El Salvador Military

In response to “Salvador Reportedly Plans to Complete Purge of Officers, but Not Until 1994,” Jan 7:

Humanitarians everywhere should be deeply concerned over Salvadoran President Alfredo Cristiani’s announcement that he is delaying until May, 1994, the purge of the worst human rights violators from the military. In the peace accords signed last January he agreed to accomplish this by the end of 1992. Now he says it will take another 19 months.

This is a serious threat to peace in El Salvador and a terrible burden to place on the people of this tiny country who have already endured 12 years of its government making war on its own people--a war perpetrated by the Cristiani government and supported with U.S. tax dollars.

There is a lever by which we can pressure the Cristiani government into keeping the peace accords. We can threaten to withhold the military part of the aid package appropriated by Congress last year until the purge is completed.

In the name of humanity, let’s write our representatives over this violation of the U.N.-brokered peace accords.

BILL STRAHAN

Brea