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Most of the mail we get is of the
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While it’s heartening and much ap-
preciated, we do invite you to offer
criticism of our viewpoints, addi-
tions to our analyses, comments on
how you use our Reports and the
like. These pages belong to you.
Honest But Tardy
As always, your March-April is-
sue on El Salvador is notable for its
f UI k 1i +k kf I L
ysis of the situation in
and, perhaps most im
its honesty. We will n
getting our issues a litt
are all as good as this
An “Information Fix
I find NACLA invalu
American history in n
high school. My stude
copies as texts and v
and reports evidenc
and support for the La
struggle. Not bad for
major concerns hav
prom or shopping
Again, glad for NACL/
my “information fix.”
H
Readability On Trial
I first found an issu
when I was working
workers’ local in Your
and later in Pittsburgh, PA. The
“Steelyard Blues” issue [Jan-Feb
1979] was tremendous and I have
been a subscriber ever since.
But a little criticism never hurts. I
found the “Target Nicaragua” issue
[Jan-Feb 1982] almost impenetra-
ble. The sentences were long, com-
plex, filled with clause upon clause.
NACLA has always been readable,
and I am so thankful when I find
well-written, concise, well-docu-
mented journalism.
Benjamin Marcus
Cordova, AK
UV IU, Wa,- Need For The Report
that country
Your plea to “Send us a mes-
portantly, for sage” on the subscription envelope
ot at all mind prompted me to include a note. It
le late if they used to be that I really enjoyed read-
one.
ing the Report. But now that I’m ac-
John Carroll tively involved in Latin America soli-
Duluth, MN darity work, I not only enjoy the Re-
“port, I need it. It’s a vital resource I
use constantly, and since I’m sure
able teaching that U.S. foreign policy toward Latin
ny suburban America will necessitate such work
nts used my -and since I now have a job and
vrote essays can afford it-I’m putting in for three
ing concern years of the NACLA Report, the
tin American athe tin American strongest vote of confidence for
kids whose your work I could make. Je been the Chris Campanile at the mall! Charlottesville, VA . I [need it [or
eather Cofttin
Freeport, NY
e of NACLA
with a steel-
ngstown, OH
M-19 Hit But Not Decimated
I have been reading NACLA for a long time, and its information is al-
most 100% accurate. In the March-
April issue, [the] article, “Colombia
-One More Death Squad” [con-
tained] some unimportant and
some important inaccuracies about
the political reality in Colombia.
First of all, when journalist Duzan
was taken to the General Headquar-
ters of the M-1 9 Southern Front, she
did report on the death squad, but
more important was the position the
M-19 took with regard to the elec-
tions held in March and May of this
year [M-19 commander Bateman
promised to “sabotage” them]….
The election was not stopped, but
the Left’s abstention was higher
than ever. More than 50 actions of
sabotage were carried out by the
M-19 in the main cities of
Colombia….
… The guerrillas had not been
decimated [in the rural areas as the
article stated] but rather hit. Their
network had been broken several
times, but the capacity of reproduc-
tion in cities has left even the repres-
sive military apparatus of the gov-
ernment astonished. Today their
guerrilla movil, as they call it, oper-
ates in more than 70 places that in-
clude the major cities and towns of
Colombia. Moreover, there was not
a shift from urban areas to rural
areas. It was part of the political mil-
itary strategy that came during the
discussion of the Sixth National
Conference held in August of 1976.
It is obvious that a clandestine or-
ganization is more exposed to be
hit in the waves of repression in
cities….
[U.S.] military aid to Colombia is
the second highest in Latin America
after El Salvador. [Now] more than
$30 million, the projection for 1983
with the new role given to Colombia
by U.S. imperialism in the Carib-
NACLARepod 44update update update update
bean and Central America will be
$125 million.* This amount has
been widely published in Colombia
and abroad. Unfortunately, I
couldn’t find the evidence to sup-
port this at present. However, the
[March 1982] issue of the maga-
zine, Vainas de Macondo, states:
“The U.S. Department of State
spokesman explained that Con-
gress had been asked to authorize
the expenditure of $21 million for
the improvement of airfield facilities
in the Caribbean.” He [Dean Fisher]
was referring to Colombia and Hon-
duras.**
The map [with the article]
showed only two areas (Choco and
Caqueta) but very far from that, the
M-19 is fighting in 13 provinces of
Colombia.
I would like to mention that in Co-
lombia there are other guerrilla or-
ganizations that are operating in
cities and rural areas: the National
Liberation Army (ELN) with which
Father Camilo Torres fought, the
People’s Liberation Army (EPL),
with Maoist tendencies, the Work-
ers’ Self Defense (ADO), which
works very closely with the M-19,
FUPAG and ORP. All I know about
the last two organizations is that
they are non-aligned.
The picture [with the article] was
taken by journalist Renato Menen-
dez in 1967 when he interviewed
the ELN in Santander del Sur. The
irony of that picture is that all the
fighters showed have been killed at
different places and at different
times. What is unacceptable is [the
caption:] “CP-linked FARC has
been most successful in recruiting
peasants.” The facts are that the
FARC is the oldest guerrilla
organization, but not the largest at
present. The M-19 is the largest and
most active guerrilla group in Col-
ombia without debate….
*U.S. military appropriations for Co-
lombia were $12.5 million and the 1983
request is for $12.9 million. Colombia
received no other kind of foreign aid
from the U.S. government during these
years.
* *According to the New York Times on
March 4, the aid request was disclosed
by the Defense Department, not the
State Department. While the Pentagon
declined to name the countries involved,
State Department spokesman Dean
Fischer offered, “We are talking specifi-
cally in this instance about Colombia
and Honduras.” A spokesman at the
Defense Department told NACLA at
presstime that the allocation was pared
to $13 million by Congress, all of which
is being spent in Honduras.-Ed.
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