_CANADA

Classified

U.S. in Central America { 2a
causing ‘refugee flood’

By KERRY McCUAIG

If Canada is concerned about the
numbers of refugees “flooding” across its
borders from Central America, it should
Press the United States to end its interfer-
€nce in the region, says a spokesperson for
the El Salvador Information Centre in
Toronto.

“For years we have been urging Canada
to use its influence with the United States to
€nd their involvement in Central America,”
Said the spokesperson, who asked not to be
identified for security reasons. “This is the
Source of the refugee problem.”

Immigration Minister Benoit Bouchard
brought down “control measures” Feb. 20,
as an interim measure to stop what Ottawa
Claims is a “tide of illegal immigrants.”
Most arrivals are from El Salvador, Chile
and Guatemala. The U.S. administration
Sives active military and other assistance to
these fascist regimes which are at war with
their own people.

Of the 6,000 refugees who have entered
Canada since the beginning of the year,
3,904 are from El Salvador, Chile and Gua-
temala. The increased numbers reflect new

U.S. legislation, enacted last November,

which imposes stiff penalties on businesses
employing illegal immigrants and prohibits
church groups and others from assisting
them.

“The crackdown has created a panic
among Central Americans in the U.S. who
fear deportation back to their own country.
They will be killed or tortured on their
Teturn,” said the woman, who herself
entered Canada as a refugee.

Until now arrivals from El Salvador,
Guatemala and Chile were given preferen-
tial treatment by Canada, along with immi-
grants from 15 other countries (including all
the socialist nations). One year ministerial
permits were commonly issued allowing the
refugee to work while his or her status was
reviewed. It is now expected that these
countries will be permanently removed
from the preferential list.

“Canada’s preferential treatment of Sal-
vadoran and Guatemalan refugees refutes
U.S. assurances that the human rights
record of these countries has improved,”
says the Salvadoran spokesperson.

The U.S. began deporting Salvadorans
with the advent of the Duarte regime, claim-
ing human rights abuses ceased with civilian
government. However independent reports
from church groups, the United Nations
Refugee Centre and Amnesty International
have documented that the death squads still
operate, unimpeded, and indiscriminate
bombing of civilian areas and forced reloca-
tions continue. Canada followed the U.S.
lead in 1985, renewing aid to El Salvador,
citing an improved human rights record.

The U.S. also claims human rights
improvements under civilian President
Marco Cerezo Arevalo who took power last
year in Guatemala. But a report by Ameri-
cas Watch of the U.S. and the British Parli-
amentary Human Rights Group accuses
the Reagan administration of giving direct
assistance to the Gautemalan security for-
ces to ensure the civilian government main-
tains a “neutral” stance towards Nicaragua.

Guatemala is second to Honduras as a
recipient of Canadian aid in the region.
Much of this is used to build roads and
other infrastructures which have been used
by the military in their genocide against the
Mayan Indians.

Six hundred Guatemalans arrived in
Canada during the first six weeks of 1987.

Canada is also a major supplier of mil-
itary and police equipment to the Chilean
regime. Fourteen years of fascist rule has
resulted in over 25,000 deaths and disap-
pearances in the country. Only last July a
19-year-old Montreal woman and her com-
panion were doused with gasoline, set on
fire and beaten by security forces in Santi-
ago. The 21-year-old man—a USS.
citizen — died; the woman is still under-
going treatment.

Under the new immigration policy
Ottawa refused entrance visas to 200 Chi-
leans stranded in Argentina and Brazil. The
groups include pregnant women and 30
children. They are running out of resources
and fear being deported back to Chile.
Their friends and relatives are staging a
hunger strike in a Montreal refugee centre.

While claimants have appreciated past
Canadian compassion, the Salvadoran
spokesperson reminds us that no one wants
to be a refugee.

“Tt is very difficult for them. The climate
is different, the food, the culture. They can’t
speak the language. They feel very alone,
very isolated. Some I know have returend,
saying they would prefer to die in their own
country, than remain here.”

People’s
Co-op
Bookstore

Books for
International
Women’s Day

OTHER FIRES
Short fiction by Latin
American women.

$9.95

(paperback)

WHAT IS FEMINISM?
A re-examination

$14.95

(paperback)

VIRAGO MODERN
CLASSICS
Selected titles

$1.99

(paperback)

Mail order catalogue now available.

1391 Commercial Drive
ancouver, B.C. V5L 3X5
Telephone: 253-6442

One-man show focuses
self-image

on Natives’

Colonization has its invisible effects,
says prominent Native singer-songwriter
David Campbell.

“We know of the visible things: the
seizure of land, slavery and so on. But the
area hardest to pinpoint is what is done
to the psyche of those colonized,” states
the Guyana-born performer.

For three days beginning Thursday,
Campbell will tell of that experience in a
one-person show, Twilight Rambler. _
Running at the Firehall Theatre in
Vancouver until Saturday, Twilight
Rambler promises, through song and
dialogue, to tell of how one colonized
person overcame the inferiority complex
that is inflicted on indigenous people.

