Nicaragua and El Salvador

What happened in El Salvador on March 19 was a demonstration election.

A few months ago I was in El Salvador to observe the new Democratic Convergence, a coalition of three social democratic parties. Ruben Zamora wore a bulletproof vest as he campaigned for the coalition in San Salvador and told me that the army would not tolerate his campaigning outside of the capital city. The same restrictions applied to presidential candidate Guillermo Ungo.

Approximately half of El Salvador is under the control of the Salvadoran military. The military is the promoter of the Arena party. Where the military is in control the vote is for Arena. The FMLN (Salvadoran rebel forces), now in control of the other half of the country, recognized the fraudulent nature of the elections and refused to participate. The incumbent Christian Democrats earned a well-deserved rejection by virtue of years of corruption.

Is it not curious that the U.S. has a history of supporting “elections” in occupied countries? The Salvadoran military has but one purpose and that is to control the people of El Salvador. The Arena party and its millionaire leadership are simply a glove over the iron fascist fist of a brutal military dictatorship. House Resolution 54 (Robert Kastenmeier, D-Wis.) is designed to end the disgraceful military aid from the United States which has made El Salvador third on its list of military beneficiaries. We must support such legislation.

BLASE BONPANE

Santa Monica