''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