4 OPINION Page 4 Thursday, September 17, 1987 The Michigan Doily h Sitb aniai1 Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Remembering massacres Vol. XCVIII, No. 6 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Unsigned editorials represent a majority of the Daily's Editorial Board. All other cartoons, signed articles, and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily. Dashing hopes for peace LAST WEEK President Reagan dealt a severe blow to hopes for peace by rescinding his original endorsement of a Central American peace plan and calling for increased aid to the contras. The plan, crafted by Costa Rican President Arias and signed by the five presidents of ;Central America represents the only significant attempt to negotiate peace in the region by the parties that are directly affected - namely the countries that comprise Central America. Reagan justified this latest incon- sistancy by stating that the Arias plan would allow the Sandinistas to "still be in charge as they want to be" - an admission that his true aim is the ultimate overthrow of the Nicaraguan government. In addition to rejecting the agreed-upon plan, Reagan also added new conditions for an end to U.S. aid to the contra guerillas - free elections in Nicaragua, a free press, freedom of opponents of the Nicaraguan government to organize politically, abolition of the secret police and removal of foreign advisers. It is noteworthy that these last two conditions go beyond the peace plan Reagan proposed just last month with House Speaker Jim Wright, D-Tex. The conditions stated by the administration demon- strate Reagan's double standard in foreign policy. The call for free elections ignores the Nicaraguan election of 1984 which the Sandi- nistas won handily, and when compared with other "elections" in Central America was remarkably fair. The demand for a free press and organized political opposition is only meant to apply to Nicaragua - a state under attack by externally supplied insurgents, while South Africa - a country wracked by internal uprisings - the rigid press censorship and routine imprison- ment of political opponents, goes untouched by Reagan policy. What is abundantly clear is that the administration does not intend to permit a negotiated settlement. By withdrawing U.S. support, Reagan undermines the very efforts of Central Americans themselves to deal with their own problems in a constructive manner, and demon- strates his earlier approval to be a mere lip-service in the wake of the surprise Central American agree- ment. The United States could exert considerable influence in Central America for peace via negotiations, if Washington only had the desire to do so. However, this latest flipflop demonstrates again Reagan's de- termination to seek an externally imposed military solution to a regional problem. It signals an end to the administration's facade of diplomacy and reveals that the temptation to intervene has lost none of its attractiveness. It is a sad day in America when the Rambo/ cowboy mentality prevails 'over logic and reason. For many living in Central America, it will be more than sad - it will be fatal. By Tim Huet This is the second of a two-part series. The memory of the matanza pervades the collective consciousness of El Salvador's people. In particular, people remember what happened to those who cooperated in elections only to have electoral rolls become execution lists. Salvadoran skepticism about the efficacy of elections was nurtured by decades of fraud perpetuated in the changing of guard between different representatives of the military and oligarchy . Nevertheless, many retained hope for change through the ballot box. In 1972, opposition parties including the Communists and Christian Democrats, came together as UNO to run a unified slate of candidates. On the UNO ticket, Christian Democrat Napoleon Duarte and Social Democrat Guillermo Ungo run as presidential and vice-presidential candi- dates, respectively. In a blatant case of fraud, even after a UNO victory was announced, the military's candidate was declared the winner. In an echo of 1932, the government's willingness to accept the election results was dependent upon who won. Also reminiscent of 1932, dissident factions were unwilling to accept the negation of democracy, and the dissident sector of the military rebelled. Colonel Benjamin Mejia and his followers arrested the reigning dictator, Sanchez Hernsndez. Following the coup, Duarte joined the rebels and urged the people to support them. The people, however, perhaps remembering the matanza too well, did not heed the call. The rebellion was crushed by loyalist troops. Duarte went into exile. The left- wing of his party, finally convinced that change in El Salvador could only be brought about through revolutionary means, split off and formed the People's Revolutionary Army (ERP). The ERP became El Salvador's second revolu- tionary army (the Popular Liberation Forces formed when a split occurred in the Communist Party in 1970). The Communist Party itself didn't take up arms until 1979. The Communist Party again participated in elections under the UNO coalition in 1977. The elections were again stolen. In protest, 50,000 UNO supporters occupied the Plaza de Libertad in San Salvador for five consecutive days. On the fifth day, February 28, the military closed off the square and fired into the crowd, killing more than 200 people. The People's Leagues - February 28th (PL-28), a diverse coalition of workers, farmers, and students, formed in response Tim .duet is an Opinion staff writer. to this massacre. On January 22, 1980, the 48th anniversary of Farabundo Marti's