OPINION .4 Page 4 Friday, April 15, 1988 The Michigan Daily 01 1IE Sidpgan IlUI Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Students often, re Vol. XCVIII, No. 133 420 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. Honduran unrest reaction to U.S. power moves; Resisting paternaism .AST WEEK IN Honduras, 2000 anti- American protestors attacked the U.S. embassy, burning cars and embassy bildings in retaliation for the kidnap- ping and forced extradition of a sus- pacted Honduran drug trafficker to the U.S. Although the mainstream press and Attorney General Edwin Meese wAuld have us believe the protest was nply an act of support for the sus-' gect, in truth it was a demonstration of cowing resentment of American con- over Honduran internal and foreign Jairs-a I a move orchestrated by U.S. offi- ailJuan Ramon Matta Ballesteros s seized outside his home in the onduran capitol of Tegucigalpa by fbnduran soldiers and plain-clothes t.S. officials. He was then forced, Without his passport, to board a plane btit eventually flew to the United $4tes. Upon landing he was arrested Id placed in Marion Prison in Illinois. ;While this may appear to be a just fd courageous act on the part of drug enforcement agents, the move was in blatant violation of Honduran laws and the Honduran constitution. Honduras ;has no extradition treaty with the U.S. and the Honduran constitution ex- pressly forbids the extradition of a Honduran citizen for crimes committed outside their country. This brazenly illegal act was the cata- lyst for last week's violence, but the storm had been brewing for several months. Pressure from the Reagan ad- ministration forced Honduras to break the terms of the Arias Peace Plan by 'allowing the Nicaraguan contras to op- erate from bases within Honduras. Two weeks ago Reagan dispatched Check co T HEHOUSE WILL VOTE this month ion a Senate resolution which heavily )restricts the president's power to hide covert operations from them. Disre- garding President Ronald Reagan's *impending veto, the Senate voted 71- 19 to require congressional notification within 48 hours of covert operations conducted under "rare occasions where time is of the essence." If the operation is undertaken in "ordinary circum- stances," advance notification must be tprovided. Currently, covert actions need only be reported to congress in a "timely" manner which makes the notification of covert operation similar to the War :Powers Act. The Senate is taking a step toward policing the irresponsibility of the CIA, the NSC, and the military through this bill. In a democracy, it is imperative that elected representatives conduct foreign policy rather than an unelected, elite faction. This bill would increase congressional oversight, but will not t place elected representatives in charge of U.S. foreign policy. The military and so-called intelligence agencies have historically jumped at the i chance to conduct and further skew foreign policy to their own ends. This is a self-perpetuating cycle: U.S. mon- etary involvement with quizzlings, puppet regimes, and right-wing armies i creates false allies to which increase aid can be sent and which propaganda can be built around. For example, the con- ; ttas are used to weaken the legitimate government of Nicaragua in the name of fighting communism. Covert operation is simply an eu- phemism for low-intensity conflict meant to overthrow legitimate govern- ments. After Vietnam, the U.S. gov- emient realized that there is a high po- litical cost to overthrowing popularly- Daily Opinion 1 ) 'I 3500 U.S. troops to Honduras in a move to intimidate Nicaragua. The Reagan administration has been trying unsuccessfully to draw Honduras and Nicaragua into a war, using such tac- tics as ferrying Honduran troops to the border region and coercing the Hon- duran Air Force to bomb targets inside Nicaragua. This latest episode clearly demonstrates the ultimate control Washington enjoys over its client state, and that country's utter lack of sovereignty. In comments about the demonstra- tions, Meese, the illustrious chief of law enforcement, said the protests showed "the tremendous power of the narcotics traffickers and what they are apparently trying to orchestrate" (NYT 4/10/88). One of his aides actually suggested that Matta may have paid the demonstrators. This is ludicrous in light of the spontaneity of the protests and the fact that five people were killed, including a young girl. How much does one pay someone to sacri- fice their life? The Justice Department is simply ig- noring the real causes of Honduran unrest and is disregarding the provisions of the Honduran constitution. We now know Meese is capable of ignoring constitutions in several languages and countries. In Central America, Honduras is known as la puta (the whore) because of its apparent willingness to do any- thing for American dollars. The kid- napping and illegal extradition of Juan Ramon Matta proves that the world's "oldest profession" is alive and well in Tegucigalpa. vert action supported governments with U.S. troops. Thus, the United States con- centrated on funding covert armies. These forces can rape, torture, murder, and wreak economic damage on other nations with little accountability. The United States has a history of covert operations including, the inva- sion .of Grenada, the overthrow of democratically elected. Chilean Presi- dent Salvador Allende, and the funding. of the South African sponsored UNITA forces led by Jonas Savimbi. Common to each operation is the ab- sence of threat to national security and the desired effect of imposing U.S. hegemonic order under the facade of "democracy." This piece of legislation is clearly a response to Reagan's