A historian at Wellesley College has uncovered evidence that US government researchers deliberately infected hundreds of Guatemalans with syphilis and gonorrhea in the 1940s in experiments conducted without the subjects’ permission. Details of the study were uncovered by medical historian Susan Reverby. On Friday, State Department spokesperson P.J. Crowley said the Obama administration has apologized to the Guatemalan government.

P.J. Crowley: “Yesterday afternoon, Secretary Clinton called President Colom of [Guatemala] to express both her shock at the discovery of the details of this research and also to apologize on behalf of the American people. During the course of the conversation, she also invited Guatemala to participate fully in the investigation that we will carry out to determine the facts behind this research.”