Reagan's campaign on Afghanistan 6 TH£ Where Iran revolution stands 10 Immigration cops step up raids 15 A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY/PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE WORKING PEOPLE VOL. 46/NO. 8 MARCH 5, 1982 75CENTS Reagan tries to cover up plan for El Salvador intervention Offers phony aid scheme for Caribbean BY HARRY RING President Reagan's February 24 speech to the Organization of American States promised a program of U.S. eco­ nomic development for the impover­ ished nations of the Caribbean and Cen­ tral America. But even the promise was weaker than dishwater. Reagan also made a threatening at­ tack on Cuba, Nicaragua, and Grenada. They were falsely accused of precisely the kind of imperialist intervention in Central America and the Caribbean that Washington is guilty of. The speech also reflected the strong public pressure Reagan is under not to intervene militarily in El Salvador. The March 1 issue of Newsweek re­ ported on a Gallup poll that found 54 percent of Americans think Washington A broad range of organizations and individuals united in February 20 New York demonstration against U.S. inter­ should "stay completely out" of the si­ vention in El Salvador. tuation in El Salvador; 89 percent op­ pose sending U.S. troops there; and 44 _percent think it "very likely" El Salva­ dor could turn into another Vietnam. 5,000 in N.Y. say U.S. out of El Salvador, In a crooked plan to placate this deep sentiment, Reagan asserted in his speech that Washington "will not . _ . open drive for March 27 action in D. C. follow Cuba's lead in attempting to solve human problems by brute force." BY NELSON GONZALEZ "U.S. out ofEl Salvador." to make no comment. Many people who But brute force, of course, is exactly NEW YORK - "The phantom of Organizations with participants in might have been among those hostile to what Washington and its military hirel­ Vietnam is haunting the White House. the march included the War Resisters earlier demonstrations were now in the ings in the Salvadoran government are The spiri~ of Vietnam is breathing once League, People's Anti-War Mobilization, process of thinking things over. using on the insurgent people of that again in the streets of the American cit­ a contingent from the Vietnamese com­ country. ies. The spring offensive has begun. munity, Friends of Haiti, the National 'The U.S. should keep out' The countries of the Caribbean and There were thousands of people march­ Network in Solidarity with the Nicara­ Central America, Reagan confirmed, When one Puerto Rican waiter who guan People, Socialist Workers Party, are .suffering "economic disaster." But, ing when Salvadoran troops were being rushed out to the street to see what was trained in the United States. Today Young Socialist Alliance, Workers he assured, this will now be remedied. happening was asked if he knew what ~here World Party, and others. A large The big fix will come from the "magic of are thousands of people marching the march was about, he replied, "yes, in New York City. And on March 27 number of the marchers belonged to no the marketplace." this is about El Salvador." When he was there will be thousands of people march­ organization and were participating in asked ifhe thought the U.S. should help ing in Washington D.C." this kind of demonstration for their first 'Good Neighbor' the Salvadoran junta, he replied un­ With these opening words Arnaldo time. equivocally, "No, all the Salvadoran Reagan is not the first U.S. president Ramos, representative of the Revolu­ The composition of the march was no­ people want is to be free. The United to announce a plan for bettering the tionary Democratic Front of El Salva­ ticeably younger than earlier demon­ States should keep out, mind its own lives of the people south of the border. dor, greeted a crowd of 5,000 enthusias­ strations around El Salvador. business." During the 1930s, Franklin D. Roose­ tic antiwar demonstrators in New York Continued on Page 4 Continued on Page 2 City on February 20. Support from bystanders March organizers reported a marked­ March 27 protest in Washington ly different attitude of bystanders The march was organized by the New watching the demonstration. A cloud of gov't and company lies York Committee in Solidarity with the As the marchers made their way to People of El Salvador (CISPES) as part the Salvadoran Embassy, where a brief surrounds Harrisburg nuke alert of local activities to help publicize the rally was heard, and then to the 34th March 27 national demonstration in Street office of right-wing Senator Al­ BY DOUG· COOPER hydrogen was present and even if it Washington D.C. The March 27 action fonse D'Amato for another rally, many HARRISBURG, Pa. - Central