WASHINGTON ORGANIZES MASS MURDER IN CENTRAL AMERICA
By Vincent Kermel
After the failure of the offensive of the Faribundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) in January 1981, the Salvadoran dictatorship counted heavily on the prospect that the guerrillas could be defeated or at least seriously weakened. Its plan for a"political solution" through elections was largely predicated on that.
The government's unsuccessful attempts in the spring of 1981 to establish control over the areas held by the guerrillas and the resumption of large-scale actions by the FMLN starting last summer showed that its hopes were in vain.
As a consequence of this, according to the FMLN, the Pentagon asked its strategists to work out a military plan, and this led to the operation recently carried out in the department of Morazan. The objective was no longer to wipe out the guerrillas but to deal a crushing blow to the regions that have traditionally remained outside the control of the government.
The government's failure to destroy Radio Venceremos shows how limited were the results of this new tactic. Nonetheless, these operations offered the occasion for massacres, which were designed to increase the numbers of civilian refugees.
With the collaboration of Honduran troops the dictatorship and the imperialists hoped to catch the liberated areas between two fires.
One of the finer points of the counterinsurgency tactics developed by the U.S. advisors in El Salvador was the kidnapping of close relatives of FMLN leaders, such as the father of Comandante Villalabos. Then these disappearances were explained as the result of clashes between "rival groups of extremists.
The number of deaths in the last two years, according to an account in the Janvary 20 Le Monde was 30,000, and the number of people driven from their homes, 500,000. Some 42% of the Salvadorian population is illiterate, and 93% of schoolage children suffer from malnutrition. Since December 1981, the gross national product has declined by 13%, exports by 35% and imports by 23.3%.
As if they have not inflicted enough suffering on the Salvadorian people, the American imperialists have now begun to train the local army in "scientific" methods of torture.
A desertor from a paratroop unit based at llopango, near San Salvador recently confirmed that American instructors were present during training in torture techniques The January 12, 1982, International Herald Tribune reported : "According to Mr. Gomez, eight U.S. military advisors, some in dark green uniforms and others in camouflage uniforms stood in the background with the commander of the Salvadoran air forces and other high Salvadoran officers during the torture sessions."
Pursuant to their strategy of building up an elite batallion, U.S. authorities announced in mid-December that 1,000 Salvadoran soldiers and 500 officers would be trained in Fort Bragg and Fort Benning in American Green Beret units.
Despite all their efforts, however, the U.S. authorities admit that the Salvadoran junta is in trouble. The U.S. ambassador in San Salvador confided in a correspondent from the Italian daily La Repubblica that the guerrillas were making progress. The FMLN's actions are becoming more and more daring.
On January 27, 1982, the FMLN succeeded in destroying about 70% of the junta's air power in a raid on the llopango base, dealing the junta its most serious military setback in the whole past period.
Comandante "Sebastian, " who led this operation, says that his men penetrated into the military perimeter at 10.00 p.m. on the south side of the base and reached their target at midnight: "We used a total of 42 charges of TNT, which we managed to place in 10 minutes time. " He continued: " Then we withdrew. After the charges went off, a military helicopter flew over the location looking for us and indiscriminately machine-gunning the whole area. "(Barricada, January 30, 1982.)
It is probable that in order to mount such an operation, the FMLN had to renew its contacts with opposition elements inside the armed forces.
In the capital city itself, on February 10 the guerrillas staged a bazooka attack on the main telecommunications center. An Agence France Presse dispatch noted: "This spectacular operation aroused a certain uneasiness in leading circles, since the rebels seem to have a good infrastructure in the capital itself."
These military setbacks for the dictatorship have undermined the credibility of the elections scheduled for the 28th of March and even put in question whether they will be held.
The February 17 International Herald Tribune notes: "U.S. and Salvadoran officials now say that far from putting an end to political violence, next month's elections are likely to be the prelude to stepped-up fighting. "
The junta's military reverses and the approach of the elections have provoked numerous alarmist statements from U.S. officials. For example, Undersecretary of State Thomas Enders has said that "a decisive battle is underway in El Salvador." And General Alexander Haig refuses to preclude the possibility of direct military intervention in defense of the "strategic interests" of the United States.
Parallel to this, Washington has stepped up its military aid, granting 55 million dollars in emergency assistance to the junta. Congress has been asked to increase the aid appropriation by 100 million dollars for fiscal year 1982 and raise it to 300 million dollars in 1983.
This vast financial and military aid program--Washington has just sent several ultramodern aircraft to Salvador-- is part of a vast counterrevolutionary plan for all of Central America, which is also directed against the Nicaraguan revolution.
These aggressive moves by U.S. imperialism make it clear that a major battle in the world revolution is now developing in Central America. It is vital that all socialists, democrats, and all defenders of basic human rights mobilise in defence of the Salvadoran people, who are facing a machine for mass murder and terror being set up by the world's greatest power.