Comment

Tired, But Optimistic
I’m stuck in a factory paying the
dues of having “dropped out” ten plus
years ago without a parachute. Your
magazine is a constant reminder of the
man I want to become because of its
humanity, sensitivity and commitment
to better things and ways.
I’m a union man in a non-union
town, but one thing is certain-and
you folks reinforce this belief-where
there’s life there’s hope. So despite
everything, I remain optimistic-tired
but optimistic.
John Russel
Financial Secretary
Local 528
Aluminum, Brick and
Glass Workers
Memphis, TN
Latin America’s New Church
I would like to congratulate you on
your recent Report on Chile (Septem-
ber/October). Some time ago I expressed
that perhaps one weakness of the maga-
zine is that it rarely reports on the
solidarity network in the United States
associated with the countries which
you cover. This issue did an excellent
job of commenting on links between
the Chilean experience and popular
opinion in this country.
One aspect of the analysis of Chile
seemed to be, on your part, a deferen-
tial attitude toward the Church. This is
understandable in light of the animosity
which existed between leftist circles
and the Catholic Church. A growing
(mutual) respect seems to be develop-
ing out of the realization that the Church
can and does often play an important
role in efforts to achieve liberation;
often it is the only body that can dare
criticize the government. I don’t think
anyone would want to reopen the old
wounds which are being healed by this
rapprochement.
Nevertheless, the role of such an
important institution should be closely
analyzed. The article alluded to the
reforms in education under Allende as
a source of the Church’s alienation
under that regime, and also mentioned
the distinct advantage that the Catholic
University now enjoys under Pinochet.
Church opposition to Pinochet was
linked in the article to an “interest in
human rights and in bolstering the
2
REOI ONTEAEIA
I
labor movement… .” The Church
viewed the unions, writes the author, Editor
“as indispensable, intermediary organi- George Black
zations to represent the rights of work-
Features Editor
ers. . . .
Martha Doggett
While the Church’s opposition to
educational reform may be easily un- Managing Editor
derstood, its interest in labor unions
Virginia Cannon
and human rights is not. What is the Research Director
interest of the Church in Latin America Steven Volk
and why does it behave the way it does? Research Staff
How does the experience of the Church Robert Armstrong
in Latin America affect the attitude of Deborah Huntington
the Church in this country to U.S.
Janet Shenk
foreign (and domestic) policy? Most of Art Direction
this type of analysis has been left, Liz Mestres
apparently, to returned missionaries or
Librarian
Church leaders. I would love to see Ruth Kaplan
NACLA do an in-depth analysis both
for the sake of your readers and for Promotion Manager
yourselves.
Kate Browne
Gary Martinez Subscription Manager
Syracuse, NY Cecilia Chacon
Distribution Manager
A Voice In The Dark
Ted Auerbach
Here at the Federal Prison in Sand-
stone, Minnesota, the fourth anniver- On Leave
sary of the assassination of Archbishop
Judy Butler
Oscar Romero of El Salvador has spe-
Georgia to be armed and trained in
military warfare. This meant more suf- Roberes/Churcher
Book store distribution: Carrier Pigeon, 40
fering for the poor of that country. Plympton Street, Boston, MA 02118.
Father Larry Rosebaugh, an Oblate Report on the Americas (ISSN 0149-1598) is pub-
priest; Linda Ventimiglia, a physician’s lished bimonthly by the North American Congress
assistant; and I, a Maryknoll priest, put on Latin America, Inc. (NACLA), an independent
non-profit organization founded in 1966 focusing
on Army officer uniforms and entered on the political economy of the Americas. Dona-
Fort Benning one night. Armed with a tions to NACLA are tax-exempt.
high-powered tape recorder and the The views expressed in Report on the Americas
legendary last homily of Archbishop are those of the authors and do not necessarily
Oscar Romero, we climbed a tall pine represent the views of NACLA.
tree near the barracks of the Salva- Second class postage paid at New York, NY.
Postmaster: send address changes to NACLA,
dorean soldiers. In the silence of the 151 West 19th Street, 9th Floor, New York, NY
night, the martyred Archbishop’s voice 10011.
rang out, “I want to make a special Subscriptions: $18 per year for individuals ($28
appeal to the men of the Army. You are for two years; $39 for three years); $29 per year
killing your own brothers and sisters. forinstitutions ($54 for two years; $75 for three
years). For Air Mail Subscription add, per
Before an order to kill that a man may year: U.S. and Canada $6; Mexico, Central
give, the law of God must prevail: America, Caribbean $9; South America,
Thou shalt not kill! In the name of God, Europe $12; elsewhere $14.
in the name of the suffering people of Back Issues: $3 plus 75 cents postage and hand-
El Salvador, I ask you, I beg you, I ling. Back issue lists available on request.
order you: Stop the repression!” Microfilm reels of Volumes I through VI and
VII through X available at $90 each. Copyright
We were arrested and at our trial we 1984 by the North American Congress on
tried to show that as Christians our faith Latin America, Inc. Indexed by Alternative
called us to obey a higher law-the law
continued from p. 2
of God which says, “Thou shalt not
kill.” My two companions were sen-
tenced to 15 months and I got 18
months.
