University of Arizona - Desert Yearbook (Tucson, AZ)

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WAR AND PEACE IN CENTRAL AMERICA Once thought of as a sleepy backwater to the United States, Central America has become a hotbed of violence and intrigue. Two Central American nations figured promi- nently in the headlines of 1984: Nicaragua and El Salvador. NICARAGUA: The Sandinista government of Nicaragua has been at odds with the U.S. since its inception after the overthrow of Anastasio Somoza in 1978, but rarely has the conflict been as intense as in 1984. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency had been sponsor- ing what had been described as a coverf war against the Sandinistas since 1981. The funding and supplying of var- ious insurgent groups in Nicaragua was seen as a means of replacing the Sandinista ' s Marxist government with a gov- ernment more agreeable to U.S. views. The aid to the insur- gents included arms shipments and intelligence reports on Sandinista forces, in addition to the CIA training of the reb- els in guerilla tactics. This guerrilla training got the CIA into trouble in 1984. In October, a pamphlet was issued to the insurgents, titled Operaciones Sicologicas en Guerra de Guerrillas (Psycho- logical Operations in Guerrilla Warfare). It advised insur- gents to use assassination as a tool to frighten Sandinista political leaders. This caused a furor in the Congress, as assassination was dimly viewed by U.S. citizens and politi- cians, and the CIA was forced to recall the pamphlets and hold an investigation into their publication. In November 1984, Nicaragua was again on the mind of Americans. U.S. intelligence had reported the Soviets were shipping several high-performance MIG-21 fighters. The Reagan administration had previously threatened to use force if such aircraft were delivered, but the shipment was identified as being MI-24 helicopters before action could be taken. WITH BOWED HEADS, ex-Nation- al Guardsmen charged with the murder of four American Nuns in El Salvador hear the jury give its unanimous guilty verdict. EL SALVADORAN OFFICIALS ex- amine weapons captured from left- ist rebels. El Salvadoran officials suspect that the arms shipments came from Nicaragua and Cuba. 28 A U.S. MILITARY advisor instructs El Salvadoran soliders in small arms use in a training base in Hon- duras one of several U.S. bases in that nation. NEWS

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U.S.-SOVIET TALKS FREEZE UP Relations between the United States and the Soviet Union took a drastic downturn in 1984. The Soviets broke off arms negotiations with the U.S., and became more deeply in- volved in Central America and Afghanistan. TALKS BREAKDOWN: The U.S. and the Soviets had been trying to limit nuclear arms since the Limited Test Ban Trea- ty of 1963. Since then the two countries had been constantly negotiating, until 1984. In 1984, the two nations reached an impasse over the U.S. Cruise missile. The Reagan adminis- tration described the Cruise as a necessary addition to America ' s defensive arsenal. The Soviets announced that deployment of the medium range missile was unacceptable, and would bring an end to the negotiations. Although a visit to the U.S. by Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko in October 1984, and overtures from ' Soviet Premier Konstan- tin Chernenko in November raised hopes of negotiators, 1984 closed without a reactivation of negotiations. CENTRAL AMERICA: U.S. claims of Soviet involvement in Central America came into sharp focus in November 1984, when U.S. intelligence reports sparked fears that a freighter from the Soviet Union was taking high-perfor- mance Mig-21 fighters to Nicaragua. The cargo later turned out to be MI-24 antiguerilla helicopters, but the incident sparked fears of U.S. intervention in Nicaragua. AFGHANISTAN: Afghan rebels reported that, during the Soviet summer offensive, record-breaking casualties were inflicted on the Soviet forces. AFTER A SOVIET politburo confer- ence, Foreign Minister Andrei Gro- myko and Premier Konstantin Chernenko confer on Soviet poli- cies concerning the U.S. RUSSO-AMERICAN EMIGRES DEMONSTRATE in front of the So- viet Consulate in New York on be- s half of Andrei Sakharov, who went z on a hunger strike in mid-1984. 3FREEDOI ' ANDRdSl AFRICA AND THE SOVIET UNION 27

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ICA 100EV OFFICIALS ex- apoas captured from len- El Salvidoran official ' Ike aims shipments OPERACIRNES SICOLOGICAS EN GUERRA IE EIEIRILLAS THE CIA MANUAL Operaciones Sicologicas en Guerra de Guerril- las embarrassed the CIA when it was found to advocate terrorism. ON A PODIUM in La Palma, Presi- dent Duarte addresses a crowd anx- ious for some word of peace. The inconclusive meeting left open the possibility of further dialogue. EL SALVADOR: The small country of El Salvador was also prominent in the news of 1984. El Salvador, which was con- trolled by a democratic, U.S. -sponsored government, had been suffering attacks from leftist insurgents for years. Com- munication between the rebels and the government had been sparse. Both sides had committed several massacres of innocent civilians, blaming the attacks on the other side. Pro- and anti- government death squads killed opponents and bystanders indiscriminately. In May 1984, Jose Napoleon Duarte was confirmed as president of El Salvador. Duarte had campaigned on the issue of the revolution, promising to prosecute overzealous officers and put an end to the government-sponsored death squads, and to negotiate with the leftist guerrillas, a first for a Salvadoran president. He fulfilled his first promise imme- diately, and five members of the National Guard were con- victed in the deaths of four American nuns in 1980. Duarte also ordered the resignation or transfer of officers suspected of being involved in the death squads. Duarte also made good on his promise of negotiating with the rebels. Hurt by Duarte ' s popularity, the insugents were anxious to try to achieve some of their goals through negoti- ation. The October 1984 conference was inconclusive, al- though the door was left open for further talks. Several events in El Salvador heightened fears of U.S. military involvement in Central America. In July 1984, two American mercenaries operating on the El Salvadoran- Nicaraguan border were killed by Nicaraguan forces. In Oc- tober 1984, an aircraft operated by the CIA crashed in a storm in El Salvador while tracking a suspected rebel ' s arms shipment from Nicaragua. All three American crew- men died. SALVADORAN SOLDIERS CARRY away a wounded comrade after a firefight with guerrillas. Two American UH-1 med-evac helicop- ters improved El Salvador ' s army medical service. RESIDENTS OF LA PALMA cele- brate the summit between Presi- dent Duarte and rebel leaders. The only uniformed force in La Palma during the summit were the Boy Scouts. CENTRAL AMERICA 29