Casolo Arrested in El Salvador

We have recently returned from a health care delegation to El Salvador led by Christian Education Seminars. Our delegation leader was Jennifer Casolo. We spent much time with her while there and worked with her under very repressive and difficult situations. At no time did she ever express any alignment with the FMLN.

We would like to express our outrage at the bogus charges by the Salvadoran government that Jennifer corroborated with the FMLN by storing arms in her back yard. While there, we received testimony from Salvadorans who had been subjected to this same method of operation by the military--detained by the armed forces and a day later paraded in front of a cache of arms which had been allegedly discovered in their homes. More importantly, we are outraged at the attitude that our U.S. government and embassy in El Salvador are taking against Jennifer by implying she is guilty of the charges without any trial or independent investigation.

Knowing Jennifer and her dedication to her work, it is ludicrous to think that she would jeopardize CESES and herself in the way the Salvadorans would like us to believe she did.

We as Americans need to acknowledge our responsibility by demanding that all U.S. military aid to El Salvador be stopped. We need to demand that our government pressure the Cristiani government to negotiate seriously for an end to the war. We as Americans need to demand that Casolo be released immediately and her human rights respected.

TRINIDAD MADRIGAL

THOMAS YANKOWSKI

San Francisco