly hacking the ecuadorian vernment a has been rred from leaving ecuador. bini is a friend of wileaks editorulian assae and was arrested iquito on t same day sange was rcibly tak by british authorities from the ecuadorian embassy in london.

ola bini briefly spoke on thursday before being removed by authorities. >> i am not free as long as this illegitimate investigation is going on. as long as this illegal prosecution is going on, i'm not going to be free. we will prove my innocence and this will be over. they are trying to censor me. parliamentarian mark feels has been suspended after he grabbed a female climate protester by the neck and shelter. it occurred when dozens of greenpeace demonstrators faced a protest in a speech by british i finance minister. police are try to determine whether fields should be charged with assault. in california, they -- the war crimes trial for navy seals special operations chief edward gallagher took a surprise turn

on thursday when a navy seal medic testified that he, and not gallagher, was ultimately responsible for killing a wounded captive isis teenage in iraq. the medic corey scott claimed he asphyxiated the teenager after gallagher stabbed the victim. scott described it as a mercy killing. gallagher is also charged with attempted murder for shooting at am iraqi school girl and elderly man. firefighters in philadelphia battled a massive fire overnight after a large explosion at a 150 year old refinery in south philadelphia. time thisd the second month emergency responders were called to the philadelphia energy solutions refining complex, which produces 335,000 barrels of crude oil every day. it is said to be the largest such complex on the u.s. eastern seaboard. no injuries were reported but nearby neighborhoods were ordered to shelter in place.

in health news, u.s. suicide rates have reached the highest level since world war ii. the overall suicide rate has jumped by 33% since 1999. the crisis is most severe in indigenous communities. according to the centers for disease control, the suicide rate for indigenous women has increased by 139%. for indigenous men, the rate is up 71%. eight peace activists were arrested thursday while protesting u.s. drone strikes after they blocked the entrance to the hancock air national guard base near syracuse, new york. the base is home to the air national guard' 174th attack wing, which helps runs overseas drone operations. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we begin today's show with news that president trump approved and then abruptly called off u.s. preparations for a military strike against iran.

the move came after the operation was already underway in its initial stages, with war ships and planes already being put into position. "the new york times" reports president trump approved the strikes in retaliation for iran shooting down a unmanned u.s. military surveillance drone with a surface-to-air missile, but then called off the attacks at the last minute. u.s. officials said targets would have included radars and missile batteries in iran, and that strikes were scheduled for just before dawn in order to minimize the risk to civilians and the iranian military. it remains unclear if attacks on iran might go ahead later. iran says the u.s. drone it shot down was on a spy mission over iranian airspace, but washington says it was shot down over international airspace in the strait of hormuz. the associated press reports the head of iran's revolutionary guard's aerospace division says iran had warned the drone several times before launching a

missile at it. general amir ali hajizadeh told iranian state television on friday, "unfortunately they did not answer." trump spoke to reporters about the downed drone thursday in the oval office. he was meeting with the canadian prime minister justin trudeau. pres. trump: iran made a big mistake. this drone was in international waters. we have it all documented. it is documented scientifically, not just words. they made a very bad mistake. >> how will you respond? pres. trump: you will find out. you will find out. you will find out. obviously, you know, we're not going to be talking too much about it. you will find out. they made a very big mistake. amy: amid tensions over the downing of the u.s. drone, the federal aviation administration has now barred american-aircraft from flying over

iranian-administered airspace in the persian gulf and the gulf of oman. other airlines have also changed the routing of their planes. all of this comes after trump pulled the united states out of the 2015 nuclear pact with iran last year and has imposed economic sanctions on iran. on tuesday, the u.s. announced it was sending 1000 more troops to the region. in may, it also announced a 1500-troop increase after attacks on two oil tankers in the gulf of oman. iran has denied being involved in the attacks and has repeatedly said it is not seeking war with the united states. meanwhile, secretary of state mike pompeo and other top trump officials have reportedly been linking iran to al-qaeda and the taliban during closed-door briefings with congressional lawmakers, in what democrats fear could be part of a plan to invoke the 2001 authorization for the use of military force to attack iran. for more, we are going to tehran

