03/03/23 03/03/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> we are currently trapped. ey are pushing us. they are pushing us. am new yorcity has aeed to an historic multimillion-dollar settlement with peaceful presters in the south bronx

who police violently "boxed in" or "keled" durg a 2020 protest two weeks after the the police murr of georgfloyd. w'llpeak with o of the plaintiffs and with a journalist who was filming that day. then to nigeria, where opposition parties are disputing the results of saturday's presidential election in africa's most populous country. we'll go to lagos for an update. then bands thelma cabrera from running for president. we will speak with her and her running mate in a rare u.s. interview. >> [indiscernible] guatemala is a corrupt state,

corrupted by criminals. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. german chancellor olaf scholz has begun a two-day visit to washington, d.c., for confidential talks with president biden that are believed to be focused on russia's invasion of ukraine. german opposition leaders have accused scholz of secrecy after he scheduled no public appearances, no press conferences, and traveled without his usual contingent of journalists. the talks follow tensions over u.s. demands germany ship leopard 2 battle tanks to ukraine. the u.s. is pressuring germany to speed up production of ammunition. meanwhile, the head of russia's wagner group said today mercenariehave almost completely surrounded the besieged city of bakhmut in ukraine's eastern donbas region.

u.s. secretary of state antony blinken says he pressed russian foreign minister sergey lavrov to reestablish the new start nuclear arms reduction treaty after their brief encounter thursday on the sidelines of the g20 summit in new delhi. it was the first face-to-face meeting of high-level u.s. and russian officials since russia's invasion over a year ago. >> i urged russia to reverse its irresponsible decision and return to implementing the new start treaty, which places verifiable limits on the nuclear arsenals of the united states and the russian federation. mutual compliance is in the interest of both our countries and also what people around the world expect from us as nuclear powers. america neither the u.s. or russia has joined 92 other nations that have signed the u.n. treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons. in belarus, a court has sentenced pro-democracy activist ales bialiatski, a 2022 nobel peace prize laureate, to 10 years in priso

biiatski and three other people from the viasna human rights centre were convicted with financing anti-government protests and smuggling money. he has been in jail since 2020 when wide-scale protests erupted against the reelection of president alexander lukashenko. in cambodia, opposition leader kem sokha has been sentenced to 27 years of house arrest. the former leader of the now-banned cambodian national rescue party was accused of conspiracy with a foreign power, treason, and encouraging a revolution. this comes amid a heightened crackdown in cambodia on opposition and the media. israeli forces in the occupied west bank shot and killed a 15-year-old palestinian boy thursday during a raid near the city of qalqilya. the palestinian ministry of health reports the teen, muhammad nidal salim, was fatally shot in the back while two other palestinians were wounded, including one person who was struck in the chest by gunfire. israel's army said soldiers were

responding to suspects who hurled molotov cocktails at them. israeli soldiers and police have killed at least 65 palestinians so far this year, a rate of more than one death per day. 13 israelis and one police officer have been killed by palestinians over the same period. french president emanuel macron declared thursday the era of french interference in africa is over as he embarked on a four-nation tour of the continent. last week, macron pledged to reduce france's military rolin africa after recent withdrawals from mali and burkina faso. france's efforts to stem attacks from islamist insurgents in the sahel have largely failed. but macron said france intends to maintain a presence in its former colonies with a reduced footprint amid western concerns of growing ties with russia and china. in the democratic republic of congo, a former belgian colony, protesters gathered outside the french embassy in kinshasa this week. they condemned macron's visit and demanded france pressure

rwandan president paul kagame to stop supporting m23 rebels in the drc. >> france finances terrorist groups here in africa in several african states. easily mr. macron -- the people are not duped. at no point did he condemn mr. kagame. amy: walgreens says it will not dispense abortion pills in some states where the procedure remains legal after receiving pressure and threats from republican lawmakers and anti-abortion groups. the biden administration approved the sale of the abortion pill mifepristone directly from pharmacies in january, both by mail and in-person. medical abortions are now the most popular method of terminating a pregnancy and can be a lifeline for many people following the overturning of roe v wade. this comes as a texas judge is poised to deliver a ruling that could halt distribution of

the abortion pills nationwide. on thursday, a group of top human rights organizations and experts asked the u.n. to intervene to stop the destruction of abortion rights in the u.s., saying that with the scotus decision in dobbs, "the u.s. is in violation of its obligations under international human rights law." meanwhile, reproductive rights groups in ohio submitted a petion to create a ballot initiative that would le ohioans vote to enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution. eli lilly announced it is lowering the price of insulin by 70%, capping its out of pocket cost at $35 and offering its generic insulin at $25. the move follows years of organizing and pressure from activists, lawmakers, people with diabetes. in response, bernie sanders wrote to sanofi and novo nordisk demanding they follow suit.

