' El Salvador _ is your average Latin American country with _ ' a repressive’fegime, a tiny wealthy elite, ‘ _ a massiVe amount of poverty, and a close relationship ’with the ‘ United States- But resently ‘El Salvador ‘ has Stood out as having , one of more .re—_ ~ pressive governments V in Central America. To date the govern— ment and right Wing forcesare culpable for 80% of the more than ‘, 30,900 deaths since Oct,! 19 797 These government , forces and rightwing "death squads are known ' to work together. . Evidence has been compil— ed from Church groups] and human rights or— anizations that show that government forces carmonIthorture ' and mutilate their victims. Teachers and ~ studentsyhave been killed in classrooms, - Childern have been kill— ,.ed in front of their " parents, people‘old‘and yeuhgfhave: been. decap- * : .itatédor' have/beareund j dumped in the streets" with a. few limbs missing. Episodes such asthese,. and others even-more gruesome, are still going on in El Salvador.. It is not surprising that. the U.N. has passed three resolutions in the past two years condemning l 'Bvaim Revell r ‘ - r 'I‘I'Ie’recent first? ministers conference-in Ottawa was filled with _ the, usual rhetoric and finger pointing at one rises C venison, February 11,- ontinues ‘ . 1982, page 3 ' the U.S. government world" . ‘ in El Salvador. " point. human rights violations in El Salvador. . ' On the“ other hand, a saw... 0 continues to give the Salvadorean govern- ment more military aid and is presently train- ing 1500* Salvadorean soldiers on U.S. soil. It is certain that such military aid helps in— creaSe the power of what former U.S. ambassador ' to .El Salvador, Ibbert White, calls " one of. the most out of control, violent, bloodthirsty groups .of men in the . More military aid 7 means mere human rights violations—-— even again- st American religious The slogan," U.S. GUNS KILL U.S. ’NUNS", is to the Dispite mounting ‘ r opposition at home, from at least 54 congressmen (3) , and mounting isolation ' ' abroad, especially‘ from France and Mexico, Reagan . has just authorized anoth— er 55million in military " aid for El Salvador. Eyen Canada, the closest [ally of the U.S.", has ex— . pressed reSeIVation _ about U.S. military aid to El Salvador. ' Downplaying the _ ‘ significance of human rights violations and, while ignoring the pleas of Church groups, _' human rights groupsrand _ the United Nations(5)\- the - forces . U.S. has claimed military aid is needed to fight [off the communist threat- The State Department 1 . ~ claims that Cuba and the ' Soviet Union are the cause of social unrest Latin America. Most other sources, however, agree that social unrest ,Latin America, and es- pecially in El Salvador, is caused by a history of repression and socio- economic exploitation. With rampant poverty, military repression, complete lack of free—_ dom and all non—violent means of reform crushed it is not difficult to see why peoplewould revolt. How would any: . one react to watching _ their children die of malnutrion, or watching their parents, friends , Or relatives being killed by their own government One does not need a communist to see things are intolerable. Nonetheless, as the war rages on and hundreds of innocents die each-week, U.S. Secretary d of State, Alexander Haig, in his cold, firm temper— ment will" once again re- iterate that the U.S. will not tolerate another Cuba. In the weeks to come I will try to keep the concerned student body _‘ aware Of the- Salvadorean Crisis. But, no doubt, many of you have questions about the current situation. I would welcome your response, pro or con, to the above artical. If you or your group are interested in organizing a » presentation , discussion , or debate on El Salvador please let us know. Iarry Loveless, spokesperson for the Pin. El Sal— - vador Information Group, Call 892-8726 or the Sun editor. K i . s» m. «suns-v- I.Mn—r‘.x_--*,~.,;:‘\“‘\~W6‘ev~ 5...“... - ....... .. J ‘ Who/"3“ Bashing Who? federal governments ' k desires to bring spending V back under control‘and. ’ for increased visibility ‘ of federal programs. ‘ ‘ ' The current economic - another that has accompanied problems 0f high such events‘in the‘xpast. “me, however, it felt good" ' federal gcverrment respond to the criticism levied __ ; against it by various provincial premiers ' the last fem months. - ' The. Prime Ministers _ closing communique , ' ‘s‘tatedclearly that the 7 prOVinces also must share , the burden of. reviving an sick from ’ ' exce‘sSive government spending and peorly thought—cut fiscal . *pclicies. Trudeau, ' speflcing in amarmer not > unlike’the way a father" 7 y . does when-scoldinga ~ EU 7 child, reiterated a « unemployment, high interest rates, and high inflation were largely “the result of increased v expenditures in beneficial seeial aid programs and rising expectations on the part of consumers. The result cf this move to ' the left has been a " cumulative deficit in excess of an. billion dollars, an amount sQ‘large in Size that the cost of servicing it; become one of the ' larger government ‘ expenditures. While it is easy to be a critic of the harsh measures being imposed at present the alternatives facing _ minister MacEachern i, are even less palatable. An abandoning of his tight money policy ’would see a dollar devalued even lower with the resulting repercuSsions being . increased inflation and higher, unemployment. ’ We must all remember that you cannot resolve in a year what took society s and governments fifteen years to accomplish. The federal Liberals have not’withdravmfrom the Established Programs Funding ’(E.P.F.). ‘They remain committed to uniform levels of health . care and-the development of its youth by maintaining funding for post- secondary education. Here on 'P.EI. our- new premier is faced with the inevitable task‘to reinstalling confidence ' in a government which is properly perceived . as a "do nothing government. " Three . years of "fed bashing" and no new directions in either the industrial sector or primary sectors have left Islanders , disillusioned with their provincial government. The removal of the Island from the Pt. Lepreau nuclear plant to a coal fired operation in Dalhcusie N.S. will bring us higher electricity costs and create more damage to the environment, through acid rain, than a hLmdred nuclear «plants could. Perhaps now that the constitutional accord has been signed the provincial < government will concentrate . its efforts towards , developing an industrial base’and the creation of new jobs.