Iran-Contra fi- asco. It is only a slap on the wrist compared to the bloodletting he de- serves; yet, Reagan has the gall to protest it. The White House whines that notifying Congress is synonymous to leaking the covert operation to the Washington Post. On the contrary, there is a safety hatch in the legislation which allows him to only notify the top party members in each chamber to pre- vent this. If these operations are leaked to the press, it will only aid the nation and perhaps save a few Third World coun- tries from unnecessary U.S. interven- tion. Taking into account the damaging effects on the Third World and the be- trayal of U.S. citizens' true interests, covert operations should be banned. The legislation repudiates the execu- tive's power to choose which nations fit acceptable standards according to its own economic and demagogic inter- ests. The legislation is a badly-needed check on the president's power which he apparently cannot handle responsi- bly. By David Newblatt Today (4/13) on the diag I witnessed two incidents that confirm for me the crisis situation at this University over student rights. The first involved a certain street musician that was playing in front of a crowd of about a 150 students. Everyone was enjoying the sun, listening to the music and having a great time. A campus security officer suddenly pushed his way through the crowd and informed him that he would not be allowed to continue playing if he was to accept any more money. The musician packed away his instruments shortly afterward and left the diag. The second incident occurred when one of the campus security officers intercepted a student smoking marijuana. The officer used his radio to call for the police to come and deal with the student. I was so appalled at these two happenings that I approached the officer and asked why he was making it a point to hassle people on the diag. H e handed me the familiar line about "just doing my job". Today was a very frightening experience for me because I saw for myself two cases of student repression. I have been fighting the code for three years, but never had I truly seen the nature of what we are fight- ing. It was a bunch of theoretical mumbo- jumbo that we would argue over at U- Council meetings, but I was never able to actually experience the repression. That changed today. I am writing this letter to warn students and everyone that cares about civil liberties that the repression is just be- ginning. A brief history may be in order here. Students gained most of their rights in the late '60s and early '70s when progressive students (like Tom Hayden and SDS) de- stroyed the doctrine of en loco parentis. This doctrine holds that the University take on a parental role, while the students as- sume the role of children. Under this doc- trine, the University rigorously controlled the lives of students. I'm sure that many students have heard the horror stories of how women had to be in their dormrooms David Newblatt is an LSA Senior and former chair of U Council. by 10:00 every night. Amazingly, students were forbidden to drive automobiles on Ann Arbor streets. En loco parentis was elimi- nated through active protest, and students established control of their own lives. No longer does the University assume this role of regulating student's non-academic lives. I hold, however, that this situation is chang- ing, and we are moving back in the direc- tion of the en loco parentis doctrine. This movement is being engineered ever so carefully by the University administration. It is not something that can be easily seen, as it is well hidden within an evolutionary process. I can, however, point to three manifestations of this trend. 1. The Code of Non-Academic Conduct This is the obvious and the most threat- ening manifestation. In order to have con- trol over students, the administration must achieve the ultimate power: the power over the transcripts. In the face of expulsion, suspension, or hold credit; a student is powerless. The University is attempting to expand its regulation over students to the non-academic realm. Of course, this power-grab is not pre- sented to the students as such. The code history is filled with attempts to sell the code to students using every trick in the book. The administration has used the Bursley murders, sexual assault, and most recently, racism as an excuse for a code. A code is completely incapable of decreasing any of the above problems. For instance, adjudicatory mechanisms for sexual assault exist in the legal system already. Of course there are difficulties in the legal system that make it cumbersome to use, but how can a code solve this problem? The real challenge is on the prevention side, something a code doesn't even come close to addressing. It is important for students to recognize that these overtures from the administration are power-grabs to gain control over them. 2. The Deputization of the Cam- pus Security The administration is desperately trying to deputize the campus security officers. This means that they would have a badge, thus giving them the power to arrest people and carry a gun. This fight has taken place in the State Legislature as recently as last term. Leo Heatley, the Director of Public Safety, has continually lobbied hard for this pressed power. Fortunately, with the help of our Rep. Perry Bullard, the bill has been de- feated in committee for the time being. If the administration were to achieve their goal of their own deputized police force, this would be a major power coup. This means that they would control their own police force that could arrest students. They would then have the control of student's criminal records. 