I
Reagan’s tactic;
gunboat diplomacy
If you’re confused about the Reagan administration’s
actions in Central America, you’re not alone. If you’re ex
periencing a sense of dread, a feeling of deja vu and keep
thinking of Vietnam, you’re also not alone. The events of the
past few weeks seem more like a prelude to war in Central
America than efforts to stabilize the political situation.
Twenty American warships are converging off the
western coast of Central America. The ships, including the
battleship New Jersey (the aircraft carrier Coral Sea has been
dispatched from Naples, Italy to operate along Central
America's eastern coast), are under direct orders from Pres.
Ronald Reagan.
The Pentagon announced Tuesday that up to 4,000 U S.
troops will be involved in ground exercises in Honduras later
this year. The ground exercises will include an amphibious
landing by Marines. U.S. Air Force units will be used to lift
troops and supplies into Honduras.
The Reagan administration is preparing an significant
expansion of covert intelligence operations in Central
America by the CIA. The paramilitary activities include
stepped-up support for the Contras (anti-government in
surgents) in Nicaragua and a campaign to sabotage Cuban
installations in the area. Operations of this scale have not
been mounted by the CIA since the Vietnam War.
Meanwhile, 10,000 Contras are actively combating
Nicaragua’s Sandinista government. These troops, who are
supplied arms, ammunition, clothing and draw a monthly
salary from the American government, are destroying power
stations, crops and warehouses inside Nicaragua. The
Reagan administration’s purpose in forming this insurgent
group is to interdict the alleged flow of Soviet and Cuban
arms from Nicaragua to rebels in El Salvador.
The cost of supporting the Contras has risen from the
allotted $19 million. There is a plan afoot to legislate $80
million in overt assistance to Central American nations for
the next 14 months.
The Pentagon is considering doubling the number of
military advisers in El Salvador. Presently, the Reagan ad
ministration has allowed only 55 advisers to be in El
Salvador.
Rep. Les AuCoin, D-Ore., recently returned from a trip to
Central America authorized by Speaker of the House Tip
O’Neill. AuCoin spent three days in Nicaragua talking to San
dinista representatives about the not-so-secret-secret-war.
His observations point ‘‘to the fact the U.S. is moving toward
a war-footing and a heightened risk" that U.S. troops will be
sent there to fight.
We don’t wish to contradict AuCoin, but the troops,
naval support and air support are already on their way. Under
the guise of conducting maneuvers in Honduras the Reagan
administration will deploy a military force capable of
crushing Nicaragua. This is “gunboat diplomacy” at its most
insidious.
The Reagan administration’s stated aim to peacefully
secure the governments of El Salvador and Honduras by en
ding Sandinista support for revolutionaries seems a lie in
view of the military tactics being employed as the first-line of
diplomacy. The administration claims to have no intention of
overthrowing the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua. Yet, the
fleet off the Central American coasts, the troops in Hon
duras, illustrate a policy too quickly militaristic to accept a
swift negotiated settlement and leave Nicaragua to its own
destiny.
Oddly enough, the Nicaraguan government has told the
Organization of American States that it is willing to negotiate
"an absolute end to the arms supply by any country to the
forces in conflict in El Salvador.” The Nicaraguans also said
they were willing to sign a non-aggression pact with Hon
duras. The Reagan administration has won a major conces
sion from the Nicaraguans without flexing its military mus
cle. So recall the fleet, postpone the troop maneuvers and
put the CIA anti-insurgents back on a leash before it’s too
late. Otherwise, Henry Kissinger, the veteran U S. statesman
with experience in Chile, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam will
go to Central America to correct the situation.
opinion
m SEYMOUR HERSH HER LONE RANGER'S BACK IN TOWN!'
■ (
aeaoie janes
reporter’s notebook
In the chaos of Dead Week, I
burst into my house and ex
claimed: “I got a job.” I
jubilantly explained to my
housemates that it was a job
that would provide a challenge
and also allow me to retain my
sense of pride and intregity.
Or so I thought.
In this optimistic spirit I hit
the streets as an OSPIRG can
vasser. By gathering
background information on
OSPIRG, an environmental
and consumer protection
state lobby group, I learned
they had pushed many
positive bills through the
Legislature in their 12 years of
existence
But my zeal towards
OSPIRG and their worthy
social issues quickly diminish
ed when I called on my first
house As I walked through
the weed-infested yard,
gingerly hop-scotched over a
two wheeled skateboard, and
stept over a tired old mangy
sheep dog, I almost expected
a member of the Joad Family,
from John Steinbeck s
novel,"Grapes of Wrath”, to
answer my feeble knock
As an unkempt woman
opened the door, a flood of
shame washed over us both
She, for exposing a stranger to
her condition, and me, for hav
ing the audacity to ask for a
contribution
Although the night before I
had memorized my dispas
sionate and aggressive
"speech” it now suddenly lost
its pizzaz, like this family's
cherished week-old bottle of
Pepsi
"We ain't got no money to
give you," she coldly replied
The obvious had been plainly
stated
As I headed down the street,
“1
xnqon daily _ _
emerald
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Jean Ownbey
I realized the entire
neighborhood suffered the
same plight as my Joad family.
To boost my spirits, I
reminded myself that
OSPIRG's current project — to
initiate legislation for a
citizen’s utility board, which
would intervene when utility
companies requested rate
hikes — would significantly
help these people.
During my travels through
this village of poverty, I met
malnourished infants, guilt
ridden unemployed parents
and sick seniors, all of whom
were caught in a desperate
struggle for survival
These people, like so many
other million Americans, were
tangled in the bottom lines of
Pres Ronald Reagan’s graphs
illustrating the success of his
economic recovery. They serv
ed as his scapegoat as he
claimed their idle and selfish
nature contributed to the out
of-control national debt and
thwarted his sure-fire
economic plan They were also
the victims as Reagan promis
ed aid would “trickle-down” to
them, as long as everyone else
"stayed the course " They had
no other course and could on
ly stay
As we work in our daily nine
to-five job or craftily take lec
ture notes, it becomes conve
nient for our conscience to
forget the plight of these
silent people and adopt
Reagan s reassuring notions.
But, as our OSPIRG crew
moved to an affluent
neighborhood, I gained new
hope that I would finally col
lect some money.
Being careful not to step on
their richly green, manicured
lawn, I rang the chimes of the
first house.
A nervous woman dressed
in the latest fashion quickly in
formed me, after hearing my
plea for financial support, that
they ' really couldn’t afford it
right now "
I chewed on her comment
as I walked past their 1983
Cadillac and 29-foot pleasure
boat I finally understood that
obscure lecture on "relative
deprivation” in my Intro to
Sociology class.
After talking with almost
3,600 citizens in a week’s time,
I could no longer withstand
the strains of rejection, the
repetition of my "rap” and
mainly, the sight of poverty.
I quit
But on that last night, I
wielded my rap to a petite
wrinkled woman and when I
finally finished she exclaim
ed,"Honey, I haven’t heard a
word you’ve said. I’m deaf. ’
She had probably
understood more than anyone
else I had talked to
letters
■ l
Africa
As it stands with Africa at
this moment: An estimated
population of between that of
one Oregon and two Oregons
will die in the next 12 months
above the normal five to six
million Africans that die of
poverty due to recession and
drought
Mot
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