NYT: forgive Central America debts

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

March 11, 1999

              Peace and Poverty in Central America

                    The last time an American President went to Central
America was 1982, when
                    Ronald Reagan visited Honduras and Costa Rica. 

              That year was one of the bloodiest for El Salvador and for
Guatemala, where a truth
              commission recently labeled 1982 as a peak period for what
it termed the military's
              "genocide" of Mayan Indians in the civil war. But Mr. Reagan
praised the military leaders
              of both nations and spent billions in lethal aid to their
Governments and the Nicaraguan
              contras. 

              This week President Clinton is visiting a very different
Central America and carries a very
              different message. 

              His trip is a belated recognition of the region's progress
and importance to the United
              States. But Washington's support for wars in Central America
15 years ago is not being
              matched by its support for peace today. 

              In El Salvador and Guatemala, United Nations-sponsored peace
agreements have brought
              former guerrillas into politics and committed the
Governments to social reforms. 

              Mayan Indians, the marginalized majority in Guatemala, now
serve in Parliament and as
              local mayors. 

              In El Salvador the party of the former guerrillas lost this
week's presidential elections but
              was able to campaign freely. 

              The Sandinistas in Nicaragua won the war but lost at the
ballot box, and stepped down in
              1990. 

              The conflicts are over, but Central America's warring
nations have essentially returned to
              the conditions of misery and inequality that caused the wars
to begin with. 

              While El Salvador has experienced steady economic growth,
poverty in rural areas
              remains unchanged. In Nicaragua, the poor are worse off than
at its war's end. Huge
              debts have kept the region from spending money to fight
poverty. Nicaragua, for example,
              pays 11 times more in debt service than it spends on health
care each year. 

              Many of the postwar governments' reforms -- new police or
judicial systems -- have not
              solved the underlying problems that made these bodies
responsive mainly to the rich and
              powerful. Even the local governments admit that free-market
changes have so far mainly
              served the urban wealthy and middle class. 

              Last year the region suffered its worst natural disaster of
the century in Hurricane Mitch,
              which will set back development in Honduras and Nicaragua
for decades. 

              That is why President Clinton's visit, important as it is,
is a missed opportunity. Mr.
              Clinton is doling out his celebrated compassion, but little
in the way of money. 

              A billion dollars in post-hurricane aid is being held up in
Congress. 

              The Administration should allow the quarter-million
immigrants who fled the wars in
              Salvador and Guatemala to stay in the United States. 

              It must also forgive the debt burdens that were already
crippling the countries most
              devastated by the hurricane, and try to persuade
international lending institutions to do the
              same. 

              Washington spent billions of dollars in the 1980's on wars
in Central America. 

              It should now increase its commitment to supporting peace
and prosperity.