3. Excessive Regulation In general, there has been a constant trend toward increased regulation. This can be seen recently in the Daily in the disputes over which protests are allowed, when, and where. Another example is the glass that now covers many bulletin boards, where previously there was none. The Michigan Union used to be open to students 24 hours a day, now it is heavily restricted. Two summers ago, there was an attempt to regulate the number of diag banners to two. Fortunately, this was rolled back by student opposition. The list goes on and on. These may look like trivial measures, but they are not. With each generation of new students the regulation accumulates. First-year students don't realize that the bulletin boards were once free of glass. I am very concerned because I see these three things materializing. I am afraid to think of what this place will be like in five years. Today on the diag was just a taste of repression, nothing compared to what will happen as the administration gains more control. As the balance of power shifts away from students toward administrators, new initiatives for control will surface. This is how the repression of en loco par- entis will evolve at this University. I shivered today in the face of repression. I really came to the realization that it is happening, and I became angry. I became angry because students are being manipu- lated into giving up their rights. I just ask students to realize that this trend is taking place. Be aware that this is actively pursued trend toward the reinstitution of en loco parentis. Students can stop this trend, but it takes hard work. If we are to be successful, we must make our voices heard. We have much more power than we realize. This is how we won our freedom back in the early '70s, and it is how we must protect it in the '80s. Wasserman 0 'loW ETURZN 15 FULL of ERRORS- BUT 'CS BASED ON AP'JiC6 FROM WELL, IN TiA~T CAS.E, I'LL -TELLtDEDUCT US~~ COST ',tbi OWE~ US LOTS OF MONY/ YOUR VPHONE IELP? LINE YOU WRLAT YOU CAN DO -OF 1"E CALL 9 ;~g) _ LETTERS: CDLA view of Nicarargua wrong To The Daily: In response to Roberto Fri- sancho's one-sided, unfair de- piction of religious life in Nicaragua, let me say first that as a Latin American, I feel that the Coalition for Democracy in Latin America in no way represents my interests. Frisancho, by proclaiming himself as president of the CDLA, does not practice democracy within his organization. He was not democratically elected to his position, nor have there been any real elections in the group. . CDLA's version o f "democracy" is one of moneyed elites controlling people and resources in the countries of Central and South America, remaining subservient and in debt to the U.S. and its multi- national corporations a n d banks. Frisancho's essay reflects typical Reagan Administration rhetoric, which paints a picture of the Sandinistas as totalitar- ian, Marxist, anti-Christian ideologues, whose only aim is to subjugate the population and squash any form of opposition. The usual time-worn asser- war, which certainly has had the greatest effect on religious life in Nicaragua. The Contra reign of terror has included the murders of a Catholic priest and an American J e w (Benjamin Linder) in 1987, the kidnapping of Seventh Day Adventist missionaries, and threats on the lives of many clerics from different denominations. Frisancho, a victim of right- wing propaganda, uses quota- tions from Humberto Belli of the Puebla Institute, and Michael Novak of the Ameri- can Enterprise Institute, orga- nizations which recieve support from the State Department and the CIA, so naturally every- thing they say about Nicaragua is laced with anti-Sandinista vitriol. The assertion that there are no Jews in Nicaragua is a lie, in fact, as a visitor to Nicaragua in summer of 1987, I watched as a synagogue was rebuilt at a location around the corner from where I was stay- ing. In regards to other religious persecution, anyone with eyes and ears can go to Nicaragua to repression or persecution. Even the noted hypocritical, woman- exploiting Jimmy Swaggart was able to convey his mes- sage to a massive audience in Managua late last year. Its about time the CDLA recognized their mistake in not decrying religious persecution in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras which occurs daily, and without much publicity At least in Nicaragua, arch- bishops are-not assassinated, nor are nuns raped and murdered by the government, paid for with U.S. tax dollars. -Luis A. Vazquez April 11 Incumbents are entrenched 0 To the Daily: I have occasionally been criticized in the past for speaking so rapidly that I cannot be understood. Judging from Kerry Birmingham's article on the Women's Action for Nuclear Disarmament forum at which Lana Pollack and myself spoke, I must have been setting new speed records. The article indicated that I said I had little chance of de- feating Pursell. In fact I was saying that neither Lana Pol- lack nor myself has a very good chance of defeating Pursell, since it has become all but impossible to unseat in- cumbents. I pointed to the fact would re-enfranchise people, and that could act as counter- force to the money of rich contributors. It is exactly this sort of movement that Jesse Jackson's campaign has helped to build and has led to its suc- cess here and elsewhere.. I was also surprised to read that Senator Pollack and my- self agreed on most issues. I was calling explicitly for undoing the bulk of Reagan's military build-up for savings on the order of 70 billion dol- lars per year. I furthermore called for taking back Reagan's tax breaks to the very rich and large corporations which could save about the same amount. Page letter policy &