Basic HTML Version
CENlRAL
AMERICA
(Continued from page 4)
pected of leftist leanings "disap–
pear," apparently into the hands
of either the government or vari–
ous rightwing groups.
How Viole nce Began
The circle of violence began with
the attempt on the part of Marx–
ist guerrillas to "create a climate
of revolution" where none existed
before.
1n El Salvador as elsewhere,
attempts on the part of the gov–
ernment to deal with the violence,
admittedly severe, is trumpeted
in the popular press as "repres–
sive." The cry is that the govern–
ment conducts "institutionalized
terrorism." This opens the way
for the communists to further dis–
rupt the economy, demoralize the
police and other symbols of
authority, and show that the gov–
ernment is incapable of maintain–
ing public safety.
In El Salvador, leftist terrorism
has assumed a panicky, indiscrim–
inate form especially since the
government's land reform policies
stripped the leftists of their
cause
celebre.
Their only option has
been to try to shoot their way into
power over the wishes of the pub–
tic. ("First we will win the war,
then we will win the people," said
one guerrilla.)
Misd ir ect ed U.S. Po lic y
For the time being, the leftist
self-procl aimed "final offensive"
in El Salvador has been blunted.
The terrorists desperately tried to
win before the Reagan adminis–
tration assumed office.
Since their defeat Mr. Reagan
has promised military assistance
for the shaky central government
there. But much damage has been
wrought already.
Again, the United States bears
much of the blame. The United
States, following its policy of non–
support for "outmoded dictator–
ships," encouraged the coup
d'etat in October, 1979, that
brought a "moderate" military-
civilian junta into power.
The problem is, in Latin
American societies, unlike largely
middle class U.S., there is pre–
cious little center ground. In El
Salvador the government rests on
a narrow, shi fting sandbar of
unsupported, confticting moder–
ate factions, constantly assaulted
by tides from the left and the
right (who are naturally embit–
tered over the loss of land and
control of the economy). In the
long run the risky U.S. experi–
ment can't last.
" Watershed Count r y"
l t
is no understatement that with
Nicaragua lost, El Salvador has
become the watershed country of
Central America. Should the
tiny, densely populated nation fall
to the radical left, the communist
tide will be hard to stem. At stake
are other Central American dom–
inoes-Guatemala, Honduras,
Belize, Costa Rica and Pana–
ma.
COMMUNIST-BACKED Sandinista revolutionaries in action in Nicaragua in 1979.
War to overthrow Somoza government left Nicaragua in shsmb/es, resulting in loss
of 40.000 lives, 100,000 homeless and two bíllion dol/srs worth of destruction.
Guatemala is embroiled in its
own interna! "dirty war" against
terrorism. Communist guerrillas
and their hard-core supporters
number only about 25,000-
hardly reprcsentative of a "popu–
lar force." Yet Guatemala has
drawn heavy fire for a ll eged
human rights violat ions- the
government, not the terrorists,
that is.
44
In 1954, with a mínimum of
bloodshed, the Guatema lan
people overthrew a Marxist-dom–
inated government. At that time,
the United States and the rest of
the Free World applauded the
action.
Costa Rica- Then Panama
The one country that has been the
model of tranquility in an other–
~
wise política! storm is Costa Rica,
&
a nation without an army.
(lt
has
.,~~~i1
i
·.,
1
a highly respected national police
: force.)
:
Now even Costa Ri ca has
·¡¡
~
become enmeshed in the turbu-
~
lent politics of the region. Even
~
though the San Juan government
~
has ousted communist agents out
o
t.
of Costa Rica, it permitted the
The
PLAIN TRUTH