fled. In this region about 20 percent of the population has come to the United States, and in places where they have easier access, such as Puerto Rico, the figure is about 40 percent. Well, let’s turn to El Salvador in connection with our attitude toward democratization. There were democratic elections in El Salvador in 1972 and 1977. In both cases the military intervened to abort them and installed military dictatorships. The people in Washington could not have cared less. There was no concern whatsoever. There were also the regular atrocities throughout this period, eliciting little concern in Washington. However, there were developments, two in fact, that did elicit concern in the late 197d’s. One was that the Somoza dictatorship fell in 1979. There is much mythology about this, but the fact of the matter is that Carter supported Somoza till the very end, even after the natural allies of the United States, the local business community, turned against him. That was a danger sign and it worried the United States with regard to El Salvador. There was another development that was even more dangerous. There were the beginnings of popular democratic organizations within El Salvador of the sort I mentioned earlier: Bible study groups turning into self-help groups; peasant cooperatives, unions, all sorts of organizations which seemed to be establishing the basis for a functioning democracy. Now, anybody who thinks, realizes that democracy doesn’t mean much if people have to confront concentrated systems of economic power as isolated individuals. Democracy means something if people can organize to gain information, to have thoughts for that matter, to make plans, to enter into the political system in some active way, to put forth programs and so on. If organizations of that kind exist, then democracy can exist too. Otherwise it’s a matter of pushing a lever every couple of years; it’s like having the choice between Coca-Cola and PepsiCola. In El Salvador there were dangerous moves in this direction in the There will be no Domino Effect of successful development emanating from Vietnam, and, in that sense, it is a very major victory for the United States. 1970s with the development of what were called “popular organizations,” and therefore, something had to be done about them because there might be real democracy. We plainly don’t tolerate that. These two developments did lead to some action on the part of the United States. In October 1979, the U.S. supported a reformist coup which overthrew the Romero dictatorship. There was, in fact, considerable fear that he was going to go the way of Somoza. Well, what happened then? The U.S. insisted that some of the harshest and most brutal military elements be prominently placed in the junta. The killing rapidly increased right after the coup. By early 1980, the left Christian Democrats, socialists, and reformist military elements had been eliminated from or had simply fled from the junta, and the country was in the hands of the usual thugs that we install in our domains. Duarte came in at that time as a useful cover, to preside over one of the great Central American massacres. The archbishop, Archbishop Romero, pleaded with President Carter not to send military aid’ The reasons were the following: he said that military aid would “sharpen the repression that has been unleashed against the people's organizations fighting to defend their most fundamental human rights.” Therefore he asked Carter not to send military aid. Well, of course, that was the very essence of American policy: namely, to increase massacre and repression, to destroy the popular organizations, and to prevent the achievement of human rights, so naturally the aid flowed and the war picked up steam. Archbishop Romero was assassinated shortly afterwards. In May 1980, under Carter remember, the war against the peasantry really took off in full force, largely under the guise of land reform. The first major action was a joint operation of the Honduran and Salvadoran armies at the Rio Sumpul where about 600 people were killed as they tried to flee into Honduras. That massacre was Nrw ExeiriNq DiSCOVERttS w New CUsws FOR rhe CURIOUS ANB Stiuous Mtsdid Days & EvtNtNQS JkJ LEARN A Htqhly DEM AM! td Skill & CRAIT (505)259 5509 2201 $E POWELL PORTLAND, OR $7202 ♦ Fine Apparel for Women & Children 322-9180 ♦ ♦ Champagne Chic — | * for Peanuts. t I Take-Two! Consignments 12TH & E. Olive Street do-it-yourself framing custom framing gallery 1822 BROADWAY 322-4455 ('/• BLK S OF DENNY) open seven days a week FRAME-IT ON BROADWAY free parking STOREFRONT PRESS worker controlled • women owned • union shop 514 E. Pine Seattle, Wa 98122 (206)322 3150 34 Clinton St. Quarterly
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