In the solitude of prison I think about
the letter sent to our President by Arch-
bishop Romero shortly before he was
gunned down while saying mass. He
said, “Instead of leading to justice and
peace in El Salvador, military aid from
the United States only sharpens the
injustice and repression of our people.”
At this critical time in El Salvador
our loving God asks each of us to hear
the cry of the poor and those who have
died for the poor. Is there not a better
way to express our love for the poor of
El Salvador than to stop U.S. military
aid to that country?
I send this letter in the hope that it
can help get more people to oppose
U.S. intervention in Central America.
Keep up your important work. You are
a source of strength and hope to me in
these days of struggle.
Fr. Roy Bourgeois, M.M.
U.S. Federal Prison
Sandstone, MN
Strike Triggered Massive Assault
I just completed one and one-half
years’ research on a Costa Rican ba-
nana plantation for my doctoral dis-
sertation. Unfortunately your article,
“Costa Rica: Resisting Austerity”
(January/February), as far as it applies
to organized labor–especially the ba-
nana worker unions–exaggerates the
level and effectiveness of popular mo-
bilization in response to the right-wing
shift in political and economic policy in
Costa Rica.
In fact, the economic crisis and the
accelerated government and corporate
repression of labor over the last two
years has resulted in a serious erosion
in unions’ bargaining power. Worse
yet, there has been a marked decrease
in the militancy of the rank and file.
Afraid to lose their jobs, they are
quietly accepting decreases in real
wages as well as the systematic firing
of grassroots leadership.
Significantly, 1983 was the first year
in as long as anyone can remember
with no strikes on the banana planta-
tions. The 63-day banana strike of
1982-deemed a victory for labor in
the article-was in fact a demoralizing
defeat. The strike-the longest in the
history of Costa Rica-marked the be-
ginning of the massive, ongoing as-
sault on the plantation workers’ unions
by both government and corporations.
MAY/iVNE 1984
17
It appears that the strike may even have
been prompted by the multinationals.
Taking advantage of low international
banana prices, they sought to bust the
union, demoralize the class-conscious
workforce and write off the entire op-
eration as a tax deduction due to losses
caused by labor disruption, a practice
allowed by Costa Rican law.
Finally it should be mentioned that
the Costa Rican Left is currently in the
throes of its worst internal crisis in
recent history. The Communist Party-
which historically has led the organized
labor movement-split last December.
The second largest left party-the Peo-
ple’s Revolutionary Movement-lost
almost 60% of its membership after
publicly declaring that it was no longer
Marxist-Leninist.
This excellent three-part series cor-
rectly portrayed Costa Rica’s “mili-
tarization” and rightward shift in eco-
nomic and foreign policy. In conclu-
sion, prospects for effective militant
resistance to these trends are not bright–
at least in the short term. Indeed per-
haps the most disheartening fact is that
most Costa Ricans still believe they
live in a tranquil, democratic haven,
safely protected by the generous, peace-
loving North American government.
Philippe Bourgois
New York, NY
Evangelical Controversy
At our meeting yesterday the team
members of the International Institute
of In-Depth Evangelization (IINDEF)
asked me to make use of my right to
reply to your article “God’s Saving
Plan” written by Deborah Huntington
and published in your magazine (Janu-
ary/February). I have been authorized
to reply as follows:
In December 1976 it was decided to
move Rafael Baltodano to Nicaragua
for a period of three years and this was
minuted. Accordingly at the beginning
of 1980 Rafael returned to San Jos6.
Contrary to what you state at the bot-
tom of page 28, our offices never left
San Jose, and contrary to what you
suggest no other motives were involved.
At the top of page 30 you state that I
was executive director of IINDEF. I
have never occupied that position. Both
then and now Alberto Barrientos oc-
cupied the post of director. Further, I
did not and do not receive a personal
check of $5,000 per month. The money
reaches me by different channels. I did
not then have a dollar account here
so I could not have passed the money
through my Costa Rican bank account
as stated by you.
More important than these details is
the suggestion made in your article of
partiality, first by referring to “a care-
fully screened list of pastors.” I pointed
out to Deborah Huntington that the list
had to be carefully screened because
attempts had been made to include the
same person twice, to include people
who were not pastors and to distribute
the money at variance to the agreed
lists. I repeat the statement reported by
you that the help is available for any
real pastor in need. Second, you refute
this statement by quoting “one Nicara-
guan program administrator” who ac-
cording to your note 31 is Boanerges
Mendoza. Boanerges Mendoza, as pas-
tor of one of the bigger Managua con-
gregations, is not on the list of pastors
receiving help and has nothing to do
with the program. I know that Deborah
Huntington interviewed Modesto Alva-
rez who does administer the program,
but he is not mentioned because he said
the same as I did.