failed uprising, it coalesced with three other popular organizations, to form the Revolutionary Coordinator of the Masses. The objective of this coalition was to provide a unified front on which to push for social change, primarily through demonstrations and civil disobedience. To celebrate their unification, the popular organizations held a march with 200,000 people. Government troops fired upon the marchers killing 67 and wounding more than 200. In November of 1980, the four major revolutionary armies in El Salvador united as the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN). They soon formed a coalition with popular organi- zations and opposition political parties, which had reorganized as the Democratic Revolutionary Front (FDR). The FDR had by this time decided that it was necessary to ally itself with the armed liberation movement, in order to accomplish social change in El Salvador. This decision was reached under a government that the United States had hailed as the harbinger of democracy's arrival to El Salvador. On October 15, 1979, junior officers of the armed forces staged a coup and announced their intention of promoting reform. Soon, however, they lost power to senior, conservative members of the newly-formed junta. When this became apparent, two of the three civilian junta members resigned along with most other civilians in the government. One of the junta members to resign was Guillermo Ungo, who had the vice presidency stolen from him in 1972. Seeing that the military had no intent of relinquishing power unless forced to do so, Uingo joined the revolutionaries and soon became head of the Revolutionary Democratic Front (FDR). The vacancies in the junta were filled by Christian Democrats, including Ungo's former runningmate, N'apoleon Duarte. Meanwhile, paramilitary death squads such as ORDEN, (directed by govern- mental and military leadership) had been operating within the country to assassinate political opponents and union organizers. When Mario Zamora, the Attorney General, became a death squad casualty, several Christian Democrats threatened to resign if the murderers were not placed on trial. Neither a trial nor an investigation was forthcoming. Many Christian Democrats left the government and the party. "The Christian Democratic Party should not participate in a regime which' has unleashed the bloodiest repression ever experienced by the Salvadorean people," read a joint statement by the resigning officials. Napolean Duarte, Guillermo Ungo's former runningmate, soon joined the junta. Duarte gave the junta the "respecta- bility" it so badly needed to assure the continuation of aid from the United States. Duarte agreed to play this role on the condition of a pledge from the military in support of certain reforms, including land reform. The initial moves to implement this program revealed that in return for the reforms, the military was given free reign to repress the opposition. A state of siege was declared the day after the "land reform" was announced. Just ten days after the state of siege was decreed, Amnesty International issued a report calling into question the rationale surrounding the "land reform" program: "The authorities stated that troops moved into the rural areas to occupy plantations intended for expropriation in the agrarian reform. Local sources said, however, that villages supporting opposition peasant unions...were attacked by troops, and the land seized was handed over to members of government organizations, including ...ORDEN." According to The New York Times, death squads such as ORDEN, which were supposedly disbanded by the junta, were not only still intact but increasingly active. The newspaper reported that the reforms were "accompanied by a stepped- up campaign against leftist labor and peasant groups by army and paramilitary units." This campaign took the form of murdering union leaders, students, and peasants. Increasingly, the re pression was pursued to the exclusion of reform. Whole segments of the land reform. plan were abandoned or undercut in implementation. Meanwhile, the military was bombing and forcefully evacuating large areas of the countryside. This strategy was intended to deny the guerillas their base of popular support by making guerilla strongholds unlivable. Such terror tactics have resulted in the displacement of one fourth of all Salvadorans 62,000 casualties in the last seven years. It has also resulted in a situation that resembles pre-matanza El Salvador. A president (Napoleon Duarte) has assumed power promising reform and, whether willing or not, has proven unable to deliver. Increased repression has followed. However, there are important differences between now and 1932. Salvadorans have learned the lessons of the matanza and other such incidents. They have learned that when their governmental leadership speaks of "trading bullets for ballots," it means that when one puts down one's gun to place a ballot, one will receive a bullet in exchange. The name- sakes of Farabundo Marti will not commit that error again. The popular organizations of El Salvador engaged in a long, forceful struggle for justice in their homeland. It is up to us in the United States to do our part by working to end our government's military support of this bloody regime. Support Detroit teachers DETROIT TEACHERS ARE PART of the annual Michigan onslaught of strikes this year. The Detroit teach- ers' strike alone is keeping 181,000 students out of school and 12,780 teachers out of work. This extended summer vacation comes from an inability of the Detroit public school board to offer a reasonable contract to the Detroit Federation of