El Salvador Government

Understandably, for the past two months, the focus has been on the Persian Gulf. But as you point out in in your editorial “Congress Should Play Salvador Card” (Sept. 16), there are other areas of the world crying out for help.

It is hard to comprehend how the tragedy of El Salvador continues, scarcely noticed by the American people. About $5 billion U.S. tax dollars have paid for war and murder in that beleaguered nation.

But there are hopeful signs. Despite an intensive lobbying effort by the Bush Administration, a group of senators flatly refused to cut a deal over U.S. aid.

Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) said, “There will be no peace, no justice, no democracy in El Salvador as long as the military and security forces can act with impunity. That’s the basic political problem. President Cristiani knows it. President Bush knows it. We all know it.”

PATRICIA S. CARMEL

Rancho Santa Fe