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The Other Press

February 19, 1981

 

 

feature

El Salvador - 2nd Vietnam?

 

by Carol Pope

 

Vancouver's Saturday
shoppers will likely pause a
moment from their bargain-
hunting to take notice of a
stream of people stepping
through the crowds in order
to step-up interest in El

Salvador.
A march’to protest Ame-

rican intervention in El
Salvador is set for February
'28 by the Nicaragua/El
Salvador Support Commit-
tee (NESSC).

Participants will meet at
Robson Square at 1:00 be-
fore marching to the Pacific
Press building on Granville
Street.

“El Salvador is in danger
of becoming a_ second
vietnam,” said Jane
Kalmikuff of NESSC at a
recent interview in one of
Vancouver’s tiny coffee
bars.

Both had recently retur-
ned from Montreal where
they had attended a national
conference for solidarity for
El Salvador organized by
the Revolutionary Democra-
tic Front (FDR). ,

A petition to be sent to
the Canadian government
was supported by the 200
delegates at the conference
including representatives
from CUSO, Revolutionary
Worker’s League, and poli-
tical and student organiza-
tions.

The petition announced
opposition to the interven
tion of the United States in
El Salvador and requested
the Canadian government to
use all diplomatic means to
pressure the U.S. to cease
~ intervention.

It also called on the
Canadian government to
‘pressure the United Nations
‘to ‘‘stop all foreign inter-
vention in El Salvador in
order to prevent an expan-
sion of the conflict into all of
. Central America, and pro-
test the fact that American
government is ignoring the
U.N. resolution calling for a
stop to all arms shipments
to El Salvador.’’

. ‘*The FDR thinks Cana-
dian attitudes are good but
they should go farther,’’
said NESSC spokesperson.

“Legislation in Canadian
parliament. supported the
U.N. recommendation that
there be no intervention in

‘If the U.S. sent in
troops an fiernational
crisis would evolve.’

 

El Salvador but made al-
lowances’ for non-lethal
aid,’’ he said, ‘‘which will
Salvador and vice versa. If
one moves, then the other

allow jeeps ‘and _ other
equipment...maybe even
napalm to be shipped in.’’

“El Salvador is in danger
of Vietnamiztion,’’ he said.

Kalmikuff said the U.S. is
now sending in arms and
military advisors and might
send in troops.

“This would destroy any
chance for these people to

have _ self-determination,’’
she said. ie
“If the .U.S. sent in

troops, an international cri-
sis would evolve. The FDR
speculates that if the So-
viets go into Poland, the
Americans will move into El
will for they would legi-
timize each other,’’ said the
NESSC spokesperson.

He said the Nicaraguans
and _ possibly

‘limited and

the Cubans .

Robert White from his posi-
tion as U.S. ambassador to
El Salvador following
White’s criticism of the
Reagan government’s hard
line policy proposals for
dealing with the country.

Kalmikuff said there has
been a media black-out in El
Salvador and that coverage
from outside countries is
often inaccu-
tate.

El Salvador had been
dominated by military dic-
tators for 48 years until
Jimmy Carter implanted a
‘“‘human rights junta’’ said
the NESSC spokesperson.
““However, this new _ go-
vernment was just a new

_ face for the same type or

repression.’’

‘‘The reforms were

 

 

could intervene for they
would feel threatened and
the U.S. would draw in
more forces and lengthen
the situation.

“‘We have the power to
say no,’’ said Kalmikuff,
“solidarity is really impor-
tant. The American people
must be made aware of the
situation so they will refuse
to participate in military
intervention.’’

“*Solidarity for El
Salvador has become a na-
tional body. The FDR
represents the coalition of
all solidarity groups,’’ she
said.

‘‘The American interven-
tion is due to economic
interests. The U.S. want El
Salvador to be open-door to
their multi-nationals,’’ said
the spokesman. He said the
present government in El
Salvador is bankrupt and
would not survive without
U.S. support.

He said attempts have’
been made on a diplomatic
level to deal with the situa-
tion in El Salvador but the
U.S. pulled out of the last
planned diplomatic
meeting. ve

The NESSC member said
there are several Canadian
corporations investing in El
Salvador, one of which is
Pratt Whitney, a subsiduary
of United Technologies with
which U.S. State Secretary
Alexander Haig was for-
merly directly involved.

Haig recently dismissed

 

 

merely a smokescreen,’’ he
said. ‘“‘The U.S. continues
to support the military junta
despite the fact that it was
responsible for 12,000
deaths in 1980. In fact, the
U.S. sent over more aid just
before Reagan’s inaugara-
tion.’’

El Salvador had previ-
ously been controlled by the
coffee-growing elite called
the 14 families. Since the
tiny country had separated
from Spain in 1821, this
class had maintained control
with the aid of the army,
the secret police, ORDEN
and the national

Today, most members of
the 14 families reside in
Miami or Guatemala where
they fund members of
ORDEN who continue with
their work despite the at-
tempt of the new junta to

abolish the secret police
network.

