Eight Arrests Made at Downtown Federal Building : 200 Protest U.S. Policy in Latin America

In a spirited demonstration, some 200 chanting and singing persons gathered on the steps of the Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles, protesting the Reagan Administration’s policies in Latin America.

Eight persons were cited for disrupting and blocking the building’s entrance and one man was arrested when he tried to enter the building after being cited, authorities said.

Carrying placards and blue and white banners that read “Our Guns Won’t Bring Peace to Central America!,” the crowd consisted of American housewifes, students, workers and a contingent of Salvadoran refugees.

An hour into the demonstration, more than two dozen protesters linked arms and sang as they walked up to the building’s entrance, only to be dragged down the steps by Federal Protection Service officers wearing riot helmets.

Jeff Dietrich, a member of the Catholic Worker Movement, was arrested by federal authorities when he attempted to enter the building after being cited for disrupting and blocking the entrance.

“Today’s the day that Reagan accepts the mantle of four more years of foreign policy and we would like to pledge our resistance to his repressive policies in Central America,” said Cheryl Stanwood, speaking for the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, sponsors of the two-hour rally.

“We’re protesting this Administration’s activities in Central America and possible funding of contras in Nicaragua. Our mission is one of peace--we want peace with justice in Central America.” (The contras are U.S.-backed rebels who oppose the Marxist regime in Nicaragua.)

Said Max Inglett, a Vietnam veteran and anti-war activist who was one of the eight cited: “We want to send a message to the American people on this Inauguration Day that the Reagan Administration’s policies in Latin America do not represent the mainstream of American opinion. We want to be certain that another Vietnam does not happen again in El Salvador.”

More than 200 persons took part in a second candlelight protest at the Federal Building in Los Angeles Monday night. The protest, organized by a group calling itself the Federation for Progress, demanded an end to U.S. involvement in Central America, an end to the arms race and greater efforts to help the poor, the hungry and the jobless in the United States.

The protest, which began at 6 p.m., ended two hours later without incident.

In Washington, about 200 people protesting the Reagan inauguration demonstrated in front of the Labor Department building three blocks from the Capitol, where Reagan was taking his oath of office.

The demonstrators said they were protesting Reagan’s foreign policy in Nicaragua and South Africa and his domestic budget cuts affecting the poor.

“They canceled the parade, but they haven’t canceled the war buildup, they haven’t canceled the (domestic) cutbacks and they haven’t canceled the unemployment,” said Bill Massey of New York, a spokesman for the group, which called itself the People’s Anti-War Mobilization.

Police searched four members of the group for hidden weapons but found none. After an hour’s demonstration, the group carried banners down Pennsylvania Avenue for about 10 blocks, the same route the inaugural parade would have followed.