The Houses are full of smoke

Duration: 180 mi

Year Published: 1987

Creator: Circle Releasing

Format: 16mm

Color: Color

Sound: sound

Description: This in-depth documentary explores the social conditions, politics and clandestine operations of the U.S. in Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua. (Each section may be viewed separately.) Part I: Guatemala. This section begins with the American-backed installation of Colonel Castillo Armas as military dictator in 1953 after a coup ousting elected President Jacobo Arbenz. It charts the repression of continued military rule, the machinations of the CIA and American corporations, the atrocities of government death squads, and the activism of the Indian peasantry who have formed guerrilla organizations. Part 2: El Salvador. Former Salvadoran government, military and police officials reveal CIA infiltration of the country and the institution of intelligence and security networks. They point to those responsible for the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero and the deaths of four American church women. Campesinos detail attacks by government death squads. Part 3: Nicaragua. This segment reveals the clandestine financial support provided by the Reagan Administration for the Contras in their fight against the Sandinistas. Former Contras detail the military training provided by the U.S. through CIA and Argentine agents and acts of sabotage designed to destabilize Nicaragua's revolutionary government. Villagers recount brutal Contra attacks.