where we're joined via democracy now! video stream by mohammad marandi, professor of english literature and orientalism at the university of tehran. he was part of the nuclear deal negotiations in 2015. here in new york, ervand abrahamian, a retired professor of history at baruch college, city university of new york. he is the author of several books, including "the coup: 1953, the cia, and the roots of modern u.s.-iran relations." we welcome you both to democracy now! let's start in tehran with professor mohammad marandi. can you talk about the response on ground to hearing this "new york times report" which the trump administration has not denied another now news outlets have confirmed, that they were in the midst of a strike right before the attack happened, with the planes in the air, they called it off? >> well, people are viewing the whole story with a significant

amount of skepticism. the wholeason is that affair, this whole saga began with the u.s. leaving the nuclear deal. and then subsequently, trump imposing economic warfare against iranians -- something he said specifically him of these were brutal sanctions. the escalation began on the american side. then the tankers that were struck also were suspicious to the iranians because the tankers that were struck a month ago off the coast of the united arab emirates were attacked almost timidly after bolton said the israelis gave them information about an imminent iranian attack, which made them suspicious. just recently, right off the iranian coast, two other tankers were struck, linked to japan while the japanese prime minister was in tehran, the first prima nestor there reported one years.

right before he was supposed to meet the iranian leaders, these tankers were struck. -- thericans said company that owns the tankers said they were not minds, they were projectiles coming from the air. all of this makes everything that is going on over the past few days seemed very suspicious in the eyes of ordinary iranians. and with regards to this particular drone, this is not the first drone that belongs to the u.s. military that the iranians have down. they have downed a number of drones in the past. the u.s. never denied that. they recover the parts. they brought down another drone by hacking the computer and landing it safely. in this particular case, the iranian foreign minister gave the precise details of where it was hit and the iranians also recovered parts of the drone itself. so the american government narrative here seems to be

suspicious as well. therefore, in the eyes of the iranians, everything that comes out of washington right now has to be looked at with a great deal of skepticism. said iranin salami was sending a clear message to the u.s. that iran does not have any intention for war with any country but we are ready for war. can you explain the significance of his comments, professor? >> well, when president trump said he can annihilate and in a tweet, than the iranians are going to take any move by the u.s. military seriously. president and people in the white house constantly speak about all options are on the table and republican senators calling for strikes on iran, then that makes the iranian military much more sensitive. engagedians are already

in defensive actions against the united states. monitore to constantly american fighter jets and american ships that are constantly moving close to the iranian border. and when a drone like this violates iranian airspace, that basically means they are looking for places to strike. that is how the iranians interpret it. so the iranian military had no option but to shoot down the drone. the fact that the americans don't want to wait to see the evidence in the u.n. security council also makes this more suspicious. the iranians have said repeatedly, we don't want war. that is why we remained within the framework of the nuclear deal. even one year after the americans have exited the deal and the europeans are in clear violation because they are intimidated by trump and the

deal is basically a one-sided deal, the iranians are still abiding by the deal because they want to decrease sanctions. if the iranians wanted to greece tensions, they would have left the nuclear deal a year ago. amy: ervand abrahamian, you are a historian, he wrote a book about the history of iran and you are from iran and no extensively what u.s. involvement with iran is back to the u.s. overthrow of the democratically elected leader in 1953. as you watch what is taking place now and even a president trump calls off this attack that was supposedly about to take place thursday night, it does not mean it is not imminent. >> exactly. i think the long-term agenda in the white house, maybe not trump pompeo, theyolton,

want basically the destruction of the islamic republic, maybe even the destruction of the state, maybe even the destruction of iran. so they have a long record on this. they have not kept it hidden. i think they were basically putting under implementation -- putting into implementation this program. trump has started basically is and itntial campaign starts with good sense to go into an electoral campaign talking about war. so i think he has come as a presidential candidate, he has a vested interest in keeping the "war issue" basically as low as possible. in ald not be surprised few days if he comes up and says he has a secret plan to resolve all of the differences with iran . he will reveal the secret plan after the election.

