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Why
ericaHas
Won
ltsLastWar
by
Gene H. Hogberg
Grave and ominous developments- with far-reachíng ímplícations- are
under way in the Western Hemisphere.
T
H IS
is the time of the
year when the West–
ern world, at least,
thinks of that most
illusive of a ll human attain–
ments- peace.
Peace, howcvcr, scems more
distant than cvcr. And of a ll the
turmoil, thc intens iñed fighting
in Central Amcrica is at the
moment thc most ominous.
Few peoplc undcrs tand the
real
reason
behind the fighting and
what thc worldwidc implications of
detcriorating conditions in thc
region portend.
Sudden Escalation
This past summcr, in a sudden and
dramatic show of mili tary force,
U.S. President Ronald Reagan dis–
patched two a ircra ft carrier battle
groups, along with the battleship
New Jersey.
to positions in in terna–
tional waters just offshore from the
Pacific and Caribbcan coast lines of
the embattled region .
In early August, the fi rst elements
of as many as 5,000 U.S. troops
began to arrive for long-term mi li–
tary exercises in Honduras.
The Pre s idcnt was clearly
attempting to send a message to
both Havana and Moscow: Further
November / December 1983
meddling in the region, especially
the support of guerrillas in El Sal–
vador, can no longer be tolerated.
Since that time the poor and
underpopulated Central American
republic of Honduras-bordering
both Marxist Nicaragua and st r ife–
torn El Salvador- has mu s h-
ment troops. The Central lntelli–
gence Agency (CIA) runs the affai rs
of severa! thousand anti-Sandinista
contra
rebels along the Honduran
frontier with Nicaragua.
A radar base near the capital of
T egucigalpa monitors air traffic
over the region. Runways are being
A session of tbe National Bipartisan Commission on Central America, presided over
by former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, seated center.
roomed into Washington's nerve
center in Central America.
At a new base in Honduras, U.S.
advisers train El Salvador govern-
enlarged to accommodate massive
C-5A transports, which can carry
345 U.S. troops each.
Construction has begun on a
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