he wrote -- "insulin is not a new drug. it was discovered 100 years ago by canadian scientists who sold the patent rights of insulin for just $1 because they wanted to save lives, not make pharmaceutical executives extremely wealthy. and yet, as a result of unacceptable corporate greed, the price of insulin has gone up by over 1000% since 1996 causing 1.3 million people with diabetes to ration insulin last year while your companies made billions of dollars in profits." the environmental protection agency has ordered norfolk southern to test for dioxins in east palestine, ohio, the site of a february 3 train wreck that caused a massive release of chemicals. dioxins are a class of highly toxic contaminants that could have formed in the chemical burn-off of the wreckage. they're found in agent orange and have been linked to some of the worst environmental disasters in u.s. history, including the poisoning of the love canal neighborhood of niagara falls, new york, in the 1970's. the epa's order came as residents confronted a

representative for norfolk southern at a town hall meeting in east palestine thursday evening. >> on every level. this has touched my family. this has touched my friends. this has touched my farm, my animals, my finances, my home, and it will touch me at the ceular level if i get diagnosed withancer, als, or whatever is going to come down the road if i stay inhis contaminated, toxic town, and you all know it. amy: on wednesday, union leaders representing rail workers wrote to transportation secretary pete buttigieg, ohio governor mike dewine, and other officials, blasting norfolk southern for risking the health of workers at the crash site and not providing personal protective equipment. the letter states that workers "continue to experience migraines and nausea, days after the derailment, and they all

suspect that they were willingly exposed to these chemicals at the direction of norfolk southern." on capitol hill, the house ethics committee has opened an investigation into republican congressmember george santos, who's admitted to lying about his background during his successful 2022 campaign to represent new york's 3rd congressional district. the committee will probe whether congressmember santos engaged in unlawful activity, including failure to properly disclose financial information, whether he violated conflict of interest laws, and allegations of sexual misconduct. republican house speaker kevin mccarthy has so far refused to call on santos to step down. and the justice department has argued former president donald trump does not have absolute immunity from civil lawsuits stemming from the january 6 assault on the u.s. capitol. top justice department lawyers made the assertion as part of an amicus brief filed on behalf of capitol police officers and house democrats who are suing

trump for physical and psychological harm brought by the insurrection. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. when we come back, new york city has agreed to an historic multimillion dollar settlement with peaceful south bronx protesters who police violently boxed in or kettled during a 2020 protest two weeks after the police murder of george floyd. we will speak with two of the plaintiffs and a journalist who was filming that day. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "let, let me in" by de la soul. after decades of legal wrangling over sample clearance, the seminal hip hop group's music will finally be available online today. it is bittersweet after the

passing last month of member trugoy the dove. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we begin today's show here in new york, where the city has agreed to a multimillion-dollar settlement with peaceful protesters w were violtly "boxed in" or "kettled" by nypd ring a bla lives matr demonstration two weeks after the police murder of george oyd in 202 as part of the settlement, over 300 people who were trapped by poce and aaulted witbatons and pepper spray, then detained arresteat a june 2020 protest, will each receive $21,50-- believeto be the largesclass-acti settlemen in a case of mass arrest. tharrests took place in the south bronx. a human rights watch investigatiosaid the nd's

nduct th day amound to serious olations o international human rights law. >> we are curreny trapped at 136th. it is 7:45. they are pushing us. they are pushing us. they are pushing us. they are pushi us. creaming move! amy:hat is pt of a vid report produced by human rights watch that raised awareness about the kettling that took place that day. this is another clip. >> as the marchers headed down willis avenue, police offers in t street. >> we are going to go around. >> down 136thtreet.

just before the 8:00 curfew, instead of allowing or even recting t marers to spersethe nypd dispersed bicycle officers to block the mahers as th reached the intersection of 136th and brook aven. >> a line of officers blocked the protesters from turning back. the tactic is called kettling. amy: that's from a human rights watch investigation of the nypd kettling in the south bronx on june 4, 2020 that was the focus of the historic settlement announced this week.

