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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, APRIL 22, 1983
PAGE 10
In an unusually critical speech, the highly respected U.S. Ambassador to
Mexico, John Gavin, recently warned journalists of the Inter-American Press
Association of the dangers of one-sided presentation of the issues in Cen
tral America which colors much of the view Latin readers receive of events
in that troubled region. Here are excerpts as reported in TIME, April 11,
1983.
It is difficult to read much of the (hemisphere's) press without
concluding that the only intervention going on in the world is
being carried out by 55 U.S. advisers in El Salvador. Never mind
that there are several thousand (Cuban and East bloc) military
advisers in Nicaragua. And 40,000 Cuban troops in Angola and
Ethiopia. Never mind that there are well over 100,000 Soviet
combatants attempting to impose a Communist regime on the unwill
ing people of Afghanistan. Never mind that U.S. rifles whose
serial numbers identify them as equipment left behind by our
troops in Viet Nam have been intercepted en route to insurgents
in El Salvador. Those facts seem to be discarded.
I wonder if we can say with confidence that today the North Amer
ican and Latin American press is not prey to manipulators•••• I
don't think the situation in El Salvador and Central America is a
simple one. And I don't think I have to tell you that neither
does my Government.... [But] we regret the success that anti
democratic forces have had in convincing too many people that a
Marxist-Leninist victory would amount to self-government, that
guerrillas are always supported by the majority, that no civilian
casualties are caused by the rebels and that leftist victories
are always inevitable..•• We don't think that the declarations of
the Nicaraguan junta, Soviet press agencies and Fidel Castro
should go unexamined by the press.
Yet why is the United States always on the "short end of the stick" in its
relations with the Spanish-speaking nations of the Western Hemisphere? Our
minister in Santiago, Chile, Mario Seiglie, recently wrote me a letter that
helps explain this hemispheric cultural clash. I thought it would be good
to share his observations with you.
His comments about the birthright
transitions from Spain (a part of Esau?, one wonders) to France (Reuben
lost the birthright--! Chronicles 5:1) to the United States (Joseph/Manas
seh) --are particularly noteworthy.
Here are excerpts of Mr. Seiglie' s
letter:
Since on occasion you ask for some information which might help
to understand the regional problems, the following might be bene
ficial in order to grasp why, with. every involvement of the U.S.
in this part of the world, it seems to end up receiving a black
eye. Such has been the case in the last twenty-five years in such
countries as Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Nicaragua, El
Salvador, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and
Argentina.
Even with the best intentions from the U.S., the history between
these neighboring regions can only be termed as a love-hate rela
tionship•••• For over 150 years, America has been viewed by her
southern neighbors with a mixture of suspicion, disdain, envy and
resentment.