' El Salvador _ is your average Latin American country with _ ' a repressive’fegime,

a tiny wealthy elite, ‘

_ a massiVe amount of poverty, and a close relationship ’with the ‘ United States- But resently ‘El Salvador

‘ has Stood out as having

, one of more .re—_ ~ pressive governments V in Central America.

To date the govern— ment and right Wing forcesare culpable for 80% of the more than ‘, 30,900 deaths since Oct,! 19 797 These government

, forces and rightwing "death squads are known

' to work together. . Evidence has been compil— ed from Church groups] and human rights or— anizations that show that government forces carmonIthorture ' and mutilate their victims. Teachers and

~ studentsyhave been killed in classrooms, - Childern have been kill—

,.ed in front of their

" parents, people‘old‘and yeuhgfhave: been. decap- *

: .itatédor' have/beareund j dumped in the streets" with a. few limbs missing. Episodes such asthese,. and others even-more gruesome, are still going on in El Salvador.. It is

not surprising that. the

U.N. has passed three resolutions in the past two years condemning

l 'Bvaim Revell r ‘ - r 'I‘I'Ie’recent first? ministers conference-in Ottawa was filled with

_ the, usual rhetoric and finger pointing at one

rises C

venison, February 11,-

ontinues ‘ .

1982, page 3

' the U.S. government

world" .

‘ in El Salvador.

" point.

human rights violations in El Salvador. . ' On the“ other hand,

a saw... 0

continues to give the Salvadorean govern- ment more military aid and is presently train- ing 1500* Salvadorean soldiers on U.S. soil. It is certain that such military aid helps in— creaSe the power of what former U.S. ambassador ' to .El Salvador, Ibbert White, calls " one of. the most out of control, violent, bloodthirsty groups .of men in the

. More military aid

7 means mere human rights

violations—-— even again- st American religious The slogan," U.S. GUNS KILL U.S. ’NUNS", is to the

Dispite mounting ‘

r opposition at home, from

at least 54 congressmen (3) , and mounting isolation '

' abroad, especially‘ from

France and Mexico, Reagan . has just authorized anoth— er 55million in military " aid for El Salvador.

Eyen Canada, the closest

[ally of the U.S.", has ex— . pressed reSeIVation _ about U.S. military

aid to El Salvador.

' Downplaying the _ ‘ significance of human

rights violations and, while ignoring the

pleas of Church groups, _' human rights groupsrand _ the United Nations(5)\- the

- forces .

U.S. has claimed military aid is needed to fight

[off the communist threat-

The State Department 1 .

~ claims that Cuba and the ' Soviet Union are the

cause of social unrest Latin America.

Most other sources, however, agree that social unrest

,Latin America, and es- pecially in El Salvador,

is caused by a history of repression and socio- economic exploitation. With rampant poverty, military repression, complete lack of free—_ dom and all non—violent means of reform crushed it is not difficult to see why peoplewould revolt. How would any:

. one react to watching _

their children die of malnutrion, or watching their parents, friends , Or relatives being killed by their own government One does not need a communist to see things are intolerable.

Nonetheless, as the

war rages on and

hundreds of innocents die each-week, U.S. Secretary d of State, Alexander Haig, in his cold, firm temper— ment will" once again re- iterate that the U.S. will not tolerate another Cuba.

In the weeks to come I will try to keep the concerned student body

_‘ aware Of the- Salvadorean

Crisis. But, no doubt, many of you have questions about the current situation. I would welcome your response, pro or con, to the above artical.

If you or your group are

interested in organizing

a » presentation , discussion , or debate on El Salvador please let us know.

Iarry Loveless, spokesperson for the Pin. El Sal— - vador Information Group,

Call 892-8726 or the Sun editor.

K i .

s» m. «suns-v- I.Mn—r‘.x_--*,~.,;:‘\“‘\~W6‘ev~

5...“... - ....... ..

J ‘ Who/"3“ Bashing Who?

federal governments

' k desires to bring spending

V back under control‘and. ’ for increased visibility ‘ of federal programs. ‘ ‘ ' The current economic

- another that has accompanied problems 0f high

such events‘in the‘xpast. “me, however, it felt good" ' federal gcverrment respond to the criticism levied __ ; against it by various provincial premiers

' the last fem months. -

' The. Prime Ministers

_ closing communique ,

' ‘s‘tatedclearly that the

7 prOVinces also must share

, the burden of. reviving an sick from ’ ' exce‘sSive government spending and peorly thought—cut fiscal . *pclicies. Trudeau,

' speflcing in amarmer not

> unlike’the way a father" 7

y . does when-scoldinga ~

EU

7 child, reiterated a «

unemployment, high interest rates, and high

inflation were largely

“the result of increased v expenditures in beneficial seeial aid programs and rising expectations on the part of consumers. The result cf this move to

' the left has been a

" cumulative deficit in excess

of an. billion dollars, an

amount sQ‘large in Size that

the cost of servicing it; become one of the ' larger government ‘ expenditures. While it

is easy to be a critic

of the harsh measures being imposed at present the alternatives facing _ minister MacEachern

i,

are even less palatable.

An abandoning of his tight

money policy ’would see a dollar devalued even lower with the resulting repercuSsions being . increased inflation and higher, unemployment. ’ We must all remember that you cannot resolve in a year what took society s and governments fifteen years to accomplish. The federal Liberals have not’withdravmfrom the Established Programs Funding ’(E.P.F.). ‘They remain committed to uniform levels of health . care and-the development

of its youth by maintaining

funding for post- secondary education. Here on 'P.EI. our-

new premier is faced with

the inevitable task‘to reinstalling confidence ' in a government which is properly perceived .

as a "do nothing government. " Three

. years of "fed bashing" and no new directions in either the industrial sector or primary sectors have left Islanders , disillusioned with their provincial government. The removal of the Island from the Pt. Lepreau nuclear plant to a coal fired operation in Dalhcusie N.S. will bring us higher electricity costs and create more damage to the environment, through acid rain, than a hLmdred nuclear «plants could.

Perhaps now that

the constitutional accord has been signed the provincial < government will concentrate

. its efforts towards

, developing an industrial base’and the creation of new jobs.