in response to concerns raised at the time, the police had there crackdown was preplanned. this is new york city police commissioner at the time dermot shea. >> we had plan which was executed nearly flawlessly in the bronx. this wasn't about protests, this was about tearing down society. amy: meanwhile, nypd's strategic response group has continued to target non-violent protesters, and this week dozens of people testified at the new york city council about their abusive tactics. the nypd refused to show up. for more, we are joined by three people who were at the protest in the bronx in june 2020. sonyi lopez was filming the protest and is currently a video news fellow here at democracy now! her footage was used in the human rights watch report. also with us, samira sierra and amali sierra.

they are sisters and are among the five listed plaintiffs. and joining us, joshua moskovitz, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs. we welcome you all to democracy now! let's begin with the plaintiffs, with samira sierra and amali sierra. start off by talking about what this protest was about two weeks after george floyd's murder, where you marched and what happened. >> good morning. the protest was during the uprising, right after george floyd's murder. we were exercising our human rights, our civil rights, and we were demonstrating and standing up against all of the racial injustice that happens day in and day out in this country. amy: amali, talk about your decision -- it was great to go out. we are talking about june 2020. is this at the height of the

covid pandemic. at the time of the killing, the police killing of george floyd. did you expect what happened to happen? explain what happened in just one block of the south bronx when you were stopped by police. >> to your point, this was in the midst of a global health crisis. we had been in the pandemic for a few months at this point. this was not the first protest we attended. it was the first we attended at our home in the south bronx. the energy that day from the beginning of the protest was very tense. the very short protest that we partook in on june 4 reflected just that, it was very tense and very -- we were very peaceful in

our demeanor but also making sure to exercise our right that we are entitled to an express the anger and frustration that we felt because of the violence that black and brown people are constantly met with in united states of america. also our message was very clear and we were very intentional and expressing our frustration and anger. we were not violent. we were very peaceful. it was met very violently and we were not expecting at any point to be met wh all the aggression that we were by the nypd and by the as sergey specifically. amy: that terrifying image of the police blocking you in, kettling you, and telling you to

move where there is no place to go. and then explain what the police did. >> sure. we were very strategically guided down 136th street. as we were walking down toward brook avenue, we were blocked off by a line of officers on both ends of the street. so willis avenue and brook avenue. there was a commander in a white shirt who continued to direct the officers to move in at the same time. we were boxed in. we were kettled. we were also squied. our bodiewerequished against each other. there were people -- i mean, you

just had that footage where it was tear. we were terrifi for our les. people could not breathe. people were fainting. i haveever in my life felt the amount of fear that i felt tha day. y: sonyi lopez, it is great to have you on screen. you are behind the scenes filming. democracy now! news fellow now. at that time, you were filming this protest. explain what you saw. when you see the police come the first arrests are of the medics and they're doing? move ahead and arrest them, they said. >> amy, i live in mott haven and this was a peaceful protest. it was peaceful. what i saw when the police came

down this hill on 137th street and kettled folks, i saw people coming down -- police coming down on bikes rapidly. a second later they started blocking people off with their vibes and pushing people with thes bikes, attacking medics and lawyers, people that were there to helcommunitmembers anprotesters alike we were not expecting it. luckil i managedo run away but before i could, i was able to document and fil -- human rights watch was able to use that veo. it was fritening i have never been so scared and fearful in my own neighborhood. i will never forget tt. i was t able to ave my home for months after that, like other protesters, and fel unsafe. it was so traumatizing that day. amy: i want to bring a lawyer into this conversation, joshua

moskovitz, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. talk about the unit of police. we just played dermot shea, the police chief at the time in new york, saying this was all preplanned by the police. in this human rights watch reporting, which uses a lot of sonyi's footage, they deliberately go after the legal and medical teams first. they are very clear. one of the police officer said, i think he had "police legal" on his shirt and he said it was fine to arrest the legal observers who were considered essential workers at the time. they were allowed to be out. explain who this team of police are. >> the nypd's strategic spots group are a paramitary organization within the nypd that are used to produce tt -- used to police protest events

li we saw in mott hen. they he come under appropriate scrutiny for their violent tactics. this was no accident. this was a planned operation. wh is unique about theott haven oration iit was planned by the highest level officials within the police department. terrence monahan, the highest ranked -- heist uniformed rank police ofcer was present. the bureau chief tt oversee the srg unit. they had a plan. amy: it is astounding. you see them separate out -- one of the leaders, the first to be