Campbell, who has lived and worked
in Canada since the early Seventies, said
in an interview that the “twilight” in the
title refers to the state of mind many

onized le are in.
oe Ee Snecicaeen” Campbell
experienced in Guyana, a former British
colony in South America, “You were
learning that Sir Francis Drake was a
hero, and your forefathers — in my
case, my father’s people — were no

Campbell’s father was an Arawak, a
people which inhabited not only present-
day Guyana but Jamaica and other
Caribbean islands. Campbell said that
one of the reasons he likes living in North
America is that Canada’s Natives, while
suffering their own problems, have non-
etheless made some strides towards a cul-

tural rebirth.

DAVID CAMPBELL... getting free of
‘colonization of mind.’-

Campbell recorded four albums while
living in Britain before he moved to Can-
ada and gained recognition with his first
Canadian recording, Through Arawak
Eyes. Since then he has recorded several
albums and tapes, most recently People
of the Salmon, concerning west coast
Natives, and a tape of the songs in Twi-
light Rambler.

Campbell said he hopes to duplicate
the Native Expression Night he and
other Native artists started in Toronto
four years ago, and which is still running.
He has lived in Vancouver for the past
three years.

Twilight Rambler runs March 5-7 at
the Firehall Theatre, 280 E. Cordova St.

COMING EVENTS

VICTORIA
MAR. 4 — Introduction to Marxism, Mar.
11 — Marxism and Feminism, Mar. 18 —
Environment and Society, Mar. 25 — Youth
and Revolution. Sponsored by Young Commu-
nist League, Victoria. For more info. call
595-6971.

MAR. 8 — Join Congress of Canadian Women
in celebrating International Women’s Day,
1987. Luncheon and entertainment. Featured
speakers: Connie Van Pratt, Director of Legisla-
tive Affairs at the Institute for Security and Co-
operation in Outer Space, Washington, DC,
Elena Kamenetskaya, Senior Researcher at the
Institute of State and Law, Academy of Scien-
ces, USSR, and Alderman Libby Davies. 1 p.m.
at Russian Hall (600 Campbell Ave.). Child care
available. Tickets $8 at the door or phone Sue at
254-9797, Susanne at 254-3066 or Anna at
294-6775.

MAR. 8 — Annual General Meeting: Canada-
USSR Friendship Society. 10 a.m.-12 noon.
Hastings Community Centre-3096 E. Hastings.
For more info. call Kay at 872-1524.

MAR. 19 — Annual General Meeting Cana-
dian-Cuban Friendship Association. 8 p.m.
Room L4, Britannia Community Centre. Nomi-
nation and election of officers for 1987 execu-
tive board.

MAR. 20 — Hear Bill Kashtan, General
Secretary-CPC. ‘Canada is not for Sale’. Loca-
tion TBA.

NOTICES

YCL VOLLEYBALL. Every Tuesday night
8-10 p.m. Thunderbird Community Centre.
2311 Cassiar. For more info. Tina 255-7369.

THE TRIBUNE NEEDS copies of April 9, 1986
issue for bound volumes. Contact Mike at
251-1186.

COMMERCIAL

GRAMMA PUBLICATIONS. Complete print-
ing services. Brochures, menus, leaflets, etc. A
union shop. 1595 W. 3rd Ave. Vancouver.
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 733-6822.

ELECTRICAL PLUMBING, appliance repairs.
Don Berg 255-7287.
AUTOPLAN, GENERALINSURANCE, home,

business, trade union. Dave Morton, bus.
986-9351; res. 433-4568.

VICTORIA
BILL HARTLEY your AutoPlan man. All types
of insurance. Mail in or phone in. 2420 Douglas
Street, Victoria, V8T 4L7. 388-5014.

LEGAL SERVICES

RANKIN, BOND, McMURRAY. Barristers
and Solicitors. 2nd Floor, 157 Alexander Street,
682-3621.

DIRECTORY

COMMUNIST PARTY OF CANADA offices
located at 102, 2747 E. Hastings St. Vancouver.
Phone 254-9836. Office hours: 9:30-12 noon;
1-5 p.m. Mon to Fri. For information on political
issues or assistance in political activity.

HALLS FOR RENT

RUSSIAN PEOPLE’S HOME — Available for
rentals. For reservations phone 254-3430.

UKRAINIAN CANADIAN CULTURAL
CENTRE — 805 East Pender St. Vancouver.
Available for banquets, weddings, meetings.
Phone 254-3436.

‘ah itera amet ea Ye to een

RANKIN
&
COMPANY

Barristers & Solicitors

4th Floor, 195 Alexander St.
Vancouver, B.C. V6A IN8&

682-2781

Offers a broad range of
legal services including:

© Personal Injury & Insurance claims
@ Real Estate & Conveyancing

@ Divorce & Family Law

@ Labour Law

@ Criminal Law

@ Estates & Wills

PACIFIC TRIBUNE, MARCH 4, 1987 e 11,