Teach- ers (DFT), the union representing Detroit teachers. In light of the fact that the City of Detroit has a very high school tax compared to the rest of the state, and amongst the lowest paid teachers, the Detroit school board defies all logic by offering a wage freeze for this school year, in a one year contract. For the following year, the school board tentatively offers a 2 percent wage increase. The teachers, on the other hand, are demanding a 12-14 percent wage increase in a two year contract - something the, school board says is out of the question. They. claim the City of Detroit, with a $27 million deficit cannot afford it, and turned over undecipherable book- keeping records to supposedly prove it. An outside observer may be led to believe that the City of Detroit is trying to scare away its teachers. Detroit public schools are notorious for their violence and disciplinary problems. Good teachers have few enough incentives as it is to stay in Detroit: the school hnrd's chean- with more to offer, leaving behind students who badly need them. Another issue in.the contract talks is one of class size. Detroit schools allow comparatively large class- room sizes while other districts such as Southfield have fewer students per class even though the school taxes are several mills lower. Detroit teachers are claiming they cannot effectively teach several classes of this size a day. The Detroit school board, however, thinks it is too expensive to effec- tively teach the students (via smaller classes) and refuses to consider it. Though the school board is complaining about a lack of funds, it strangely does not seem to worry about expenses incurred by its own members. The school board has spent about half a million dollars to pay for personal chauffeurs. The average pay of each chauffeur is about $35,000 - $3,000 more than what the average teacher in Detroit is paid. The school board also spent over $70,000 on 55 out-of-state trips, denying the lavish budget it gives itself to the teachers. The Detroit teacher strike has the potential to last a long time if the school board continues its out- rageous "offer" of a wage freeze. Trying other means to force the teachers to work, the board tried the courts, but got no sympathy. Only when they realize there is no alternative but to deal with the teachers' demands will an end to .nuc etr.., - n a il n. i LETTERS: Rent control campaign starts tonight To the Daily: Remember last March? Or had it started already in February? Every spring, an earlier search for housing and higher and higher rents confront University students. Last year, according to both the city of Ann Arbor and the University Housing Informa- tion Office, rent increased an averagesof 10 percent over the previous year. Costs to land- lords went up much less - inflation was in the 4 percent range. The public figures are not out, yet, but 1988 rents are higher than ever. How much more are you paying than last year? Besides higher rent, the low vacancy rate means students have fewer choices. T h e central campus vacancy rate, published by the University Housing Information Office, is always low. Last year it was 2.55 percent after an incredibly low .79 percent in 1985. Citywide, the vacancy rate was 3.19 percent last year. A vacancy rate under 5 percent means the market is not truly competitive. The vacancy rate campaign to enact a Rent Stabilization Ordinance. Ann Arbor Citizens for Fair Rents includes permanent Ann Arbor .residents and students, tenants and homeowners, and anyone who is concerned about the continuing rent increases in our city. We aim to place a rent stabilization ordinance on the April 1988 city ballot. Students concerned with rising rents should come to a public meeting tonight, Thursday September 17, at 7:30 pm in MSA Chambers, 3909 Michigan Union. At this meeting we will discuss the need for rent stabilization, the ordinance and how we can put it on the ballot and pass it. -Michael Appel September 16 Socialist Labor Party: lobbying Congress prolongs violence against workers To the Daily: In response to the moving letter in the Daily's Sept. 11 issue (signed by Justin Schwartz, et. al.) concerning the U.S. Navy's attempt to run down protesters with a train that resulted in a cracked skull and concerning the contra murder of U.S. peace activists Benjamin Linder in Nicaragua, the mountain labored and brought forth a mouse. Every time this group and others like it publicly wring their hands in moral outrage over whatever incident is currently inciting them and then suggest that we all write and/or moral duplicity. It is not merely useless: it is dangerous diversion o f people from the only solution - socialist revolution - back into begging the capitalist class for reforms which it grants on occasion but only to defuse serious social unrest and in the process tying its subject working class wage slaves more securely to the system which exploits and cripples them. Serving as the "official" opposition on "left," it allows the capitalists to continue their bloody ways. The solution, which must come out of the total naturally generates. The liberals, pseudo- socialists and other opportunists profess to be outraged, but are quite unwilling to give up the capitalist system which engenders the horror and grief. The few extra privileges, those extra crumbs tossed from the capitalist table, seem to salve a lot conscience, but he late Daniel DeLeon, America's foremost Marxist, was correct when he stated simply, "scratch a liberal and you will find a reactionary." Incidentally, to those of you who have or plan to see "Rosa Luxemburg" at the Michigan Theatre this week, she was a 1