arrested. >> that's right. there's no question in the world the plan that day was to inill fear in people so they would stop protesting. is was n a violent uprising. this was a peaceful protest. in fact, there were people attending a protest who lived in the south bronx who were members of then mayor's cabinet, the commissioner of community affairs for mayor de blasio was there personally because he lives in the south bronx. he talked about what happened that day and described the sentiment of the protest as closer to a candlelight vigil. theurpose of this operation was to instill fear in people. amy: it is interesting that on wednesday, the city council held a long planned repeatedly delayed oversight hearing on the strategic response group that was involved with this. no one from the nypd showed up,

citing ongoing litigation. your response to this? talk about this historic settlement in the country for what took place in the south bronx. >> as you said, this is an historic settlement. as far as we can tell, ts is the largest per person class-action mass arrest settlement in the country, and we think that is appropriate given the extreme violence that we saw carried out by the nypd during the operation. the si of the awa the city reed twe think reflects an acknowledgment or understanding that what happen that day was unconstitional immoraland it should never happen again. we hope the nypd has taken this to hea and will reform the operatio and, frany, never use the srg for policing protest events in the future.

the other aspect of this case that i thinkften gets erlooked i thathis happened in the south bronx. it happened in new york congressional district5, which is 97% people of color. it is also one of the poorest congressional districts in the entire country. this operation was not carried out in manhattan, brolyn. there was a choice made the highest vels of ny to carr out this operationn the soh bronx. and that fact is part of what has led the human rights watcfindinthis to be human rights violation, d we are proud of our clients pursuing this litigation and pursuing the result they achieved here for people who were not able to get lawyers t were there that day and who were injured. amy: amali, your 25. samara, you are 30. what does this settlement mean for each of you?

>> this settlement is larger than myself. i believe the settlement allows for individuals who were there that day, the hundreds of individuals that were there that day the opportunity to come forward, the opportunity to be recognized and acknowledged based off of the abuse that they endured that day. and hopefully, an opportunity to heal. it was very traumatic and trauma is very different for every individual. i hope this encourages all of the individuals that were unable to represent themselves to come forward. and that is why it is extremely crucial and very important to be a representative of a class action of this magnitude. not just for myself, but for the greater good, for all of the

people that were unable to represent themselves. amy: samira, your response? and also the fact that no police officer was charged and there was not an official apology, but you did have this financial settlement. >> right. the settlement to me means the city of new york is being held accountable for organizing the highest level of the nypd, which is the strategic response group, and holding them accountable for flawlessly executing excessive force in the south bronx, which is my home. amy: josh -- >> it also means to me that they are being held accountable for the violation of human rights of black and brown folks in this country. they have a long way to go, but

it feels really good, for the lack of a better word, to know there is some accountability. amy: joshua, there are other lawsuits? this is not the only one, this class-action. >> there are other lawsuits that are still proceeding post one brought by new york state attorney general's office in the city of new york seeking junta relief to reform the police to rmits policing a protest events. amy: sonyi lopez, you escaped, were not kettled in. can you talk about the effect on you as a journalist who is filming, saying these people kettled in, being beaten by the police? >> beyond being a journalist, i'm a community member. i grew up in this area so it hurt to see my community being beat like this. in response to the class-action lawsuit, it is great people are geingonetary -- being

compensated monetarily, but we also need someealing, maybe erapy offered to folks like myself who ran away, who were able to get away from this. i wanted to add quickly, tt haven families protested in front of the 's and demanding accountability and asking the question, what happened on june 4, for months on end andad no answerrom the pd or ki ability from the city. a small gel was being built in mo haven across e street fr my former middle school while this was happening. this was a traumatic eve and we nee tremember tt people are still healing from this. amy: sonyi lopez, thank you for ining us on screen today, democracy now! news fellow, filmed the protest in 2020. samira sierra and amali sierra, named plaintiffs in this historic class-action lawsuit. and joshua moskovitz, lawyer for

the plaintiffs. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as we turn now to africa's most populist country, to nigeria, where opposition parties are disputing the results of this weakens presidential election. nigeria's independent national electoral commission has declared the winner to be bola tinubu of the ruling all progressives congress party. tinubu is the former governor of lagos and played a key role in helping outgoing nigerian president muhammadu buhari win two terms in office. he campaigned using the slogan, "it's my turn." tinubu received 36% of the vote. turnout was under 30%. several of tinubu's challengers have disputed the results, alleging fraud, while election observers and voters have cited delays, closures, and violence at voting sites. on thursday, peter obi, who placed third despite winning in lagos, announced he would contest the election results in court.

