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dor in ils contention that Mos–
cow is s upporting terrorists
around the world. Secretary of
State Alexander Haig Jr. views
the Salvadoran situation as the
prime example today of Soviet
violations of an "international
code of conduct' ' agreed to at a
197 2 summit conference with
the United States.
At thal summit both sides dis–
avowed obtaining " unilateral ad–
vanlage" at the expense of the
other.
The trai l of communist adven–
turism since that time in Africa,
Asia, and closer to home, in Latín
America, shows how worthless
the agreeme nt - a foundalion
stone of detente-really was.
Washington Much to Blame
According lo America's new
ambassador to the United Na–
tions, J ean ne Kirkpatrick, lhe
delerioration of tbe ·U.S. position
in lhe hemisphere has "created
serious vulnerabilities where none
previously existed."
Tragically, Washington itself is
largely responsible for the politi–
cal deterioration throughout Cen–
tral America and parts of the
Caribbean. Recent U.S. foreign
policy has contributed heavily lo
the deslabilizalion of govern–
ments, in the name of promoting
"change." This unwittingly gave
the green light to Moscow and
Havana to acl as the prime agents
of "change."
Officials in the previous U.S.
administralion, maintains the out–
spoken Mrs. Kirkpatrick, learned
the wrong "lessons" from Viet–
nam. They carne to the erroneous
conclusion, she said, that Wash–
ington must never again be on the
"wrong side of history" by sup–
porting an authoritarian leader
(such as the Shah of Iran or
Anastasio Somoza of Nicaragua)
against a "popular movemenl"–
whether or not communists were
involved in it.
The previous administration
further felt that America must
henceforth act with "modesty and
restraint" in world affairs. In
other words, the Vietnam experi-
April 1981
ence had shattered America's
pride in its own power!
Exit the Monroe Doctrine
Regarding Latín America, Wash–
ington no longer wished lo view
trends there in terms of hemi–
spheric security. Traditional U.S.
policy, from the Monroe Doctrine
through Franklin Roosevelt's
Good Neighbor Policy to John F.
Kennedy's Alliance for Progress,
was consigned to lhe dustbin of
history.
Instead, one influen–
tial report emphasized
that "nonhemispheric
states"- presumably the
Soviet Union- "will play
increasingly important roles in
Latín American atfairs."
Indeed, according to Ambassa–
dor Kirkpatrick, the Soviet Union
has become a major military power
within the Western Hemisphere.
" In Cuba," she notes, "the Soviets
have full access to the naval facili–
ties at Cienfuegos, nuclear subma–
rines, airstrips that can accommo–
date Backfire bombers. From
these, Soviet naval reconnaissance
planes have on severa! occasions
flown missions off the east coast of
North America."
From these bases also, can be
launched Cuba's Soviet-built
MiG 21s and 23s- planes that
could be quickly armed with
nuclear weapons.
The Soviets also have on Cuba
electronic-survei llance facilities
that monitor American telephone
and cable traffic and a network of
intelligence activities under direct
Soviet control.
And there still exists on Cuban
soil that troublesome 3,000-man
Soviet combat brigade, a develop–
ment that former President Car–
ter said, when he found out about
it, was " unacceptable." He later
changed his mind when Soviet
Presiden t Leonid Brezhnev as–
sured him that the brigade was
not intended as a direct threat
aimed at the United States.
Conflict Wished Away
All in all, the United States
hoped that Latín America ·could
be " depoliticized" in a supposed–
ly "new global age."
America had shed, said Presi–
dent Carter in 1977, its " inordi–
nate fear" of communi sm
which, he said , had caused the
United States to support vari–
ous autocratic, though pro–
U.S., pro-West governments.
No longer were events in the
Western Hemisphere to be con–
sidered in the context of the East–
West struggle, now limited
mainly to Europe. Hemispheric
trou bies now lay "outside the
context of the superpower rela–
tionship."
Latín America was henceforth
to be treated part and paree! of
the mythical "North-South dia–
logue"- and in this context, not
as importan t as Africa. (The
Soviet Union, included now as
one of the industrialized "North–
ern Hemisphere" countries, was
appealed to _as a partner in help–
ing develop impoverished Third
World countries, many of them in
the Southern Hemisphere.)
Abstract, lofty goals such as
"fairness," and "human rights"–
unattainable in this world–
assumed preeminence.
Tragically , this policy was
tailormade for communist insur–
gents, who found it easier than
ever to infiltrate and usurp any
movement considered by Wash–
ington to be a "popular force."
Rejecting the Past
Because of supposedly "changed
realities," Washington's policy
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