In 1954, during the height of the Cold War, the CIA carried out a coup to overthrow the first democratically-elected president in Guatemala. In the months leading up to the coup, the CIA Station Chief in Guatemala City was my grandfather - a man who died long before I was born, but whose presence loomed like a mythological creature throughout much of my childhood. Serpent Tongue explores Guatemalan history through the lenses of power, identity and memory. Beginning with the coup, it highlights the United States’ influence in Guatemala as it careened towards the decades-long genocide.