>> i assure you good people of nigeria, fraud this election. we won the election. i will prove it. amy: we go now to lagos, nigeria, where we are joined by aderonke ige. she is a human rights activist and lawyer who works with corporate accountability and public participation africa. you have this election being challenged by civic groups, by international groups from the eu monitoring group to the u.s. international republican institute to the national democratic institute across the board. describe what happened.

>> thank you, amy. thank you for the opportunity to be on your platform. i had been here before. in a nutshell, what happened on saturday, which was nigeria's election, which was also supposed to be the election to help the people to bring into office the president and the legislature at the national level. so there were three elections on that day for the presidency, the senate, and the house of representatives. like you said in your introducti, a lot of disappointment, a lot of complaints have been the aftermath of the election. i had the privilege of voting as

a citizen. one of the first things i immediately noticed, there was a deployment of officers. people were just waiting and no weight came panic and -- the wait became panic and attention. you have to play the role of mediator but also someone who wants the process to be as credible as possible. at the time the officers arrived, i asked them, why the delay? i was really imagining it was because they did not have security, maybe, and it was not security. they just had physical challenges. it was not shocking, even as the elections going on, there were real time videos, messaging, and

so on people complaining about similar things. another thing that was really obvious in saturday's election was the fact there were so many irregularities -- alleged irregularities given pieces of evidence that came forward. and other parts of the country, people said there were no issues for them. i am trying to balance it here so it does not look like a generalization but from what we saw, there were cases of violence, pockets of violence here and there of people being brutalized or even open intimidation, threats. some people could also not vote. that is a summary of the election. amy: talk about the significance of the ruling party's so-called winning, to bola tinubu

continuing on. >> hello? amy: can he talk about the significance of bola tinubu saying he won, the ruling party continuing to rule? >> i think this will take us back a little. the last time i was here, we were talking about the protest movement that eventually became a movement and it was -- that movement itself was a series of protests where -- alleg to have been involvement by the state. that movement was essentially led and activated by young people, in my opinion and the opinion of 70 people, metamorphosized led by young people because their voices were

not validated or even heard back then in 2020. that energy and anger brought into the 2023 election. we knew that. a lot of people in that sense one of the ruling power -- wanted the ruling power out of power. the young people, whose class i also belong to, it was time to speak loudly and clearly. for them, because of the irregularities -- the election management body played a role in giving validation -- for them -- it is a process. it is a process that young

people's voices were not heard. a lot of the energy that was channeled was not just about waiting to vote in 2023 but also a lot of young people got involved in the protest. it was by putting themselves forward for political office and getting into the system and the politics deciding to be candidates. that was a great thing that was really applauded. but this whole gamut of what happened, it is like a dash of hope, a form of truncation of the kind of trust young people also still report a little ending the system because this time around, it is meant to be conducted by an independent national commission. not the ruling party. you might find it interesting to note between then and now, a lot has happened, including the revealed or the amendment of the

election law, which a lot of people also applauded. we saw innovations beginning with what is now supposed to be a level of financial but on any the election management body was to also introduction of technology in the electoral process itself. all of that -- i think hope have been dashed and trust has been crushed. any claim by any political actor or candidate i now can be subjected -- amy: aderonke ige, zinke for being -- thank you for been with us human rights activist and , lawyer who works with corporate accountability and public participation, joining us from nigeria. next outcome as guatemala bans thelma cabrera from running for

president, in a rare interview, we will speak with thelma cabrera and her running mate. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break] amy: rebecca lane. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

from the nigerian election to the election in this hemisphere, to guatemala, we end today's show looking at this year's presidential election there, happening at a time of worsening repression in guatemala against journalists, human rights activists, and indigenous environmental defenders in the central american country. the guatemalan constitutional court on thursday ruled against presidential candidate thelma cabrera and her running mate, exiled human rights ombudsman hordán rodas, upholding a february decision by guatemala's supreme electoral tribunal to block them from the ballot. cabrera and rodas are members of the leftist political party, the movement for the liberation of the peoples, which grew out of the indigenous-led farmers rights organization codeca. across guatemala, thousands have taken to the streets in protest demanding that cabrera and rodas