we are for these secret plans before. he himself once or are not, i don't think that is that important. the people driving this in making policy are in fact determined from their point of view dissolve the problem of iran. talknew crisis -- we can endlessly about the drones and the tankers. as you said, the recent crisis really starts with trump saying the nuclear deal, not just a bad deal, but it was the worst deal the u.s. ever made. and that we need a new deal. now, if you wanted a new deal, you usually leave the door open for negotiations for a new deal. but after he said that, right slammedmpeo actually the door. he came out with the 12 commandments to iran, that iran

basically had to submit to the 12 demands. the demands are quite hard to meet. these 12 demands are asked the quite absurd. meet's no way iran could these 12 demands. it would be equivalent to the supreme leader in iran telling trump, oh, we will be happy to meet and discuss with you but you have to be the 12 demands first. first you need to sit down and negotiate seriously with black lives matter. you're democracy is defective because very low percentage of the electorate votes. you have to do something about increasing your electorate participation and then we will participate in negotiations. with the sort of demands, it would be considered absurd. similarly, the demands that pompeo put on iran were absurd.

negotiatingt fairly demands. they were basically saying surrender, submit to everything we demand, and basically, commit suicide. and this obviously is not acceptable to any regime that wants to survive. so from then on, basically, i would say some sort of military confrontation between the u.s. and iran was inevitable. now whether it happens next week or the week after or after the election, if trump is elected, i think that is basically in the books. there is no way we can avoid basically some sort of military confrontation. amy: mohammad marandi, can you talk about the role of jared shaping a supposedly middle east peace plan and what does this have to do with iran? objectivesone of the

of the trump administration is to sideline iran, to put so much pressure on them that iran discontinues its support of the palestinian people. dear renny position on israel is that israel, like apartheid south africa, is an apartheid regime and that it is morally illegitimate and that it has to change fundamentally, like south recognizesil iran such a state. in other words, palestinians have to have equal rights and self-determination throughout the land. but the united states, because of iran's support for the palestinian cause, wants to sideline iran, to weaken them, or as the esteemed for president has pointed out, perhaps even further the -- the united states was to go further than that and it's troy iran, but they want to

do this basically to strengthen the hands of the israeli regime and allow them to finish off the whole issue of palestine. of course, i don't think that is possible. i don't think it is going to happen. the deal of the sentry at think is going to fail. but i would also like to .1 other thing out. a military conflict is inevitable between the united states and iran, i think there are two important things to keep in mind. if there is a war, in my opinion, all of the oil and gas facilities as well as the tankers in the persian gulf region, will be destroyed. this will not just be an issue of closing the stratform is. this will be something very long-term. and that will lead to global economic catastrophe unlike anything we've seen. in addition to that, iranian allies across the region will

engage u.s. forces and u.s. allies militarily in iraq and afghanistan and elsewhere. and then you would have the saudand emate regimes collapse becau they're complete depende on oil. and millns of peoe wilbe onhe run thats the scerio that is somethg peoplehould not even contemple. the seco is e u.s. m carry out a sll strik herehink is must equly daerousecause i thin the's me so-lled ira expert in the u. tt are telling e u.s. gernment at ifou carryut a strik iran wi do nothg in rponse or it wilbe some ton resnse. at is a jor miscculation the anians wl be releness inheir resnse. theyill probly be ve disproportionate as well. and the also strike those regional countries that are allowing -- that would allow the americans to attack. and the reason why the iranians would response of severely is

they want to make sure the united states does not come to any conclusion that they could repeatedly attack iran. this will lead to further and further escalations. it would be against the interest of the whole of the international community as well as the people of the united states to even contemplate any strike. the mohammad marandi, effects of the sanctions on the ground? the u.s. government is trying to make people suffer. and people have died. certain medicines are not available. the u.s. government has tried to prevent iran from importing medicine, among other things. seriouspeople who have issues, they could die. and many people have died as a result over the past few months. amy: ervand abrahamian, the u.s. media coverage, so often the media used to be the drums for war, your analysis of it?

-- i'm not an expert on the media, but "the new york times" so far has been much more cautious as compared to the iraqi situation. foxuld imagine other press, news and stuff, basically repeats the official line about iran being the cause of all of the problems the u.s. has. but on the whole, i would say quality press has been quite down-to-earth with it. amy: we will continue to cover this. ervand abrahamian, retired professor at the city university of new york, speaking to us here in new york. mohammad marandi, professor of english literature and orientalism at the university of tehran. part of the nuclear deal negotiations in 2015. speaking to us from iran. when we come back, the guatemalan elections. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman. we turn to guatemala, where the supreme electoral tribunal announced thursday it will hold a recount amid fraud allegations following last sunday's presidential and legislative elections. former first lady sandra torres of the party une currently leads the presidential race with

nearly 26% of votes. before the recount was announced, a runoff was expected between torres and alejandro giammattei, the candidate for the ultraconservative vamos. both of them have been accused of money laundering and ties to drug traffickers. a leading presidential candidate was barred from per dissipating in the race and was forced to flee guatemala after receiving death threats. during her time as guatemala's top electoral prosecutor, thelma many, helped investigate including former president otto perez molina, who was forced to resign in 2015 and is now in jail as he awaits trial. in march, shortly after aldana announced her candidacy for president with the center-left political party movimiento semilla, she was barred from the race after criminal charges were issued against her. she says the accusations are retaliation for her work with guatemala's anti-corruption movement.

