University of Arizona - Desert Yearbook (Tucson, AZ)

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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

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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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RONALD REAGAN CHOSEN FOR FOUR MORE YEARS Ronald Reagan, winning the electoral votes of 49 states, swept to an overwhelming victory over Democrat Walter Mondale in 1984. Reagan won 525 electoral votes, over two times the needed number to be elected. Only Mondale ' s home state, Minnesota, and the District of Columbia, went to Mondale. Both candidates surprised many with their gracious reac- tions to the results of one of the more hotly-contested races in U.S. history. After his victory was assured, Reagan called on all Americans to forget the differences of the election, and come together to keep America strong. Mondale, after calling Reagan to concede the election, told a crowd at his headquarters that Reagan has won. We are all Americans. He is our president, and we honor him tonight. But the campaign had not always been so civil. CAMPAIGN: After the Democratic Convention in San Francisco and the Republican Convention in Dallas, the real campaign got underway. Mondale made history at the Democratic Convention by choosing a woman, Geraldine Ferraro, as his running mate. Ferraro was the first woman chosen by a major party as a vice-presidential candidate, a move some Democrats hoped would draw more votes for the Democratic ticket. The campaign itself was marked by controversy. Both can- didates accused the other of sending hecklers to their rallies. Reagan accused Mondale, who was Jimmy Carter ' s vice president, of being attached to Carter administration poli- cies. Mondale accused Reagan of laying the blame for his failures on previous administrations. Eventually, through pressure from the media and the League of Women Voters, the two candidates decided to settle their differences in a series of debates. DEBATES: The Candidates agreed to a series of three de- bates. The first and third debates would be between the presidential candidates, and the second debate would be limited to the vice-presidential candidates. In the first debate, most viewers agreed that Mondale was the winner. Reagan appeared confused and unsure of him- self, while Mondale answered his questions concisely. In the second, vice-presidential debate, there was no sure winner, but both candidates claimed victory. This started an argu- ment between the two candidates which lasted until the election. In the third debate, Reagan was able to recoup his losses and defeat Mondale. Although Reagan gained a very substantial victory, the sweep did not extend to the congressional races as much as the Republicans had hoped. The GOP retained control of the Senate, despite the loss of two seats. In the House, the Demo- crats retained control although the Repbulicans gained 15 House seats. Despite the disappointment, the Reagan ad- ministration interpreted the election result as a mandate to continue the policies of the last four years, a decision which pleased conservative Reagan supporter and dismayed many liberals. PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN won an incredible victory over Democratic candidate Walter F. Mondale in 1984, winning 49 states ' electoral votes. VICE PRESIDENT GEORGE Bush bowed out of the 1980 Republican presidential race, but was picked as Reagan ' s running-mate, a position Bush kept in 1984. 30 NEWS