Further, your article mentions “pam-
phlets and seminars.” It is not clear
whether you are referring to IINDEF
seminars or those of another organiza-
tion, but if you are referring to IINDEF
seminars then I declare on behalf of
IINDEF that all our seminars in Nicara-
gua were open to everyone and were in
fact attended by people of very different
political and ideological persuasions. I
defy anyone to come up with clear evi-
dence that in any such seminar we have
talked about “Satan’s work through
the Nicaraguan government.” [. .. .]
Finally I would mention that our
good friend Ram6n Salgado, who heads
up the work supported by the Trans
Word Mission in Managua has not
gone “underground.” He holds open
house in Ciudad Jardin and has a large
notice on the street saying “Centro
Cristiano.” It is interesting that in a
footnote you say that I have resigned
from a post I did not have, but that you
do not say that Manuel Tijerino is no
longer at a post he really did have.
I can only hope that you will publish
or make known the considerable inac-
curacies in your reporting, and that you
will also make known that the project
to help pastors in Nicaragua is not di-
rectly the work of IINDEF.
John Kessler
IINDEF
San Francisco de Dos Rios
Costa Rica
Deborah Huntington responds:
Amidst the charges John Kessler
makes stand two central complaints.
The first is valid, that I do not distinguish
clearly between Kessler’s personal ac-
tions and IINDEF’s official programs;
the second-that I mischaracterize the
Nicaragua pastoral support program in-
dividually administered by Kessler–I
refute.
I should indeed have clarified the
distinction between the IINDEF staff
member and the organization. IINDEF’s
name and Kessler’s perceived relation to
the organization (confirmed by IINDEF
by telephone in October 1983) were
invoked in order to situate Kessler as a
prestigious individual with access to
the Central American evangelical com-
munity. My portrayal of Kessler’s laun-
dering $5,000 a month through his per-
sonal bank account was intended to
convey precisely the individual rather
than official nature of his pursuits; after
consulting my tape recording of our
interview-made with his consent–I
acknowledge that he does not deposit
the funds in an account.
Kessler’s very acknowledgement that
he receives money, however, provokes
the same questions implied in the arti-
cle. Why is an evangelical leader re-
ceiving covert funding from the United
States and participating in a program of
questionable political character which
violates Nicaraguan law? If pastoral
support is his sole objective, why not
establish his program as a legal corpo-
rate entity within Nicaragua, or place
his funds through existing Protestant
agencies such as CEPAD, an agency
through which USAID saw fit to chan-
nel $500,000 in 1980?
After speaking with Kessler in Costa
Rica in May 1983, I interviewed a
number of pastors in Nicaragua affili-
ated with his program. Modesto Alva-
rez, whose main role is to dispense the
money, told me that while he believed
REPORT ON THE AMERICAS
the program was open to all pastors, he
himself had no authority in drawing up
the recipients’ list; it is “Kessler’s of-
fice” which approves it. Alvarez is the
associate pastor to Boanerges Mendoza,
who has frequently served as a con-
sultant to Kessler and who describes
himself as “one of the founders of this
[pastoral support] program.” Mendoza
told me that “the pastors who receive
this aid are selected in a certain way”
to avoid what he calls “false pastors
. . . who are precisely those who get
involved in Nicaraguan politics.” He
also told me that the recipients’ behavior
is “watched very carefully.”
The seminars referred to are not
IINDEF’s but those conducted by Kess-
ler’s friends Mendoza and Tijerino.
Mendoza and others pointed out to me
that there is very high correspondence
between recipients of the aid program
and attendance at these seminars; sev-
eral conservative pastors I interviewed
in Nicaragua told me that upon accept-
ing the pastoral support they also be-
gan to receive unsolicited conservative
Christian literature and conference in-
vitations by mail.
Reference to “Satan’s work through
the Nicaraguan government” comes
from interviews with pastors who at-
tended Tijerino’s seminars in Costa
Rica. These were not, however, the
only seminars reported to me as seek-
ing to provoke a sense of impending
persecution of Christians by the Sandi-
nistas, or suggesting that economic
malaise or natural catastrophe were the
result of the “communist,” “anti-God”
orientation of the government.
Corrections
The photo captions on pages 44 and 45 of
the November/December 1983 Report were
mistakenly interchanged. Nellie Rumril is
standing on the left in the photo on page 45.
The woman on page 44 is an unidentified
participant in the Feminist Conference.
The photos by Richard Cross which ap-
peared on the cover and on page 16 of our
March/April issue were mistakenly credited.
The late photographer’s work is now rep-
resented by Archive Pictures, Inc.
Readers are invited to address letters to:
Comment, NACLA, 151 West 19th Street,
NY 10011. Letters may be edited for length
and clarity.