Fullerton : 25 in Wet Protest of U.S. Central America Policy

About 25 people turned out at Cal State Fullerton in the rain Wednesday to rally in support of Vietnam War veteran Charles Liteky, who has gone without food since Sept. 1 to protest U.S. policy in Central America.

Anthropology professor Hans Leder and his wife, Judith, a full-time English lecturer at the university, blamed the low turnout on the rain.

Liteky, who is fasting with three other veterans in Washington, is scheduled Monday to join Southern California veterans who have held daily vigils outside the federal building in downtown Los Angeles, said Ruben R. Gomez, a member of Veterans for Peace and one of about 10 people participating in the daily vigil.

“We are doing this because the present Administration and the leaders of this country have gone contrary to what the people in the U.S. want: no war in Central America,” said Gomez, 44, a Vietnam veteran from Los Angeles and father of three sons in military service. “What we are saying is that they are not going to do this in our name . . . no more Vietnams.”

At Cal State Fullerton, about 80 students and faculty members have signed a petition called “Commitment to a Campaign of Conscience” since Monday. About 30 of them have agreed to take turns fasting, said Judith Leder, who began a two-day fast Wednesday.

Outside the Humanities Building during the noon hour Wednesday, the Leders and others spoke with passers-by about Liteky and the recent congressional approval of $100 million in aid to the U.S.-backed rebels attempting to topple the Nicaraguan government.

With background music by Cuban singer Silvio Rodriguez and other exponents of la nueva cancion , the new Latin American song genre, the Leders distributed light blue arm-bands to those joining their cause.

“We’re out here . . . to educate the students,” Judith Leder said. “Education isn’t just giving information. It’s presenting a world view in a coherent way.”