Cutting U.S. Aid to El Salvador

The statement of conditions in El Salvador, as presented by President Alfredo Cristiani (“Cut Aid, and See Democracy Abort,” Commentary, Oct. 1), is based on unsupported assertions that are misleading and false.

Cristiani declares that “During the past 10 years, El Salvador has accomplished what took Western democracies a century to achieve.” Some of these “accomplishments,” as noted in a report from the U.S. State Department: The infant mortality rate, a barometer for the general health of the population, which was 53 per 1,000 at the end of the ‘70s, rose to 71 per 1,000 by 1987. While urban centers show a literacy rate of 62%, the figure for rural areas is 40% or below. The gross domestic product, an indicator of a country’s economic activity, dropped more than 30% between 1978 and 1987.

Amnesty International’s annual report documents a large number of arrests of government opponents in 1990. INS statistics indicate that the number of Salvadoran refugees entering the U.S. has increased significantly in the past two years.

Cristiani says that it is unfair to criticize his government for the slow pace of the investigation of the Jesuit murders, but speed alone is not the issue. The American public is more disturbed by reports of evidence destroyed while in police custody, of witnesses harassed and intimidated by government agents, of potential witnesses shielded by the military and of collusion among army officers. Circumstances indicate that the order to kill the Jesuits might have been issued at the highest level of military command, perhaps even by an official of the civilian government.

According to Cristiani, an office has been instituted to monitor and investigate alleged human rights violations--rather like putting the fox in charge of the chicken coop. There is evidence that the infamous death squads operate with permission of the military high command. More important, the report compiled by the Special Task Force on El Salvador, chaired by Rep. Joe Moakley (D-Mass), found that the Jesuit murders was only one incident in a pattern of systematic disregard for human rights. The conclusion must be that today, under Cristiani’s administration, El Salvador does not function as a democracy.

In June, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would cut military aid to El Salvador by 50% in 1991, making payment contingent on peace negotiations with the rebel coalition and an aggressive investigation of the Jesuit murders. The companion legislation in the Senate, the Dodd-Leahy bill, is expected to come to the floor for vote before adjournment. It should be passed. It would serve notice that the U.S. refuses to support the Salvadoran government without question indefinitely.

FATHER LUIS OLIVARES, C.M.F.

Los Angeles