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Conference

Class of '53
Thwarting democracy in Iran and Guatemala: What lessons?

August 12, 2003
The Iranian

Please Announce

Thwarting Democracy in Iran and Guatemala: What Lessons Have We Learned Fifty
Years After the U.S. Sponsored Coups. November 13-15, 2003, Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago

A major international conference on the U.S. Sponsored Coups in Iran (1953) and Guatemala (1954) will be held by Northeastern Illinois University on November 13-15 on its main campus in Chicago (Bryn Mawr and Central Park). This historic conference, first of its kind, will host a number of well known scholars, journalists and experts, who will present their views and experiences on the historical and future relevance and significance of these coups with regard to U.S. policy of intervention in other countries.

Some of the presenters include: Stephen Kinzer, Senior New York Times Correspondent and the co-author of Bitter Fruit: The Story of the American Coup in Guatemala and the author of All the Shah‚s Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror (the story of coup in Iran), Raul Molina-Mejia (Rigoberta Menchu Tum Foundation and New York University), Mark Gasiorowski (Louisiana State University), Mansur Farhang (Bennington College and Iran‚s former Ambassador to the U.N.), Janet Afary (Historian, Purdue University), Mahmoud Goudarzi (Washington D.C. based Iran expert Journalist), Douglas Cassell (Northwestern University Center for International Human Rights), Michael Fischer (Rice University), and Malcolm Byrne (George Washington University), Houshang Keshavarz Sadr (Paris, France), Cyrus Bina (University of Minnesota at Morris), The conference will also feature Dr. Saied Fatemi, nephew of the late Dr. Hossein Fatemi. Dr. Saied Fatemi was Dr. Mossadegh's translator in the Hague court and is the last living person who was in Dr. Mossadegh's house on the fateful day on August 19, 1953. Many more speaker are being added to the list.

Some of the topics that will be covered in various panels are: The Historical Contexts of the 1953 Iranian Coup and the 1954 Guatemalan Coup, United States Foreign Policy Motives and Interests in the 1953/1954 Coups, The Effects on the 1953/1954 Coups on the Politics, Economy and Human Rights in Iran and Guatemala, Personal Reflections of People Who Were There During the Iranian and Guatemalan Coups, Regional Impacts of the Coups on Political Development and Human Rights in the Middle East and Central America, The Lessons of 1953/1954 Coups for Current and the Future United States Foreign Policy and The Literatures of Iran and Guatemala Reflecting These Two Coups.

This conference is significant as it provides for an in-depth review of U.S. foreign policy of covert intervention in removing two democratic regimes in two different parts of the world, discusses its consequences and presents some lessons for the future policies. The conference also provides an arena for the Iranian and Guatemalan communities to share their common experiences of these two devastating coups. To facilitate this important sharing, there will be a number of cultural ceremonies during the conference. The first two days of the conference are in English and the Saturday sessions are in Persian.

Supported by the College of Academic Development and other colleges and divisions in the University, a large number of faculty and staff at Northeastern Illinois University have joined their minds and hands together to plan and implement this conference successfully. Besides Northeastern Illinois University, many other outside groups and institutions support this conference. Some of the co-sponsors of the Conference are: In These Times, Amnesty International, American Friends Service Committee, Sharhvand Persian Newspaper, and Heartland Cafe and Journal. More co-sponsors are being added to the list. A number of fund raising events are planned for this conference, including one at Heartland Cafe (in Chicago) on Saturday, October 25, at 9:00 p.m.

More information, including hotel arrangements, are forthcoming in the next two weeks.

For more information, please visit the conference Web site at WWW.NEIU.EDU/~IranGuat (under construction, will be set up by mid August) or call James Moody at (773) 442-5443. To join the Conference LISTSERV, please send a subscription request to Iran_Guatemala_Conf_L@NEIU.EDU

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