Read the poem first!!! and THEN read this description..
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From MANUFACTURING CONSENT, by Noam Chomsky:

On March 30, 1985, GAM leader Hector Gomez Calito was seized, tortured, and murdered. (The six policemen who had come for him were themselves assassinated shortly after his death). He had been burned with a blowtorch, on the stomach and elsewhere, and beaten on the face so severely that his lips were swollen and his teeth were broken; his tongue had been cut out. Then, on April 4, another leader of GAM, Maria Roasario Godoy de Cuevas, her twenty-one-year-old brother, and her two-year-old son were picked up, tortured, and murdered. Her breasts had bite marks and her underclothing was bloody; her two-year-old son had had his fingernails pulled out.

GAM is a human rights organisation formed in Guatemala. Chomsky explains;

"it was a product of the desperation felt by people seeking information on the whereabouts of disappeared relatives and unwilling to take serious risks to that end"

Chomsky claims in his book, that Hector Gomez Calito, Maria Roasario Godoy de Cuevas, her brother and her 2 year old son, were murdered at the hands of the Guatemalan government, and that the american media did nothing to bring these events to the general public. The repercussions of doing so, would have saved many innocent lives. The american mass media (ultimately, puppets for the government) continue to select news worthy stories, based on political implications. This (GAM member murders) is one of THOUSANDS of cases ..


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Screenshot is a photo manip of an image from a google search. it is of a Guatemalan woman breast feeding her son.
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I have included a full description of this poem, but please only read this after you have read the poem. This is a line-by-line explanation of the revised version:

Cuevas' Fingernails

When I first read the case study about the murders, the most disturbing thing that I found about it was that the 2 year old boy (Cuevas) had his fingernails pulled out. Who would torture any human being in this way, let alone a 2 year old child??? so that is the inspiration for the title.

two year old child

Although this is supposed to be the 2nd stanza (in the original version), it really is the beginning of the poem, because the stanza before it was meant to be a satirical introduction. I have removed it, because many of the responses to this poem pointed out that the contrast between satire and the serious issue in this poem is too confusing.

at the hands of a king,

The 'king' refers to a leader; it can be interpreted as meaning the leader of the western nation, whose media ignores this crime (and others like it), or it could mean the government committing the crime; it can also mean the mass media itself, and another interpretation is Jesus. This line is ambiguous because leaving it open for interpretation allows the reader to take what they can from this poem.

loses life, and his
fingernails,


The emphasis is on his fingernails. It is supposed to symbolise the nature of this murder; the petiness of the crime, and the fact that he not only lost his life, but lost something that one wouldnt normally think you'd lose with your life. 'fingernails' is in a line of its own for shock value.

his lover’s

Dont let the age of the child confuse you. The lover is the boy's mother; It is a freudian reference that I used because writing 'mother' seemed too boring, and using the word 'lover' evokes images of 2 people in love, and furthermore, the proceeding lines talk about breasts; from the child's perspective, those breasts are his - like a possessive lover would feel ownership over the breasts of his woman.

round supple breasts
feed not only his mouth

Feed, as in, breast feed.

but the mouth of a nation,
bitten by teeth of corruption.


The mother's breasts had bite marks on them when her body was found. The man/men who bit her was/were sent from the government to commit the crime. These lines therefore, point out that her breasts were used for more than simply breast feeding her son - they were used to dehumanise the victim, and silence & oppress the human rights movement in Guatemala.

hype hides the blood stains
on cotton.
she may as well not
have worn any at all.

The hype refers to propaganda. This is the first real reference that hints at the mass medias involvement with the murders. The propaganda hides the rape (and the murders).

Calito caught up
in flames.

Calito was the leader of GAM. His body was blowtorched.

perhaps over cable
you might hear his screams,

We dont have an opportunity to see beyond what we are shown. The media selects its 'worthy' victims and we can only digest what we are given. Cable was originally 'conan' but I agree with people's comments on using Conan - it does suggest that there's more to 'conan' than simply using an example of media.. so I've changed it to 'cable'.

if he still had his tongue.

Calito's tongue was cut out (before/after the murder - im not too sure). This is symbolic of silencing the innocent. The reasons for using this line here should be obvious (or if you dont see the message here; im saying that if the media weren't burying the truth under mountains of republican garbage, then we might not be so blind to the truth - ie, we might be able to hear the voices of the victims)

Thanks for reading. Please leave comments.