last year she was awarded the 2018 right livelihood honorary award. well, i spoke with thelma aldana earlier this week, shortly after guatemalans headed to the polls and i began by asking her about the outcome of the election. is a guatemala, there captured state. this is something which i have verified with for, the commissioner of the international commission against impunity and corruption. in the investigations we carried out, we found out there were interested inks the guatemalan state. the institutions, particularly the institutions of justice work institutions in the country that are part of the guatemalan state have been captured. in that context, the elections recently held in guatemala lack any legitimacy. an election which has no possibility of being democratic because the state has been captured and everything emanates

from dark institutions, institutions themselves -- linda themselves to manipulation and not a transparent process. i am referring to the office of general accounts, supreme court of justice, supreme court electoral commission, and all of these institutions have persons within who answer to the interest of any number of factors, but not the national interest. i was a victim of those institutions, which for no reason, for no basis, left me outside of the election contest because i was representing a disturbance to that corrupt and captured system. i was a bother because i fought corruption d. now i'm facing false accusations and suffering death threats nearly because i fought against corruption. , theieve in guatemala conditions do not exist to be able to speak of a legitimate election. the can you talk about who

-- what some call the corrupt wolfpack is? is ae corrupt wolfpack criminal and perverse alliance that has been operating in guatemala for many years. especially through the old traditional politics, whereby every four years, we are made to choose among the same. and the people go to the polls with hope everything will change, and nothing changes. pactse that criminal exists. this pact of the corrupt can about in particular of an action by the congress of the republic, which was legislating and indeed adopted laws that favored impunity and favored themselves. whovery legislators indicated by the international

commission and the attorney general's office, they were accused of several anomalous at. alliance among several legislators in the national congress, president morales. in important sector of the political class. various interests were all formed this corrupt wolfpack. guatemalanght democracy to its knees at this time. do youelma aldana, believe they are responsible for driving you out of the country? are they responsible, including the president jimmy morales, for the death threats against you? they were the ones responsible for having brought the work of the international commission against impunity to a halt. there responsible for having a failed commission. and they are responsible for

what i am experiencing. they are responsible for having captured the guatemalan state and having left me out of the electoral contest and favoring several sectors. they are also responsible for the whole manipulation and everything that was done in the selection process. there are complaints in guatemala that many people were brought to vote with any number of manipulative actions. who sandrau describe torres is, the front runner in the presidential race in the runoff, as well as all hundred giammattei? >> i know the history of sandra torres to some extent. --e met her perhaps personally, perhaps once. but the majority of guatemalans know that since she was first

lady, wife of former president lon, she exercised a strong de facto power in this country. she had a -- agenda and according to one case that was brought by the international commission against impunity, she has been involved in illegal campaign financing. by the is been protected attorney general, supreme court justice, by the constitutional court. through her, several institutions of the state have been manipulated. it would be enough areas for the country for her to become the president of guatemala because she does not speak of transparent work, rather, there are indications there is been corruption around her political movement and her activity in the government in guatemala. in terms of mr. giammattei, i

don't know him. i just came to learn, because and was known nationally internationally that there was an instance involving a prejudicial execution in a prison of guatemala, but he was acquitted for those charges. run fore person who has president of the republic four times, i believe. unfairly you were tossed out, barred from running, do you think the progressives in guatemala made a mistake in not uniting behind the indigenous presidential candidate who fourth many by coming in ? of the left and progressive parties had joined together, including you, once you are pushed out, might she have won the presidency -- or at least injured the runoff?

