Victoria Sanford on Feminicide, Impunity, and the U.S.'s Bloody History in Guatemala

I speak with Victoria about her new book "Textures of Terror: The Murder of Claudina Isabel Velasquez and Her Father's Quest for Justice."

Victoria Sanford is a John Simon Guggenheim Fellow and Professor of Anthropology at City University of New York. She has given expert testimony on the Guatemalan genocide in international courts and authored seven books, including Buried Secrets: Truth and Human Rights in Guatemala, and most recently, Textures of Terror: The Murder of Claudina Isabel Velasquez and Her Father's Quest for Justice, which she wrote “to help readers understand the violence and corruption that drives migration.” I speak with Victoria for the latest episode of The Signal about her new book, the U.S.'s bloody history in Guatemala, and the endemic of feminicide and impunity in this Central American nation.

[You can also listen on Podbean, Apple, or Spotify]

Host Cyril Mychalejko’s 5 Book Recommendations to Further Shine a Light on Guatemala (in addition to Victoria’s books)

1. Guatemala: Never Again, by Recovery of Historical Memory Project (REMHI) Human Rights Office, Archdiocese of Guatemala

2. I, Rigoberta Menchú, by Rigoberta Menchú

3. Bitter Fruit: The Story of the American Coup in Guatemala, by Stephen Kinzer

4. War by Other Means: Aftermath in Post-Genocide Guatemala, edited by Carlota McAllister, Diane M. Nelson

5. Paper Cadavers: The Archives of Dictatorship in Guatemala, by Kirsten Weld

ALSO LISTEN TO:

• EPISODE 1 – Immigrant Solidarity: From Bucks County to the Border with Sue-Ann DiVito

ARTICLES

• The Dark Truth Behind Migration through a Father’s Quest for Justice, by Victoria Sanford

• Guatemalan Femicide: The Legacy of Repression and Injustice, by Cyril Mychalejko

ORGANIZATIONS

• Immigrant Rights Action (Bucks County)

• Rights Action

• Guatemalan Human Rights Commission

• NISGUA (The Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala)

• WOLA (Washington Office on Latin America)