Customer Reviews

The Blindfold's Eyes: My Journey from Torture to Truth (Guatemala)

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This book by and about Dianna Ortiz, and her struggle for healing and justice is a mosaic of one woman's courage and resilience against a crushing backdrop of shameful torture of thousands of innocents in Guatemala. Her torture was motivated, not only by the sadistic cruelty of a few monsters, but also was part of a deliberately chosen pattern of social and political repression by the governments of Guatemala, abetted by representatives of the United States Government.

The genius of the book is the way the author allows the reader into her life, and the workings of her mind as she struggles to overcome the truama of her ordeal. She gives us priviledged information about herself and the effects fo her torture on her family, friends, and her religious community. The testimony of a torture survivor and the recovery of her human dignity is a story worth reading for its own sake.

Dianna Ortiz's book, The Blindfold's Eyes offers more.

Her story transcends her personal experience and serves as a window into the historical dimension of our foreign policy in Guatemala. In the light of Sister Ortiz's story, decent Americans will come to question how much human incense, (literally), are we willing to burn at the altar of National Security ?

This book made me angry. It made me cry. It also left me with a lot of questions. In the end this book gave me permission to hold on to a fragile hope for a world seemingly able to devise the most heinous methods to terrorize the spirit of the human person.

I first read Sister Dianna's memoir when it came out in October 2002, but found her account of her kidnapping, torture, and rape in Guatemala (not to mention the psychological and social after-effects she's endured) simply too troubling to review at the time. I just reread it, and only now am able to get beyond the pain to touch base with what I think is the book's real message.

Sister Dianna never softpedals either the brutality to which humans can sink nor the horrifying scars such brutality leaves on victims. She and thousands like her have been wounded for life by the ill-treatment they suffered. To look at Sister's photograph on the book's cover is to see a pain in her eyes that will probably never leave her. But she also leaves room for hope and redemption: a hope and redemption, granted, that are ambiguous and sometimes desperate, but nonetheless solidly real for being so unromanticized. She recognizes that what was taken from her during her brutalization can never be returned. Accounts will never be balanced. But as she writes at book's end, "What I had to learn is that math is not enough. You have to take into account the unexpected. As Graham Greene said, 'Life is absurd. Therefore, there is always hope.'" Not hope for a flashy divine intervention that makes everything right, but for a more solid, more redemptive healing: "I have forgiven God for not working some dramatic miracle. I've learned that God was working a quiet miracle all along, healing me through other people. I still have the horrible past with me
--I carry it in my memory and in my skin and I always will--but laid over it, like new skin over a wound, is a newer past, a past of caring and love."

I thank God for people like Dianna Ortiz, whose life reminds us that there is great strength in fragility.

Sister Dianna Ortiz has given the world a real gift with this book. "The Blindfold's Eyes" is a compelling story of her personal and political journey from the time of her kidnapping and torture in Guatemala to her current work fighting to abolish the practice and bring healing to its victims. In that time she introduces us to many heroes of the struggle for justice, both in the U.S. and especially among the indigenous of Guatemala. The courage that Sister Dianna shows in confronting those responsible for her torture and those that would have them get away with it is inspiring.

This is an amazing story. Sister Dianna shows remarkable strength in describing the unspeakable horrors that she survived in Guatemala. The indignities that she has sufferend in the lies, denials and cover-ups since her ordeal are nearly as difficult to accept. The combination of her personal journey to wellness and her ability to use her experience as a catalyst for fundmental social change is an impressive accomplishment. It should be read as a spiritual memoir, as a survivor's statement, and as a guidebook to how our Government really works.

Sister Dianna Ortiz presents a compelling retelling of her experience with the brutality of the military regime in Guatemala. Her story is disturbing on a multitude of fronts. Ortiz's purpose in writing the book seems to be twofold: to exorcise the demons that linger around her and to expose the complicity of the US government in the military (and hence political) affairs of the government of Guatemala - especially as it pertains to the brutal methods of torturous warfare perpetuated on the citizens and noncitizens of the country.

Ortiz is successful in exposing how the United States is intricately tied up in this macabre dance of social/political machinations in that country. She, and others working with her on similar cases, have been instrumental in obtaining the declassification of CIA and US embassy communications - communications that even though heavily censored, point directly to US involvement in that country.