>> i think the way to defeat the traditional politics, the old corrupt and the pack of in guatemala, was to precisely achieve unity of those parties with a progressive ideology. it was necessary for them to come together and to come to agreement on a single candidate. they could've and cabrera, it could've been another progressive candidate not implicated in corruption cases and illegal campaign financing cases. is unfortunateit the progressive sectors in guatemala have been unable to unite. the problem in guatemala is not a left or right, it is a problem of corruption and impunity around the struggle against corruption and impunity, several progressive sectors, right-wing sectors, transparent sectors should have come together to

struggle for a better country. amy: for our audience who is not familiar with some of cabrera, she ran for president with a left political party known as the mlp. the party seeks to declare guatemala a flurry national state to recognize its more than 20 indigenous an effort guatemalan groups, wants to nationalize guatemala's natural resources and runs on a platform of inclusion and diversity. this is so much cabrera speaking to hundreds of supporters in guatemala city's constitutional closing rights before the election. governed byeen businessmen, military men, academics, and most recently by a comedian. we bring a struggle from within the social movement, from our territories, and we say we are

progress ofht for the popular constitutional assembly and apluri-national state. it is urgent to create this state to replace a failed state of putrid state. we have to build a new state through participation of the and others. amy: so that is some of cabrera who came in fourth in the presidential race and did not make the runoff. but she got 11% of the vote, shocking many. she was the second indigenous woman to run for president. prize winnerce ran. she did not receive anything like this. , did it surprise you the level of support she got across the country, across guatemala? >> yes him it did surprise me

because guatemala, unfortunately, is a patriarchal country where discrimination is discrediting as well. in the political space is closed to women, particularly women who act transparently and are progressive. although the more so, the political space is closed for an indigenous woman, woman like cabrera, who was trained as a leader in her community and who is fully familiar with the reality of the indigenous people , the reality of poverty -- extreme poverty, lack of opportunity, and which has spurred migration, spurred millions of guatemalans to migrate, especially to the u.s. so cabrera, today, has emerged weed on the a

left who will have quite a future in guatemala. amy: thelma aldana, would you have won if you had been allowed to run for presidency? >> i think right now i would have made it to the second round . amy: what do you believe guatemala needs? if you had not been barred from running, what was your platform? talk about the movimiento semilla, your party. >> yes, the movimiento semilla is a citizen platform, a progressive movement, ready and willing to fight poverty, hunger, extreme poverty that guatemala experiences. we want to open up opportunities for indigenous peoples, for women, for the hasn't population, for children, for youth. and we need to create that space for inclusion that is so badly

needed in guatemala. no doubt had we participated, we would be in the second round and with a great number of possibilities -- a good possibility of reaching the presidency. and our most important goal was to rescue the guatemalan state from the criminal structures that have been captured. to put in place a government at the service of the people. amy: thelma aldana, former attorney general of guatemala leader in the country's , a anti-corruption movement, and a former presidential candidate in this year's election until she was barred and has no flood the country facing death threats. -- and has now fled the country facing death threats. back with her in a minute. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman. we continue our conversation with thelma aldana, the former attorney general of guatemala, a leader in the country's anti-corruption movement, and a former presidential candidate who was barred from running and the election. fled the country facing death threats. in this exclusive interview, i asked her about the factors leading guatemalans to flee the country for the u.s.-mexico border in record numbers. >> in a country where 27% of the population is living in extreme poverty, that is 3.8 million guatemalans who today don't have enough to eat in a country where

60% of the population is living in poverty. in a country that is governed by a pack of the corrupt where there is a criminal alliance. there are no opportunities. there is no security. and there are no opportunities for living a life with dignity. this forces people to migrate, to leave to look for better living conditions in the united states. in the migration will never be brought to a halt until the underlying problem of guatemala is resolved. honduraslvador and find themselves in the same situation. the problem is structural. the problem is one of lack of opportunity, discrimination, racism, and corruption. the rules for governing in guatemala is corruption. there is no exception. they steal everything and the people are left hungry.

role of theout the united states? president trump recently announced that he was cutting off all aid to guatemala, honduras, and el salvador because of the outflow of migrants into the united states. how will that affect guatemala? guatemala has had a lot of support from the international community, including the united states. the setting up of the international commission against impunity's is an effort by the united nations. nonetheless, it is not appreciated in guatemala. i think beyond the u.s. policy and beyond the support of the international community, which is extremely valuable, our problem is in guatemala and in its be resolved democratically in guatemala. cc: so talk about what the did and what you did as attorney general as well as after in working with -- talk about the threats by the investigators.