Penn­ exploded, there was no danger of sig­ has been called by a broad coalition in­ bystanders left the sidewalk and joined sylvania residents were given another nificant releases of radiation. itiated by national CISPES. It consists the march. grim reminder of the ongoing dangers Three years ago, in March 1979, the of solidarity, Black, women's rights, and At both rally points hundreds of by­ at Three Mile Island when GeneraL presence of a hydrogen bubble in the peace groups; demands "U.S. out of El standers stopped and listened to the Public Utilities (GPU) Nuclear Corpo­ Unit 2- reactor precipitated the worst Salvador;" and opposes U.S. war threats speeches by Arnaldo Ramos and Mary­ ration President Robert Arnold de-­ commercial nuclear power accident in in Central America and the Caribbean. knoll Sister Darlene Cuccinelo. clared a low-level alert on Friday, American history and the evacuation The size, composition, and enthusi­ As the march wound its way through February 19, at 5:26 p.m. of thousands of Harrisburg area resi­ asm of the New York demonstration is the streets of mid-Manhattan, onlookers The low-level alert, known as an dents. an indication of the effects of the widen­ could be seen joining in such chants as "unusual event," was declared more By Friday night, Arnold was contra­ ing debate on the U.S. war threat "Money for jobs not for war, U.S. out of than eight hours after technicians first dicting the earlier reports on the mea­ against the people of Central America El Salvador." Many could be seen smil­ took measurements in preparation for sured levels of combustible gas inside and the Caribbean. This debate is help­ ing when the marchers shouted, "Rea­ an entry into the crippled Unit 2 reac­ the reactor building. At a news confer­ ing to deepen antiwar sentiment, which gan, Reagan he's no good, send him back tor building. These measurements ence, he said it was believed the build­ is already spilling out into the streets in to Hollywood." showed lower-than-normal oxygen ing "does not contain detectable levels protest actions across the country. Along the march route, as onlookers readings. of combustible gases" based on tests of In New York from 11:30 a.m., when figured out what the march was about, Later measurements, taken betwe~n air being purged from the reactor the crowd began gathering at Dag Ham­ different pockets of excited discussions 1:45 and 2:02 p.m. Friday, showed even building throughout the day. marskjold Plaza near the United Na­ broke out about El Salvador and the lower oxygen levels. They also showed "At this point," Arnold said, "hav­ tions building, to nearly 4 p.m., when Reagan budget cuts. In interviews with the presence of hydrogen, which is ing got a negative result in terms of the march ended, demonstrators spon­ onlookers, most people were supportive highly combustible. At that time, GPU hydrogen or any deficiencies in oxygen taneously shouted over and over again of the demonstration. Others preferred President Arnold claimed that, even if Continued on Page 2 Reagan covers up plans for Central America Continued from Page 1 "Let our friends and our adversaries lar governments in areas they control. home, and you get an idea of the depth of velt offered Latin America a "Good understand," Reagan warned, "that we Correspondent Warren Hoge reported Reagan's troubles. Neighbor" policy. The net result: more will do whatever is prudent and neces­ in the February 22 New York Times on State Department mail is running poverty, more dictators, more U.S. mil­ sary to ensure the peace and security of his visit to the town of Palo Grande, part twenty-to-one against El Salvador poli­ itary bases. the Caribbean area." of the Guazapa zone, controlled by the cy. Responding to this, Secretary of In 1962, as part of the drive to contain In 1965, when President Lyndon rebel forces. State Haig arrogantly declares that the the Cuban revolution, John F. Kennedy Johnson dispatched 23,000 Marines to There is already a rudimentary net­ administration does not intend to con­ "' proclaimed an "Alliance for Progress," thwart a popular rebellion in the Do­ work of schools and clinics. Some 600 duct its affairs on the basis of "the low­ which w0uld eliminate poverty in Latin minican Republic, he invoked the cover children attend eighteen schools in two est common denominator of national America- also via the "free enterprise" of the Rio Treaty. sessions. mood." system.· Reagan would love to use a similar There is a clinic in each of six sub­ That's pretty much what Nixon said Like the Good Neighbor policy, the manufactured pretext for direct mil­ zones, and a four-bed hospital in Palo when he was trying to hang on in Viet­ Alliance is now forgotten.