President Obama, to Guatemala, for U.S. Medical Experiments

From 1946 to 1948, the U.S. government, with the cooperation of a number of other bodies (including the Guatemalan government), tested an experimental syphilis vaccine on Guatemalan prisoners. In order to do this, it first exposed the men to syphilis, sometimes through prostitutes, sometimes directly injecting the bacteria into their spinal columns. In October, after a Wellesley College professor uncovered the practice, President Obama called Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom to apologize on behalf of the U.S.

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