SOLIDARITY

| Welcomed in Nicaragua, marchers

find Central Americans for peace

Nicaragua, says Diane Jacobs, “has good
reason to be paranoid.”

In Nicaragua, the North Vancouver resi-
dent reports, unarmed soldiers march
beside foreign emissaries for the cause of
peace.

But the Central American nation that
broke with U.S. domination ina revolution
almost seven years ago is also “surrounded
by heavy U.S. militarism. The United States
definitely has plans for Nicaragua,” says
Jacobs, who between Dec. 20 and Jan. 22
marched with several other Canadians and
some 300 world citizens for the cause of
peace.

“It became clear that there was an inverse
relationship between the amount of U.S. aid
a country receives and our welcome in that
country,” she said.

Jacobs, a physical therapist and member
of “Friends of AMES” — a local support
group for a Salvadoran women’s organiza-
tion — saw the ugly face of U.S.-backed
militarism during the trek through seven
Central American countries in the cause of
a peaceful resolution to the conflicts in the
region,

The marchers, organized by a Norwegian
peace group whose efforts have the support
of governments and revolutionary forces in
Central America, were attacked in Costa
Rica, given the cold shoulder in Guatemala,
and were refused entry to El Salvador and
Honduras.

But they were welcomed with open arms
in Nicaragua, and everywhere found sup-
porters who acted as protectors and who
made the march as easy as was possible in
an often hostile climate.

The basically pacifist contingent from 30
countries marched in support of the Conta-
dora peace process. The product of four
non-aligned governments — Panama, Ven-
ezuela, Columbia and Mexico — and
named for a small island in Panamanian
territory, it seeks to establish a political,
rather than military solutions to the con-
flicts embroiling Central America.

The march began in December in
Panama. While the marchers met with
government, students and community
Tepresentatives (and staged a demonstra-
tion outside the Howard U.S. Air Force
base), the right-wing forces in Costa
Rica — the next destination — were active,
said Jacobs.

“Unknown to us, for the previous two
weeks the Costa Rican press had been

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DIANE JACOBS...back from month-
long Central American peace tour.

whipping up a real storm, telling their read-
ers Our march was a tool of the KGB and
the Sandinistas.

“We were told at the border we’d be
kicked out if there was ‘any trouble,’ ” she
related.

When the group arrived by buses in San
Jose, the capital, they were greeted by some
200 supporters — and by a group of some
50 people staging an “almost choreo-
graphed” counter-demonstration, she said.

“They were holding several professional
painted signs stating messages like, ‘War
Yes, Peace No,’ and ‘Get Out of Costa
Rica.’ The signs scre in four languages,
including Russian.

“The police were there, but they weren’t
doing anything. Our sup,orters, who were
chanting ‘We Want Peace,’ formed ranks
on either side of us as we lefi the buses for
the hostel.”

The Costa Rican supporters bore the
brunt of the attack, which included rocks
and tear gas canisters. One man lost an eye,
Jacobs related.

“We later found out that the group
responsible was organized by Costa Rica’s
defence minister...they had created the
incident as an excuse to throw us out of the
country.”

The marchers were taken out of the coun-
try by buses under armed guard to the Nica-
raguan border.

While the incident in Costa Rica — which
Jacobs stresses the marchers “definitely
didn’t expect” — was probably the most
harrowing, the peace emissaries would meet
with hostility and government resistance in
other countries where the U.S. presence is
strong.

They were refused entry into Honduras,
the site of what Jacobs called “‘wall to wall”
American military bases. El Salvador,
headed by the U.S.-backed government of
president Napoleon Duarte, likewise rejected
the marchers, and a march of Salvadorans
inside the country in support of the march

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resulted in the arrest, torture and incarcera-
tion of Brigido Sanchez. The Salvadoran is
still in prison, despite international protest.

A similar protest march was held in the
Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa when the
peace march was halted. At the Honduras-
Nicarguan border, where the marchers
spent a week attempting entry, an unidenti-
fied Honduran official told the group,
“Nicaragua must disappear — it’s filled
with Communists.”

In contrast, the peace marchers were
greeted with a “huge reception” in Nica-
ragua, which included president Daniel
Ortega (who fielded questions) and members
of the opposition parties, Jacobs said.

The marchers visited farms, women’s
organizations and a “model prison” which
houses, with no bars or fences, former
members of deposed Nicaraguan president
Anastasio Somoza’s National Guard, and
talked with both independent and govern-
ment-sponsored. human rights organiza-
tions.

Representatives of the marchers did
manage to enter both El Salvador and
Honduras in small groups as tourists. In El
Salvador, the visitors, including Jacobs,
joined up with demonstrating Salvadorans
occupying the cathedral in San Salvador
and with those holding a vigil outside

Duarte’s residence. E

In Guatemala, the marchers, who flew in
as tourists, marched with relatives of “‘dis-
appeared” Guatemalans in a demonstra-
tion outside the inaugural ceremony for the
country’s new civilian president.

Touted by the daily press as Guatemala’s
return to democracy, the new president
rules with a constitution that maintains the
military’s 32-year old grip on the country.
Said Jacobs: “The military changed the
constitution just before the inauguration to
keep themselves in power. Meanwhile,
they’ve got this guy out front.”

When the march concluded with a big
demonstration in Mexico City on Jan. 22,
International Day of Solidarity with El Sal-
vador, it left behind a legacy.

“There’s now a permanent peace group
in El Salvador dedicated to the principles of
non-violence, and supported by the revolu-
tionary groups,” said Jacobs.

“In Costa Rica, the Juridical Association
is suing the government to disband the
right-wing group (that attacked the march-
ers) on the grounds that it is unconstitu-
tional.”

Jacobs said the march is now an interna-
tional “peace network” for Central Amer-
ica that acts as a “non-partisan” advocate
for peace.

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