Casolo Arrested in El Salvador

Who are the terrorists? Four years ago I traveled in a study tour of El Salvador with Jennifer Jean Casolo as our guide. She is the U.S. citizen charged with “harboring weapons for the guerrillas” (Part A, Nov. 27-28). She lives in San Salvador where she works for Christian Education Seminars.

When I hugged Jennifer goodby at the end of our interfaith tour, little did I know she would be arrested in her recently rented San Salvador home, delivered to a press conference where she was not allowed to speak, prejudged by the U.S. government as being a terrorist without the right to presumed innocence.

Those closest to her report she had ignored threatening phone calls demanding that she stop her work on behalf of human rights. Some calls were in Spanish, some in English; one English-speaking caller, when requested, could not speak Spanish.

Jennifer and the religious study tour participants she has guided throughout the last four years--some 1,500 U.S. citizens and members of Congress--were there out of concern for human rights, justice, peace, food, health care, education, and the right to free expression without loss of freedom or life.

I know Jennifer as a gentle person who cares deeply for the poor. Unfortunately that seems to clash with our government’s shameless $1.4 million-a-day support for El Salvador’s death squad, terrorist government. Who are the terrorists?

FIONA KNOX

Co-chair, Central America

Committee, Unitarian Universalist

Service Committee

Southern California Unit