be allowed to participate in june's election. thelma cabrera is a maya mam environmental and human rights defender, who also ran for president in 2019, receiving an unprecedented wave of support. got about 10% of the vote. rodas served as human rights prosecutor from 2017 until last year when he was forced into exile for allying himself with anti-corruption efforts. while they are being banned from participating in the election, the guatemalan constitutional court has confirmed the presidential candidacy of conservative zury ríos, the daughter of deceased former u.s.-backed military dictator efraín ríos montt, who rose to power after a coup in 1982. rios montt was convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity 10 years ago.

ríos had been prohibited from running in 2019 due to a constitutional measure that doesn't allow figures who came to power by coup, or their blood relatives, from running for president. cabrera and rodas took their fight to the inter-american commission on human rights in washington, d.c., last month. they also traveled to new york, where democracy now! spoke with them. i began by asking thelma cabrera for her response to being blocked from the election. >> the response, as indigenous people in this ratifies what has always been denounced, that guatemala is a corrupt state, corrupted by criminals. this is not reflected in violating our right to purchase a paid in this presidential election. they fear thelma cabrera but people who organize and are putting forward the proposals for structural change in a guatemala. amy: the significance of your

candidacy -- in 2019, you got 10% of the vote, more than any indigenous person in guatemala history. i think before that, rick virgil menchu got 3%. talk about what you represent to -- which people should understand around the world what is called the pact of the corrupt, that is taking off the ballot. >> through the election fraud to place, came in fourth place. that we the people understand we did better. first or second place. but in the face of this electoral fraud, that is the place they said we came in.

and indigenous peoples, we are a minister the corrupt half because what we propose is a project for the nation. a popular assembly in the face of the whole context that we are experiencing. context mark by assassinations, imprisonment, and the diluting of our wealth guatemala. what we're proposing is a constitutional assembly and they are fearful of us, the peoples governing ourselves. i would like to add something. this shows their punishing as as a people, prohibiting our rights to political participation. persecution is not new. it has been happening since 2018. from 2018 to date, there 26 assassinations of human rights defenders, of those of us who defend our territories of the mother earth. so the best way to punish us is

to forbid our participation. but we are not after candidacies. we are promoting the whole project for the nation'. our struggle will continue even after the election. that is why we are continuing among the path that we have chosen on thus far. amy: hordán rodas, can you respond to both of you -- you're the vice president candidate and thelma cabrera is the presidential candidate -- being banned from the guatemalan presidential elections this year? >> well, we are causing panic to the path of the corrupt ones, which is an alliance between the political sector -- they have looted the country for decades, for centuries perhaps. it is in their interest to maintain the status quo. the situation is with three structural problems -- inequality, racism, and

corruption. so the strength of the lmnp supplemented with what we can experience -- i aspired to be the director of university of san carlos, but this has them panicking. they know we are the real option for change. everything else is continuing with the same thing, just changing the face of a puppet. it might be a woman or a man, but not like us. we know the real problems are and we are going to propose real solutions. amy: why did you go into exile? you joined so many advocates, judges, lawyers, who have left guatemala. why did you leave? >> many of us who played a role in fav of the struggle against corruption had to leave.

in my case, the week after i assumed my office in august 2017 for president morales -- he was commissioner -- he wanted to end the commission before its time. it was getting into sensitive matters. investigations were reaching high figures in the guatemalan state. [indiscernible] that is why many had to leave. this was revenge against those who d impacted their interest. amy: thelma cabrera, the leading candidates for president right now is zury ríos.

zury ríos is the daughter of president, former general rios montt, who was found guilty of genocide against the mayan people, your people of guatemala. she insists there was no genocide. can you talk about this? talk about this history. >> it also ratifies the attitude of a failed state. it shows the electoral tribunal is corrupted. it is been co-opted by criminals. because this background, the daughter of one who carried out genocide, tells the people very much and this shows the system itself, through its laws, is violating the rights that we have as a people. that is an expression of racism and discrimination against us, the peoples. and that tells us that gives the people a lesson that the power

