CLINTON ST. QUARTERLY United Fruit Company, whose stake in Guatemala (and Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica) led them to play an inordinate role in the country’s politics. This direct linkage between corporate desires and government policy has come to characterize all US activity in the hemisphere. Though events elsewhere in the world shook the American hegemony slightly, the 195O’s saw U.S. power operating on a scale only comparable to the heydays of Imperial Rome and Victoria’s England. The entire Western Hemisphere was a scene of domestic bliss for the Yankee capitalist, with its immense reserves of untapped resources and a labor pool and potential market for finished goods that could be groomed to their specifications. The hidden cost, repeated interventions in local affairs, whether through deployment of U.S. troops, financing of military coups, or simply maintenance of loyal strongmen was born by the American taxpayer. While European and Japanese capital rebuilt war demolished industries with our aid, modernizing such basic components of their productive infrastructure as steel manufacture and rail transportation, our capital moved southward as swiftly as its security could be assured. When Fidel marched into Havana in 1959, even Time and Life saw the demise of an unsavory Batista regime as salutary. But no sooner than installed in office in 1960, John F. Kennedy began unfolding a strategy (which included the Alliance for Progress, a stronger Organization of American States, the Peace Corps, etc.) to meet and contain the increasingly leftist Castro challenge. Buoyed by the success of the European Economic Community, the U.S. encouraged the formation in 1961 of the Central American Common Market (CACM). Foreign investment in El Salvador leaped from $43 million in 1963 to $110 million by 1968. El Salvador’s industrial output grew at a rate of 12% annually during the 60’s, and with it emerged an urban middle class. Yet the income disparity between the haves and have nots in Central America ultimately limited the demand for industrial goods, and hampered real growth. In 1969, the short-lived “ Soccer War” erupted between relatively advanced El Salvador and poorer Honduras. It effectively ended the CACM dream and forced tens of thousands of Salvadorean settlers to return to an overcrowded homeland. In the early 70’s, things simply got worse. Investors were lured with tax-free zones and guarantees of non- confistication, but the economy didn’t rebound. The political opposition to the military government grew substantially, incorporating not just workers and peasants but members of the financially strained middle class and small business sectors as well. The hopes of those who believed in the democratic path were dashed when in 1972, Colonel Arturo Molina, the oligarchy’s candidate, was proclaimed president despite what appeared to be a clear victory for the National Opposition Union’s Jose Napoleon Duarte. He immediately was forced into exile, along with a number of union and political leaders. The National University was closed for twox years. Virtually the same scenario occurred in 1977. Demonstrations demanding new elections resulted in clashes with government troops that left hundreds of civilians dead. Out of this turmoil rose a new force, the Catholic Church, which to that point had been seen as generally aligned with the oligarchy. In May of 1977, the Roman Catholic bishops of El Salvador accused the government of “ persecution of the church in the name of anti communism.” A new right-wing death squad, the White Warriors Union, killed a popular priest and threatened to kill all Jesuits. Archbishop Oscar Romero grew increasingly outspoken as the lines became more clearly drawn. “To announce the right of peasants to organize themselves to defend their interests and to obtain the political order they want; to help them achieve this change; to denounce all kinds of abuses committed by those in power or by their emissaries; this is not communism or subversion. It is an obligation derived from the Gospel. . . ” THE ENTIRE CATHOLIC CHURCH WAS POLITICALLY SUSPECT AFTER ARCHBISHUP ROMEROWAS MUROERED FOR HIS OUTSPOKEH STATEMEHTS AGAIHST THE GOVERHMEHT. Only 6 weeks before his assassination, as he conducted mass in the cathedral in downtown San Salvador, the once conservative prelate committed the church to the struggle. “ When all peaceful means have been exhausted, the Church considers insurrection moral and justified.” This effectively isolated the Junta, which had seized power with tacit U.S. support to appease the situation. Composed of “ liberal” military men and soon to include the leadership of the Christian Democratic Party, it proved to be