El Salvador^=
left is mounting an intimidation
campaign against the elections:
Faribundo Marti Liberation
Front (FMLN) posters in eastern
El Salvador reportedly say.
“Those who vote, we will kill,"
and Christian Democratic can
didates have received letters
telling them they’ve signed their
"own death sentence ”
Cocklin says the more acute
problem would be it Duarte's
junta was not holding elections.
But, since he plans to hold
them, “you have to start from
there "
The elections “will be a wa
tershed,” says Taylor, who once
taught at West Point
“I don’t doubt the elections
will have problems," he says,
adding that he questions the
wisdom of the United States
pressuring Duarte to do what he
doesn’t want to do — to par
ticipate in a negotiated
settlement (Duarte may fear a
right-wing backlash or a military
coup ) "What is the morality of
«« fllfMnr **
JlffluQT
oCloaranoa
v
Now in Progress »♦*
Save on 100’s
of extraordinary
VALUES u
Sun. I 2:00-5:00
57 V. Broadway
Eugene Downtown
„ oV
that kind of position? What is its
political viability?”
"A mass slaughter wouldn’t
put the revolutionaries in a very
good light, would it?” adds
Taylor.
Green says it's ‘ a choice
between a government that has
elections and one that
wouldn’t.”
Klare couldn’t disagree more:
"Anybody who thinks this is go
ing to be a free election should
be hospitalized in a mental
hospital ”
‘Vietnam Two’
All of this talk — ’’defend
against Communism,” ‘ pro
gress in human rights,” “free
elections” — sounds disturb
ingly familiar to some people
Sounds like Vietnam
“I have to refrain from using
expletives ” says Klare
’ There's a real chance we
could get involved in another
Vietnam.” U S involvement in
10% OFF
Kenyan coffee
Through February
steamed bagels
We are m the
El Salvador is "akin to early U S
involvement in Vietnam,” he
says, adding that it s very likely
there will be more infusion of
advisors and — although
months or years away — troops
sent to El Salvador.
John Lawrence, founder of
the University Veterans As
sociation and a former medic in
the Vietnam war, says U S.
policy in El Salvador has a
similar "gradualism that took
place in Vietnam ” El Salvador
is “kinda like Reagan's Cuba —
the old Monroe Doctrine com
ing back"
But he is quick to add "I can’t
see a real heavy involvement" in
the future In 1978, Lawrence
says, the Joint Chiefs of Staff
declared they were only com
mitted to the Persian Gulf and
West Germany And military
equipment is now primarily
geared for desert battles, he
adds
The future could see
1,500-2,000 U S military advi
sors in El Salvador and the
bombing of guerrilla bases,
Lawrence says, but if troops are
sent there, it would be a large
number of troops sent for a
short and intense conflict
AUTO
INSURANCE
Low Monthly Rates
Jerry Brown Ins.
1385 Oak 485-4010
SONY’S BEST WAY
TO CABBY A TUNE.
WALKMANS STEREO CASSETTE PLAYER.
/\
Bookstore Price
$89.95
Reg $99.95
If you’ve heard Sony's ever-popular Walkman, you’ll be glad to hear
we're continuing our exciting revolution in personal, portable stereo
freedom. Meet the Walkman-1. It gives you the same exhilirating
stereo cassette playback as the original Walkman. And now you can
use metal cassette tapes to boost the dynamic range even higher.
MDR-1L1 headphones plug into the durable, attractive player to
create a concert hall from ear to ear. Check the features. There’s a
built-in belt clip. Carrying strap. Easy-to-use controls. LED battery/
operation indicator. Cue/review button to find your favorite songs.
And sound you’ll have to hear to believe. Hear the revolution. Sony's
Walkman-1. 'Trademark of Sony Corporation of America
SONY
THE ONE AND ONLY
uo
13th & Kincaid
Mon-Fri 8:15-5:30
Sat 10:00-3 00
BOOKSTORE Textbooks 686-3520 • General Books 6*6-3510 • Supplies 6*6-4331
Shoup also describes paral
lels to Vietnam: an unpopular
dictatorship with "very few
roots in the people," U S advi
sors and monetary aid "pouring
in" to the country, and a mass
movement against a repressive
U S -backed regime.
