Reagan encourages
continuing military aid
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By GINIE LYNCH
First it was a Salvadoran archbishop, then four American nuns
and a few U.S. citizens here and there and now most recently, a
U.S. Navy officer has been added to the VIP death list in the Sal
vadoran civil war. Despite the rising death toll (the number of Sal
vadorans killed has reached approximately 100,000), the Reagan
administration continues to foster the notion that military aid is
the best solution to solve the Salvadoran crisis. v
It seems ironic that the U.S. government, renown for its demo
cratic traditions, would actually support die government of the
military backed dictatorship in El Salvador. The Reagan adminis
tration's frighteningly simplistic way of dealing with the problems
in El Salvador and indeed all of Central America, by reinforcing
the role of the military in a region resisting the military's repres
siveness, only further serves to illustrate its inability to see the
crisis in more than one dimension. Guns, ammunition, military
advisers and millions of our taxpayers' dollars these are the
methods the Reagan administration deems best to solve the civil
war in El Salvador. There is no attempt to pursue negotiations
between the leftist guerrillas and the lightest military backed
government. It appears that the current administration almost
fears such negotiations. An example of this fear, is the transferral
of Thomas Enders, the assistant secretary for Inter-American Af
fairs, away from El Salvador because he favored talks with the
Salvadoran rebels. Enders, interestingly enough, was known for
his hardline stance against Communists. One can't help but won
der just what Langhorne A. Motley, his replacement and the cur
rent Ambassador to Brazil, will be like.
For if El Salvador is ever to have a stable democracy, negotia
tions must take place. There is no other viable solution. The inter
nal struggle of too much land and wealth in the hands of too few
is the historical lynchpin of the Salvadoran crisis. But getting the
landed oligarchy the real power behind the current government
which is supported by the military to agree to the implementa
tion of reforms for the poor (one of the basic aims of the guer
rillas' platform) will be extremely difficult. This would be to go
against the status quo grain they've held historically for genera
tions. Nevertheless, some attempt to compromise must be initi
ated soon. It is doubtful that this will happen as long as our own
. North, American "dictator" (Ronald Reagan) stays in power.
In terms of El Salvador, Reagan administration could do well
i
CMC I Q F y
to heed the words of Abraham Lincoln: "Whenever there
is a conflict between human rights and property rights,
human rights must prevail." But the Reagan administra
tion is much more interested in continuing its outdated
foreign policies than helping the plight of the Salvadoran
people. So we will continue to send economic and military
aid to this tiny war-scorned nation to keep communism out
of El Salvador and all of Central America to "safeguard
Democracy." Democracy for. whom? Obviously not de
mocracy for the Salvadoran peopled And there is really
something bothersome about this definition which implies
that all conflicts in this region be viewed in terms of East
West confrontations. We no longer live in an isolated bi
polar world, and it is not necessary for the Reagan adminis
tration to cry the "Communism wolf" every time there is a
problem in Central America, unless one can be certain of
real Soviet subversion. Maybe this is Reagan's way of han
dling a situation that is too complex for him to understand.
It follows that the greatest threat to democracy in El Sal
vador and in the entire Central American region is the cur
rent administration's backward foreign policy. Need we so
quickly forget some of the basic principles upon which our
own government was formed? Doesn't the notion exist, that
when the government is unjust, that revolt may be neces
sary and preferable to tyranny? And should we be so fright
ened at the word 'revolutionary'? George McGovern,
speaking to UNC students in the fall of 1981, said that rev
olution in El Salvador is somewhat comparable to our own;
that if we were living in El Salvador today, we'd probably
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be fighting with the guerillas too.
Thomas Jefferson, one of our nation's founding fathers,
would certainly be considered a radical if he were alive to
day. Jefferson said, "Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to
God." He also said, "Laws and institutions must go hand
in hand with the progress of the human mind. Each genera
tion has the right to choose for itself the form of govern-
. The Reagan administration should listen to his wise words
to deal with the Salvadoran crisis.
One would prefer to believe that Reagan's inept foreign
policy in El Salvador and all of Central America is more a
result of ignorance than anything else. But reappraisal of
our actions in El Salvador is still vital. If we as a govern
ment choose to get involved in El Salvador, why not help
negotiate for a peaceful, viable alternative to the violent
bloody road already paved?
If the Reagan administration does not learn to listen to
our Latin American neighbors and carefully weigh the im
plications of military aid to impose our kind of "order,"
then what small amount of credibility we have in this area
will probably be shattered. Let us rather use our tools of
foreign diplomacy wisely so that we do not make a mockery
of our own democratic ideals. The recent death of another
North American in El Salvador should only make us aware
of and able to question U.S. military aid to El Salvador.
Ginie Lynch, who graduated from UNC this spring, is
from Richmond, Va. She is a staff writer for The Tar Heel.
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Thursday, June 2, 1933 The Tar Heel 15