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El Salvador's Cristiani Speaks Out About Central America
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15282 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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8 / 1989 |
706 Words |
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Interview
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RADU: Would you change the public as well as the actual attitude of your government vis-à-vis Nicaragua?
CRISTIANI: No, we would like to [use] political pressure to stop the influence that Nicaragua has on the FMLN [the Salvadoran insurgents]. One of the overall strategies in fighting these Marxist guerrillas is to isolate them as much as possible diplomatically and politically. Just as hard as they are trying to isolate the new government politically and diplomatically, we have to do the same thing to them.
Obviously, we have to get into the Central American peace effort and not just make it try and solve the Sandinista problem. They have been very able at interweaving their efforts in order to make believe that Nicaragua and the Contras is [the only] regional problem. We have to also include the FMLN. El Salvador has a regional problem also. No country should be used to support revolution in another country. This is something that has to be stopped.
RADU: Would you receive cooperation from the other governments in the region? Although the Sandinistas support the Guatemalan insurgents and the Honduran terrorists, those governments have been rather quiet on that issue.
CRISTIANI: Although [the Sandinistas] also obviously support those insurgencies, they do it to a much less degree because they know that the next step is El Salvador. [Those governments] feel that if they don't get into a direct discussion with [Nicaraguan President Daniel] Ortega, maybe he'll leave them alone and just concentrate on El Salvador. We have to make other countries understand that if they don't support El Salvador right now, and we fall into the hands of a Marxist government, they're next.
RADU: Do you entertain the idea of trying to use international organizations like the International Court of Justice to bring attention to Sandinista support for the FMLN and for the subversion of El Salvador?
CRISTIANI: It could be a possibility if there's no reaction within Central America.
RADU: The election of your government is a unique case in Latin America in the last few years. From Argentina to Guatemala and from Ecuador to Brazil, it seems that the trend is for the election of governments to the left of the previous one. In this case, a conservative government was elected, following a left-of-center government. How would you explain this difference between El Salvador and just about every other country on the continent?
CRISTIANI: It basically is because we have already tried a socialist-type government, and also because the more extreme Left is not gaining any sympathy because of the methods they're using; therefore, they are not an alternative for the people. Very leftist-type policies have created more unemployment and more poverty in the country.
But I think the trend is toward the right. I think the [general] rule will probably go toward the right in the next [round of] elections. Honduras and Guatemala probably have a good chance of voting toward the right. Venezuela, although it went to the left in appearance, is implementing
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