Kalmikuff said that
Carter’s ‘‘human rights

junta’’ received fairly wide-
spread support in_ El
Salvador until it became
apparent that the junta was
only interested in repres-
sion. She said that during
December, 1979, and Jan-
uary, 1980, many elements
of the junta realigned their
loyalties to the left-wing
FDR, including the ‘‘mili-
tary youth” officers faction
and its colonel, Adolfo
Majono.

‘‘They wanted to avoid
being involved in the afflic-

guard.

- military

tion of the atrocities of the

military,’’ she said. ‘‘The
military junta is responsible
for thousands and _ thou

sands of cases of torture
and murder.”’

‘_.. thousands of ses
of torture and murder.’

eorne

 

majority of El

Salvador’s population is
behind the FDR,’’ said
Kalmikuff. She said the

FDR is supported by the
peasants and all middle
class sectors, the majority of
the Christian Democratic
Party, labour unions, stu-
dent, political parties, and
religious organizations.

“The military junta is
upheld by conservative el-
ements of the military and a
few members of the Christ-
ian Democratic Party,’’ she
said.

The NESSC spokesperson
said there were 200,000
employed in repressive ac-
tivity and a large number of
people involved in parami-
litary organizations.

In El Salvador’s popula-
tion of 4.5 million, 40 per
cent are officially unem-
ployed and 80 per cent live
below the poverty line.
Children have a 50 per cent
chance of death before the
age of five. Sixty per cent
of El Salvador’s land is
owned by two per cent of
the population. Ninety-five
per cent of the people are
illiterate.

There are 250,000 El
Salvadorian refugees who
are unable to cross the
borders of the neighboring
countries of Guatemala and
Honduras. The govern

-ments of both countries are

American-backed and refu-
se to allow border-crossing
in order to prevent El
Salvadorian guerillas from
fleeing.

“‘There has been strong
popular resistance to the
junta in. El
Salvador,’’ he said, ‘‘There
was a mass demonstration
in the country in February,
1980.’’

He said that El
Salvador has been in a
state of seize many times

since March, 1980 and
“people were denied the-
right to meet, circulate

freely, and many factories
were occupied by the mili-
tary.”

The NESSC member sta-
ted that in March, 1980, the
military junta assassinated
Catholic Archbishop Oscar
Romero who had recently
spoken out against Carter’s
human rights assertions.
The funeral attracted
400,000 demonstrators from
which 100 were killed and
300 injured when the mili-

tary fired on the crowd, he
said.

‘“‘The military also kid-
napped, tortured and mur-
dered six leaders of the
FDR,’’ he said.

Reverend John Hilborn of
Shaugnessy Church, who
was an observer at the
funeral of the FDR leaders,
said at a recent benefit for
El Salvador:‘‘Although the
junta had promised to bring
no weapons to this funeral,
the people stayed away for
they feared for their lives.’’

“‘The U.S. does not want
El Salvador to become ano-
ther Nicaragua,’’said the
NESSC spokesperson. He
stated that the Nicaraguans
revolted in 1979 in order to
achieve a more just distri-

bution of the country’s —
wealth.
“‘After the revolution,

Nicargua wasn’t open-door
to U.S. “interests,’’ said,
“The U.S. does not want
to lose their control of El
Salvador.”’ :

The NESSC member said
that the U.S. backed gene-
ral Anastasio Somoza, who
had owned almost the entire

country, during the
Nicaraguan popular.
uprisings.

“During the _ risings,

Somoza tried to maintain
control by murdering as
many boys from age ten to
eighteen as he could,’’ he
said, ‘‘and when Somaza
knew he was losing, he
bombed his own cities.’’

Somoza fled in 1979, only
to be killed in Bolivia. Since
the revolution, both men
and women have remained
in arms to protect the.
Nicaraguan population from
members of the National
Guard who sometimes enter
the country in.small groups.

Nicaragua is currently
involved in a literacy cru-
sade to which the British
‘Columbia Teachers’ Foun-
dation recently donated
thousands of dollars.

The FDR is _ presently
designing a _ distribution
network throughout Canada
for communications from the
Salvadorian Press Agency.
The information will be
received by solidarity com-
mittees.

A week of solidarity with
El Salvador is planned for
March 22 to 28 and a letter
campaign, demonstrations,
and public declarations are
being prepared for Presi-
dent Reagan’s upcoming vi-
sit to Canada.

Further information on El
Salvador and Nicaragua is
available through the Nica-
ragua/E] Salvador Support
Committee at 255-6369
(meetings are held Tuesday
nights at 7:30) or the Latin
American Student Union at
255-8004. c