2nd Abduction Stirs Demands From Activists

Stunned by a second terrorist-style kidnaping of a Central American refugee here, activists demanded Saturday that law enforcement agencies take specific steps to improve their response to these attacks and a series of threats against Central Americans.

Speaking at a press conference, Mark Rosenbaum, general counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, called for a hot line to take reports of the threats against Salvadorans, improved coordination among law enforcement agencies and more security for Salvadorans who have received death threats. He also asked to meet with Mayor Tom Bradley and other officials.

Rosenbaum, one of two lawyers representing several Salvadoran activist organizations here, stopped short of criticizing the current handling of the investigations into a two-week spate of apparent death squad-style incidents except to say that there is a “lack of coordination” among agencies, including the FBI, which entered the case Friday.

Second in Less Than 2 Weeks

The demands were made at a press conference called to report the second kidnaping in less than two weeks of politically active Central American women.

In the most recent incident, a Guatemalan woman named Ana Maria Lopez was kidnaped about 8:30 p.m. Friday as she was awaiting a bus transfer in Hollywood on her way to a political meeting at the First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles, police confirmed.

Linton Joaquin, an attorney for the Central American Refugee Center, said Lopez was abducted by two armed men wearing face masks who drove her around Los Angeles for two hours. They did not injure her, he said, but interrogated her about a list of Central Americans and two American citizens active in Central American activities here.

Before dropping her off in Pomona later Friday night, he said, they demanded that she call the Unitarian Church and order it evacuated except for one woman. The church, which houses the Guatemalan Cultural Center where Lopez works and other Central American organizations, was not evacuated, he said. He did not identify either the woman at the church or the two Americans.

A Guatemalan refugee, who appeared at the press conference wearing a bandanna over his face to hide his identity, said the kidnapers had specifically ordered Lopez to stop associating with Salvadorans.

‘Not Withdraw Our Friendship’

“When all this started with our Salvadoran colleagues, we never thought the same trouble would come to us,” said the man, acting as a spokesman for the cultural center. “We want to make it clear that we will not withdraw our friendship with our Salvadoran colleagues.”

The first kidnaping was of a Salvadoran woman named “Yanira,” who said she was beaten, sexually molested and tortured by two Salvadoran men who interrogated her about activists here and demanded a confession that she was a Salvadoran guerrilla.

“I know both these young women,” said Rev. Phil Zwerling of the First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles. “They are not guerrillas. They are people like us who hold jobs and go about their daily business. . . . So far these cowardly death squads have chosen to attack unarmed women.”

There have also been at least a dozen written and telephoned threats to Salvadoran activists over the last two weeks. On Wednesday, Father Luis Olivares, one of Los Angeles’ best-known Latino priests, received a letter saying only, “E. M.” The initials stand for Escuadron de la Muerte, or Death Squad.

At least four sections of the Los Angeles Police Department are involved in the investigation. On Friday, the FBI announced that it is also investigating what it termed the “possibility of terrorist activity” in Los Angeles.

“There is a lack of coordination among law enforcement agencies,” Rosenbaum charged. “For example, it was we who called the FBI about the kidnaping last night.”

Lt. Dan Cooke, LAPD spokesman, said the department sees no need for further coordination of the investigation “because our anti-terrorist division is already coordinating the investigation.”