unwieldly, ineffective — in short, too little, too late. The level of violence committed by government troops increased dramatically. A miniscule agrarian reform was announced along with a state of siege, and another massacre began. WHERE THINGS STANDNOW ANINTERVIEWWITHTHE DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTIONARY FRONT’S CARLOS VELA The Democratic Revolutionary Front (FDR) has emerged as the heir apparent, while the many faced Juanta plays out its last hands. The FDR represents the vast majority of Salvadorean society. It governs where it can, carries out a foreign policy, and pushes for an end of the oligarchy which has for so long controlled the national life. They will also gladly be rid of the U.S. and other western investments which have THE COUNTRY IS NOWAT WAR. IT’S COMPARABLE IN INTENSITY TOWHAT IS HAPPENING BETWEEN IRAQAND IRAN. AMERICANS WHO GOAS HUMAN BEINGS. NOT IMPERIALISTS. CAN EXPECT A LOT OF FRIENDSHIP FROM SALVADOREANS. IMPERIALISTS CAN EXPECT A LOT OF HATE. encouraged our inordinate involvement in their affairs. An FDR representative, Sr. Ca.los Vela, currently a professor of engineering at San Francisco City College, came to Portland recently and graciously consented to an interview. It was conducted in English. CSQ: What is the historical basis for what is happening today in El Salvador? Vela: It’s a continuation of the 1932 struggle. Many have lived and worked clandestinely since that time. It’s the oldest popular insurrection in Latin America, and it’s ready to mature now . . . it has become truly a mass struggle. CSQ: What distinguishes El Salvador from other Latin American countries? Vela: The wealth is extremely concentrated . . . 14 families are very powerful. They’re all intertwined. For example, one family, Alvarez- Meya, owns the brewery, the country’s largest coffee mill, the major bus line, vast amounts of land and is linked into the banking and financial structure. CSQ: El Salvador’s economy is very dependent on exports. Vela: Those same families control most of it. Coffee is first and cotton is number two. We are also the largest industrial concentration in Central America. CSQ: What are your movement’s relations with the other revolutionary movements in Central America? Your country had the “ Soccer War” with Honduras. Vela: That's not a problem between the peoples. It was the Honduran capitalists who wanted to protect their markets who started the war. Their right-wing paramilitary organization, the Manta Brava, was unleashed against the Salvadoreans who lived there. Many Hondurans protested and protected Salvadoreans during the war. In fact, I have cousins who are Hondurans. We are working to see something happen in El Salvador, hut it’s all going to happen . . . all the organizations see unification eventually. CSQ: Then the Nicaraguans offer . . . Vela: They only offer inspirational value. But ultimately, the problem can only be remedied through a regional approach. Foreign investment has forced a regional division of labor. Salvador has the largest concentration of petrochemicals and plastics. Honduras specializes more in textiles. The land needs to be considered regionally; there are overdeveloped areas like Ei Salvador and underdeveloped land in Nicaragua and Guatemala. CSQ: So you think that would be a popular approach in those countries? Vela: Yes. We have all the basic ingredients that constitute a nation — a common culture, religion, history and geography. CSQ: And a common enemy? Vela: Yes. CSQ: What would you say to North Americans who wanted to travel to El Salvador? Vela: All Americans (hat have travelled to El Salvador have received a very brotherly reception. They have been integrated into Salvadorean society. Americans who go as human beings, not imperialists, can expect a lot of friendship from Salvadoreans. Imperialists can expect a lot of hate. CSQ: One theory holds that the U.S. will intervene militarily in El Salvador’s affairs. Vela: There’s already been long-term military aid and personnel — there are 586 U.S. troops in El Salvador at present — Marine advisors, a search and destroy mission. They’ve participated in repression and recently even arrested some people, who they then turned over to the government forces. CSQ: We hear talk of disappeared people. Vela: They disappear, then reappear dead. There have been 80 civilians assassinated daily under the current Junta. This is a Pol Pot Junta, (note: a recent Oregonian editorial, aping the latest State Department line, accused the “ extreme leftists” of being a potential Pol Pot regime in El Salvador.) They’ve used the excuse of agrarian reform to provoke and commit the massacre of 6,000 civilians 27
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