who was held accountable for corruption and what it means for it to be ending in guatemala right now? in my view, the establishment of international commission against impunity in guatemala is the best contribution that the united nations has made to my country. it is the greatest effort and it is a successful mechanism. a mechanism that does work. i continue i worked hand-in-hand with international commission against impunity. it does work. and that is why the criminal alliance in guatemala is bothered by this and perhaps there might be some other countries that don't want -- for the same reason. of the republic, if a national congress sector is committed to transparency, if this is what we had, then it

would be supporting the iccig. during our joint effort, we were able to dismantle hundreds of criminal structures and we showed the population the face of those who have directed the clandestine security apparatuses in these that have been guatemalan state. guatemalanhat -- the population how the structures political and economic structures. and those are the ones that have captured the guatemalan state. the cases were investigated are we could a show of how make a contribution to guatemalan justice system in these conditions. we understand a people with a solid justice system can think about democracy and can think about making progress in human rights and in serving the

neediest person. a justice system -- if a justice system like that in guatemala backfires, then at the end of the day, the people will pay the consequences and the criminal alliance will continue with its status quo, with its illicit financing, and with worse living conditions in guatemala. amy: so at this point, thelma aldana, what happens to you? you are outside of guatemala. can you talk about why and what your plans are for the future? what about these charges that have been brought against you, the embezzlement and crimes around taxes? what do you say about them? suffering vengeful harassment by the criminal

structure of guatemala because of the work we did with the international commission against impunity in guatemala. what i hope now is for the country to give me the security conditions to make it possible for me to return to guatemala. it would be very easy for them to take me into prison and murder me because i have gone after all kinds of crime in the country. if i go back to the country, it is most likely the next day i would show up dead. amy: can you talk about the election, ofof the lucrecia hernandez mack, the daughter of the murdered guatemalan anthropologist myrna mack september 11, 1990, murdered by their military forces, sadly backed by the united states? lucrecia hernandez mack

and the seven legislators who are elected by the political party will no doubt be a life of hope in the national congress. lucrecia has done important work. she has brought a message of hope to guatemalans. nonetheless, i must recognize they are a minority and they're going to have to make a major effort to get the proposals adopted in the national congress. amy: that was thelma aldana, a leader in guatemala's anticorruption movement, former presidential candidate in this year's election until she was barred from running and left guatemala facing death threats. at the end of the interview, she was speaking about lucrecia hernandez mack, a newly elected legislator in the guatemalan congress with aldana's political parties.

she is the daughter of the renowned guatemalan anthropologist myrna mack, who was murdered by a u.s.-backed secured forces on september 11, 1990. we got in touch with lucrecia hernandez mack from guatemala city earlier this week. i asked her about her mother's legacy. >> we had a 36 year armed internal conflict between 10 and 96, whh washe yeawe sied ourast anfinal pie of -- pee accord ,uringhese years of conflict the military would come into the rural communities and massacre them. so we would have a lot of survivors fleeing into the mountains and going as refugees to mexico. and my mother, as a social anthropologist, would do research on the internally displaced population. so she would publish, along with .ertain u.s. universities

and because of these publications she did, she was -- she became an enemy of the state. so she was a target of an operation which is the major security. the that worked as an intelligent squad, death squad. 11 of1990, september 1990, she was murdered, stabbed 27 times. she was coming out of work. mack that, my aunt helen started looking for justice. she was able to prosecute and have a sentence against one of and one ofl officers the intellectual officers. they were both part of the military. -- intellectual officer was

has escaped justice. he was prosecuted and sentenced, but he was never -- we were never able to put him in prison. my mother was the victim of the state that would repress and generate death. --many of us are just trying and many of us are just trying to convert and change like government into a government that is of well-being and life and health, basically. so that is maybe the major reason why i've gone into politics and now i am and elected congresswoman. i am in a political party that is trying to combine ethics with politics and to have a government that is not working for the military or for the oppression or for the corrupt, but finally we will start

working for the people. amy: lucrecia hernandez mack, former minister and health in guatemala, a newly elected legislator in the guatemalan congress with the political party movimiento semilla of thelma aldana. it was announced thursday there will be a recount amidst fraud allegations regarding the last elections. that does it for our show. a very special thanks to -- democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

sami yaffa: for thousands of years it was a place separated from the beliefs and influence of the outside world. after the