There are differences, how
ever: El Salvador is a "much
narrower geographic area"
(Vietnam had a larger "rear
area" for inviolate guerrilla
bases): more significant stakes
are involved because El Sal
vador is "so much closer to the
United States"; and the Amer
ican people have a higher
consciousness of the perils of
foreign involvement
Although Americans are
"shy" about intervening in a
foreign land, El Salvador is
"very difficult to call," Shoup
adds A great deal depends on
how much the populace
demands that Reagan support a
negotiated settlement — which
would "save a lot of
bloodshed,” he says
Cocklin says the critics are
premature "I think it's a mistake
at this stage of the game for
people to say we re getting off
into another Vietnam."
"It could be a new Vietnam,"
says Taylor, "if this
administration pursued it like
Vietnam But I don't think
there's any likelihood of that “
The secretary of state has had
years to reflect on Southeast
Asia, he says "So many lessons
have been learned: I don't think
there is any possibility of this
being Vietnam Two."
‘Nobody is safe’
Another Vietnam or not — El
Salvador is the crux tor Sal
vadorans
Miguel Perez, a University
graduate student in educational
psychology, is a Salvadoran A
Catholic from a merchant's
family in one of El Salvador s
large cities
It's been three years since he
was in his homeland, but. by the
thick stack of reading material
he races through during an in
terview, by his long gazes out
the window to dwell on answers,
by his reluctance to talk about
relatives-friends-background, it
is obvious
For the past month the Amer
ican media has called it a prob
lem of East-West relations "The
problem is not East-West rela
tions," says Perez
There are two major prob
lems: "extreme inequality
between components" of the
economy and the “accute il
legitimacy of the political
order ” It is not a question of
Communist influence “The
reasons are economic and poli
tical and are very specific to El
Salvador.”
Since 1931 there have been
no free elections. "For all that
period we have had military
governments ”
"For a long period of time
there has been a small oligarchy
that has dominated all the poli
tical and economic panorama ”
"Basically the army and the
Tightest groups are almost the
same.” It is not true that the
government is in the middle
Garcia the minister of defense,
has the real power Duarte
doesn t have real power he
can't campaign anyplace be
sides on television
"The main problem is the ex
treme inequality. This is why a
solution must be economic and
political; a military solution
there wouldn't go to the root of
the problem "
The FMLN-FDR is composed
of many students, educators,
church people and profession
als "The majority of the
movement is not Marxist ”
"There cannot be free elec
tions because not all people are
involved in the political process;
if they decided to do so, they
wouid immediately be killed "
Duarte "has almost no power
there" and will be removed
through this election "This is a
Tightest government — it will get
more Tightest” after the elec
tions
"Most of the killings made by
the army are civilians " There
has been more than 30,000
killings since October 79
‘ Most of the killings of the Sal
vadoran people have not been
in combat "
Training troops in the United
States is "a pretty overt inter
vention in El Salvador I don't
really think this will solve the
situation there ” More military
involvement by the United
States will bring a more
prolonged conflict
The FMLN is willing to nego
tiate, but "the army there, and
U S government here, don't
accept that."
"I don't expect a lot of people
will go to the elections ”
Great Britian is the only
country who will send observers
to the elections; others don't
see the election as viable "At
times we could think everyone is
supporting the junta; that s not
true ”
“The gospel is really directed
to the poor people there — the
majority It's against the gospel
to avoid preaching these
realities."
"We all really want to have
peace, but we won't have peace
unless the basic structure that
caused the problem is
changed "
U S administrations "never
have recognized anything about
the history of El Salvador, how
inequalities have developed
there ” As long as they don't
recognize this, things will con
tinue like they are "I think they
may know, but they don't want
to recognize that — I think they
may fear they will appear they
are wrong once again "
A negotiated settlement is
needed: it would include the
restructuring of the government
and the army, as well as "some
form of land reform."
In El Salvador "nobody can
say he or she is safe "
Perez says he doesn't know
yet whether he'll go back to his
country
If it's not safe for Perez, how
safe is it for Unde Sam? Back to
the domino theory.
The dominoes are stacked
(Or are they?) And our old friend
has some momentous deci
sions ahead: Should he retire
from dominoes competition? Or
employ a risky “Vietnam Two"
strategy to win the match in El
Salvador and points north?
Uncle Sam is like a lot of us —
and we all hate to lose