of the powerful resides in the different institutions of the state. it is not that they enjoy support, but rather it is power that has been structured in and operates in institutions. so we as a people tell our brothers and sisters that that is the result of the failed and corrupted state. in the same ones are violating rights and bringing an end to the little bit of democracy that exists in guatemala. for here, we see the same ones who are excluding the people who are the ones who are bringing into democracy in guatemala, so the attitude of the supreme electoral tribunal is clear -- we are following the rules of the system in terms of registering our candidacy, that theyxclude us. it is quite clear who is in power. amy: can you talk about the role of the united states then and supporting the military dictator, for example, general

rios montt? the deaths of some 200,000 guatemalan? and what that has wrought today decades later? i would like to ask both of you that question, beginning with thelma. >> well, in this case, for example, when there are foreign companies that are also operating in guatemala, for example, i'm not sure how to pronounce it in english, but this is a company, business for electricity distribution at ended up in the hands of the u.s. company. this also led communities nationalization of the electricity and utilities in guatemala. we also suffered sabotages and repression. where there was complicity of the government of guatemala and transnational companies are central in the u.s.. >> i think it is important have

historical memory. the government of the united states has playea very unfortunate role as certain times. for example, it backed the counterrevolution in 1954 that put an end to a decade of a democratic spring. subsequently, they trained members of the military who were carrying out genocide and scorched-earth policies and a guatemala and other countries of latin america. and now we see certain nuances. united states, was also important for supporting the commission against impunity and corruption. but then the guatemalan government was -- they sought to ingratiate themselves with trump. they changed the location of the guatemalan embassy in israel, what of the few govements to do so. -- one of the few governments to do so. decided to be a safe countries

where it is not safe for us. united states has given a lot of political oxygen over the years to the governments of guatemala. today they finally understood corruption causes migration. they have begun to impose some sanctions. but i think they should act more quickly to sanction corrupt actors lead to the central government and economic powers. otherwise, the same oblems are going to continue. corruption is also the cause of migration. amy: thelma cabrera, talk about your presidential platform, what you're calling for in guatemala. >> are presidential platform are the demands of the people. it is not a personal thing. it is a collective struggle that has been designed from our

communities from being dispossessed of all of our wealth will stop ever since the 1954 coup d'état, ending the tenures of democratic spring in guatemala, well, as result of that, we have suffered conviction of indigenous community's. from places where the community's have historically lived and now community's, well, we don't even have anywhere to live. single crop agriculture has ended up causing diseases. as result of a single crop agriculture for example. the government plan would put forward, which is the proposal to have a constitutional assembly, fighting for our rights as human beings. at the same time, respecting the rights of mother earth. in other words, life in balance with mother earth and nature. we are also proposing that we build a national state in which the different indigenous peoples are present with our delegates and will not just be used as a political banner.

we need to have representation of the peoples with self-government. we need to a political constitution drafted by the peoples. the idea is to defend life. and let me round out my answer. in the face of the situation of eviction, there is greater migration and greater migration leads to greater disintegration of families. and for those who are in guatemala as well, that represents an attack on her house. there is major malnutrition. even though guatemala is a territory, the country filled with wealth, but that well is poorly distributed. it is in just a few hands. that is why we, the peoples come are the ones who suffer the consequences and that is why we were right to propose a project for the nation, a constitutional a simile to address all of the

needs that we have as a country. so when we stood up to say we are human rights defenders, then they label us as terrorists, criminals, thieves. that is why we had to propose this project of a nation saying we are not just rowdy, criminals. we love life. we know how to make proposals. it is just that they are afraid of us. amy: so what happens when you go back to guatemala now? they have ruled you are not a presidential candidate. do you accept this? >> well, the thing is, we're getting stronger every day. they might be shutting the doors to us in this election, but our aim is not just elections. our struggle is getting stronger. we have showed we have followed all of the legal procedures. we are peace people. we respect the laws and

procedures for participation. but despite that, they prohibit our participation. but we get stronger and stronger because our aim is not just to participate in elections, we want to go beyond the proposing a project for the nation structural changes. fighting corruption. corruption is there because there are structural problems. it is a sign of the structural problems. and so we say we have identified the illness, but we have the medicine, which is our proposal. and we are going to be strengthening our proposals, showing we, too, know how to denounce the situation internationally and we are able to follow the procedures this is the path we are following now. amy: guatemalan presidential candidate thelma cabrera and her running mate hordán rodas have been banned from running for president in guatemala selections.

congratulations to my beloved niece anna and scott on their birth of their son. welcome to the world, you go. congratulations to his big brother miles. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]