What is also disturbing about Ortiz's work is that it leaves questions unanswered, too. It becomes apparent that Ortiz is laying out her case in print as she has been unsuccessful in obtaining direct confessions from the US government that relate to her own personal experience. This constant attempt to justify actions and expose certain individuals becomes almost vendetta like in nature towards the end of her account although it is hard to be critical of that point given the tremendous psychological and physical warfare that has been perpetuated against her. Her strategy is probably a wise one as it is an attempt to force personal responsibility on individuals rather than let the government escape with a general nod at its own collective and ambiguously defined guilt.

The previously published accounts of eyewitnesses and the
unearthing of mass graves are testimony to the brutality that existed and still exists within the country. Ortiz's story broadens that spectrum of testimony by bringing the reader right into an actual instance of torture that includes graphic and deeply disturbing details that will linger with you for a long time after the book has been read. In the end, the US government still has not answered the methaphorical and actual question: Who IS Alejandro?

A very difficult read because each page keeps the long lasting effects of torture ever present. And yet just as present was her determination to not let the torturers win. The book was long and a bit tedious at times, but I thought this served to state well the terribleness of torture. At the end of the book, Dianna said she has an artistic bent. That showed through in her writing sytle, which I truly appreciated.

A spiritual journey through hell to light and grace. A book about torture and its effects, Blindfold Eyes is more than that. It describes an innocent nun's dark night of the soul as she is betrayed and disbelieved by her own government. It can speak to all of us who feel hurt and alone.

Here is a link to a radio interview given by Sr. Dianna in 2002:

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/12262002

Listen to her voice and you will hear how wonderful a person she is. This book is about the truth--which Sister Dianna tells without flinching.

A thousand Thankyou's to the Author for writing this Book. I had picked this up at the local library as I walking around the recent book arrival section.

This was book was so helpful to me on a spiritual/religious level and I appreciated the sharing of the deep personal struggle and strategies to cope with Post Traumatic Stress.

From a Religious p/o/v I thought this was awesome as it introduced me to completey new ways of seeing meeting God.
It was also the first book that I have read on the experinces of the church in Guatemala.Although I have seen the documentary " Finding Dominga" at a retreat for PeaceMakers.

I had also never read any of the works of the mentioned Poets at the vigil in Washington and now have them on my reading list.

Thanks so much for sharing the journey .

The Blindfold's Eyes: My Journey From Torture To Truth is the horrific and candid story of Sister Dianna Ortiz, a Catholic nun who physically and emotionally suffered at the hands of ruthless Guatemala's torturers, and who was able to escape to reveal her story to the world and tell of a figure who intervened with her captors and may have had connections to the U.S. Embassy. Raw, harsh details not for the squeamish fill this chilling tale of terrible suffering and the gradual inner journey toward physical, emotional, and spiritual healing. The Blindfold's Eyes is highly recommended reading and a true testament to the power of faith under the most trying and tragic of circumstances.

The Blindfold's Eyes is a tragic tale told by a broken woman. This shows how a brutal 24 hours can linger for a lifetime. Sistor Dianna's tragedy was horrific, proven by the way she releases the actual events of that day. Piece by piece, so things she will not even reveal. What caught my attention was the underlying story she presented when dealing with the US government. The lack of concern for this case and the cases of many others from Guatemala was astounding. The deciet and treachory that occurs so they our government could continue selling arms, training soilders, and talking peace (which was an utter joke) was disgusting. I commend Sister Dianna on being brave enough to put her horror to words, to stand in front of the government and point her finger, and to go on, rebuild, and learn to live again.

This book about Dianna Ortiz and her struggle for healing and justice is a mosaic of one woman's courage and resilience against a crushing backdrop of shameful torture of thousands of innocents in Guatemala. Her torture was motivated, not only by the sadisitic cruelty of a few monsters, but also, was part of a deliberately chosen pattern of social, and political repression by the governments of Guatemala, abetted by representatives of the United States Government.

The genius of the book is the way the author allows the reader into her life, and the workings of her mind as she stuggles to overcome the trauma of her ordeal. She gives us priveleged information about herself and the effects of her torture on her family, friends, and her religious community. The testimony of a torture survivor and the recovery of her human dignity is a story worth reading for its own sake.

Dianna Ortiz's book, The Eyes of the Blindfold, offers more.

Her story transcends her personal experience and serves as a window into the historical dimension of our foreign policy in Guatemala. In the light of Sister Ortiz's story, decent Americans will come to question how much human incense, (literally,) are we willing to burn at the altar of "National Secuity"?

This book made me angry. It made me cry. It also left me with a lot of questions. In the end this book by Dianna Ortiz and Patricia Davis gives me permission to hold on to a fragile hope for a world seemingly able to devise the most heinous methods to crush the spirit of the human person.