OF EL SALVADOR totally at a standstill by January on strike in massive numbers with many joining the FMLN armed forces.
On January 11, Lt. Colonel Bruno Navarette of the government's National Guard announced his deday, an entire unit of the army went over to the FMLN.
On January 29, two top economic officials 13. Agricultural workers also went controlled network.
Another aspect of the offensive has been defections from the junta.
fection to the FMLN. On the same housed.
Nelson Romero, the general manager of the National La "total failure"
The claning people. lution there in 1979. cause of the repression by the regime against journalists. All radio stations in the country have been forced to join a single government- claim.
Journalists were ordered on January 13 not to travel outside the capital without official permission.
Right-wing thugs were reportedly circulating lists of journalists they had condemned to death and making threatening phone calls to hotels where foreign reporters were The drive to intimidate the press and tighten censorship is necessary for the success of the junta's ettorts to present the image that El Salvador is "calm", that the government forces are in "total control", and that the revolutionary offensive is But nothing could be further from the truth. The offensive is continuing, and the overwhelming support that the FDR and the FMLN have shows that the junta only survives with the massive military aid that the US government pours in. There is little doubt that Reagan would like to back up this aid by sending in troops. What is preventing him is the deep anti-war sentiment among American work.
While increasing aid to the E Salvador junta, the US State Department has taken the opportunity to suspend a $ 75 million loan to neighbouring Nicaragua. which is in the process of building a just and free society following a mass revoThe reason given for the suspension was that five boats carrying 100 Nicaraguans landed on a beach in El Salvador on January 14 to fight against the dictatorship. The Nicaraguan government has denied this "categorically and absolutely" and not one scrap of evidence has been produced to back up this The general offensive launched by the FMLN on January 10 marked the opening of an all-out civil war — a war the revolutionary forces believe they can win if the people of El Salvador are left alone to determine their own future.
SOLIDARITY To help them do that, the people of El Salvador need the support of an international solidarity campaign which can play a part in stopping US intervention and preventing El Salvador from becoming the Vietnam of Central America.
The people of that country know what they are up against and are determined to win. As one FDR representative recently explained:
"The Salvadoran people have been fighting for 50 years and we understand very well that the final phase of the revolution can last a few days, or a few weeks or even a few years. But we also know that in the end the Salvadoran people will win."
From the New Zealand socialist biweekly Socialist Action, 20.2.1981.
SOCIALIST ACTION
PUBLIC FORUM The Struggle for Freedom in El Salvador Wed. March 18, 8.00 Camden Labour Rooms 8. Camden Rd. NW1.
Speakers: El Salvador Solidarity Campaign and Socialist Action.