''The Ambassador'' ( no, Ambassadøren) is a 2005 Norwegian television
documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...
directed by
Erling Borgen Erling is a Scandinavian male name, meaning "Heir of clanchief", i.e. prince or similar. Notable people
named Erling include:
Given name
* Erling Aas-Eng (born 1965), Norwegian politician
* Erling Aastad (1898–1963), Norwegian long jumper and sp ...
.
It is a Norwegian production, produced by Erling Borgen for INSIGHT TV.
Synopsis
The film examines the career of John Negroponte
John Dimitri Negroponte (; born July 21, 1939) is an American diplomat. He is currently a James R. Schlesinger Distinguished Professor at the Miller Center for Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. He is a former J.B. and Maurice C. Sh ...
, focusing primarily on his time as U.S. Ambassador to Honduras in the early 1980s. It brings to light the militaristic aspects of his service in the region in relation to the Reagan Doctrine
The Reagan Doctrine was stated by United States President Ronald Reagan in his State of the Union address on February 6, 1985: "We must not break faith with those who are risking their lives—on every continent from Afghanistan to Nicaragua—to ...
. Interviews with numerous Central American human rights activists
A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing camp ...
point to Negroponte's alleged complicity in war crimes not only in his nation of diplomatic assignment, but also in neighboring El Salvador as a part of the Salvadoran Civil War
The Salvadoran Civil War ( es, guerra civil de El Salvador) was a twelve year period of civil war in El Salvador that was fought between the government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front
The Farabundo Ma ...
and in Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...
as an aid to the Contras. The documentary covers forced disappearance
An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a State (polity), state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or po ...
as part of this involvement including the disappearance of 179 Hondurans and specific examples such as the case of Father James Carney, whose brother is interviewed.[ The film also contains interviews with former U.S. Ambassador to Honduras Jack R. Binns, Negroponte's predecessor; ]indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention
*Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band
*Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
Guatemalan activist Rigoberta Menchú, and Salvadoran bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...
Medardo Gómez.
References
External links
*
The Ambassador (Ambassadøren)
''Norwegian Film Institute
The Norwegian Film Institute ( no, Norsk filminstitutt) was founded in 1955 to support and develop the Norwegian film industry. On 1 April 2008, it was merged with Norwegian Film Fund, Norwegian Film Development, and Norwegian Film Commission to ...
''
L’ambassadeur
''Festival international du film des droits de l'homme de Paris''
2005 films
2005 television films
2005 documentary films
Enforced disappearance
Documentary films about war
Documentary films about refugees
Documentary films about war crimes
Films set in Honduras
Films set in Nicaragua
Films set in Central America
2000s Spanish-language films
2000s English-language films
2000s Norwegian-language films
Documentary films about Latin America
Norwegian documentary films
Nicaraguan Revolution
Documentary films about the Salvadoran Civil War
Documentary films about American politics
2005 multilingual films
2000s American films
{{poli-documentary-film-stub