LABOR AND U.S. CENTRAL AMERICAN POLICY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85M00364R001302240021-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 17, 2007
• Sequence Number: 21
• Publication Date: March 6, 1983
• Content Type: REPORT

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U.S. Senator Henry M. Jackson of Washington [phone]
FOR RELEASE: P.M.
Friday, April 29, 1983
Friday, April 29, 1983 1:00 p.m.
0'
I am delighted to be here with you today, and to see so
LABOR AND U.S. CENTRAL AMERICAN POLICY
Address by Senator Henry M. Jackson
Edward F. Carlough Labor Law Conference
Hofstra University School of Law, Hempstead, New York
many of my friends.
Labor leaders in general have avoided one-eyed approaches to
international problems.. They know that the world is a dangerous
and cruel place, and they have championed an adequate defense for
the United States and its friends and allies. But, labor leaders
have also understood the major role economic assistance and the.
hope of economic opportunity has to play in United States policy
towards the developing world.
It is not hard to see why.
.Individuals like Edward F. Carlough -- known for their
reliability and effectiveness -- were successful because they could
look at the world through two lenses. Committed to the welfare of
their membership, and possessing a deep concern for social justice,
they never forgot to take.a sober. and objective appraisal of the
realities confronting them. They had judgement; they knew when to
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hold the line and when to compromise. They also had hope for
the future. They held a deep belief that the world could become
a better place, and this hope gave them strength to always be out
in front.
The United States government has a lot to learn from such
labor leaders about the conduct of foreign policy. In particular,
it has a lot to learn about policy approaches toward the current
crises in Central America.
Today, Central America poses for.the United States one of
her greatest foreign policy challenges. Again, American labor
has been out in front - way out in front.
In El Salvador the American Labor movement has been one of
the few beacons of light in what has seemed an interminable
darkness.
Here is a country that has for centuries suffered under
tyrannical governments and a small oligarchic class of land
owners. It has almost no history of democratic institutions.
Even agricultural cooperatives, which can teach people the
rudiments of participatory democracy, are scarce. Until the
recent effort at land reform, El Salvador was a semi-feudal state.
Into this almost intractable situation, where all the policy
options seem impalatable, the AFL-CIO, through its American
Institute for Free Labor Development, went forward and labored
hard to bring about reform. Two of their members, Mike Hammer
and Mark Pearlman, were murdered for their efforts. And yet,
despite the setbacks, democracy building through the development
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of free labor unions led to a remarkable accomplishment in
early March of this year. Ten thousand campesinos demonstrated
peacefully outside the-National Assembly demanding an extension
of the land reform program.
Obviously, El Salvador still faces very serious problems.
There needs to be dramatic improvement in the judicial system
and concrete progress in the resolution of the Hammer/Pearlman
murders and the murders of the four American religious workers.
There needs to be progress in unifying the central command over
the armed forces and in the titling process of the land reform
program. There needs to be a nourishing and extension of
democratic political institutions. But the general approach
to addressing El Salvador's long term problems has been charted
by the AFL-CIO.
This kind of understanding and perspective needs to inform
our policy, not just for El Salvador, but for the entire Central
region. And the theme of my remarks today is just this: A sound
policy for the Central American isthmus must be based on what the
AFL-CIO has known all along.-- military approaches alone are
inadequate.
Clearly, some security assistance is required. The Sandinista
government in Nicaragua has evolved into what is plainly a Marxist-
Leninist regime: It is suppressing individual liberties and free
labor unions; it has imposed press censorship; and it is fomenting
revolution in neighboring countries. Nicaragua harbors 2,000
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Cuban military advisors and has been deaf to all entreaties
by her Central American neighbors, as well as by the United
States, to negotiate a regional peace settlement.
However, security assistance ought not to be the main focus
of national debate, and it ought not to be the foreign policy
instrument we emphasize to the rest of the world.
Our security aid to Central America should be given and
discussed in one way: it is a shield behind which endangered
nations can protect themselves from external threats while they
go about the business of building democratic institutions, holding
free and fair elections, and working to rectify historical patterns
of social injustice. Security assistance should be an adjunct to
our Central American policy, not its foundation. We better face it:
the shield will crumble unless we address the serious social and
economic injustices in the region.
Let me suggest some of the premises on which a constructive
regional policy should be grounded:
1. The social and economic crises facing Central America are
real, and they arise in large part from long histories of
poverty and lack of economic opportunity.
Mexico's foreign debt now runs to 90 billion dollars;
her agricultural sector is in decline, forcing more and
more people to the cities; unemployment hovers near 50%;
and the middle class is becoming increasingly disen-
chanted.
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2. In much of the region, democratic institutions are weak,
if they exist at all.
3. Marxist-Leninist regimes will not offer the people of these
countries a democratic future, or expanded economic oppor-
tunity. The course of events in Cuba and the evolution of
the Sandinista government in Nicaragua clearly demonstrates
that any such hope is unfounded.
4.
The Soviet Union has, and will continue to exploit this
situation, principally through her proxies in Cuba and
Nicaragua.
5.
The strategic stakes for the United States are high.
The
shipping lanes of the Caribbean, so vital to our commerce
and to the resupply of our troops in Europe, must be kept
open. The stability of the countries in-the region,
particularly Mexico, needs to be assured.
These premises clearly suggest that America's best minds
need to address the problem of security and economic development
of the Central American isthmus. Central America must be the
focus of a large, long-term effort by the United States, and
should take a top spot on America's foreign policy agenda.
What kind of effort does Central America merit?
It merits an effort of Marshall Plan proportions.
I do not make this comparison lightly. After World War II,
the United States faced in Europe a serious challenge to her
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security. We had rapidly demobilized our armed forces while
the Soviet Union supported Communist insurgency campaigns in
Greece and Turkey, and tried to wrestle control of European
unions and European Social Democratic parties from their
democratic majorities. General Marshall understood, as did
American trade union leadership, that the long-term security of
Western Europe, as well as the long-term security of the United
States, could be assured only by a program of massive economic
assistance. Devastated by the War, Europe needed the aid to
bring democracy back on its feet.
The circumstances in Central America, while certainly not
identical, have important similarities. The region, like Europe,
is vital to our security. Like post-war Europe, Central America
is being threatened by communist insurgency, and'-its stability
can only be assured if the people there have hope for the future
and see economic opportunities expanding for them. These are the
necessary conditions if the region is to move toward more demo-
cratic governments.
Gaining consensus within this country for such a course of
action will not be easy. The American people, conditioned by
the United States' traditional neglect of Latin America, do not
see our interests and security at stake in the region.
Similar problems faced those who wanted to embark on a
program of European reconstruction after the war. George Marshall,
after delivering his speech at Harvard University outlining his
program for European recovery, made sure a committee was formed
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to garner the support of the American people. The Marshall
Committee, headed by Henry Stimson, and drawn from the leadership
of all sectors of American society, including trade unions, was
more responsible than any other actor for forging consensus in
the country to get the Marshall Plan for European Recovery
through Congress.
Serious consideration should now be given to convening a
national bipartisan commission for Central America. Composed
of respected leaders of government, business, labor, education
and the Hispanic and religious communities in this country, the
Commission's charge would be to chart a long-term course of hope
for the peoples of Central America. It would function as the
instrument to help the American people reach a workable consensus
on a long-term, comprehensive policy for this region.
Such a plan will require sacrifice of the American people,
but in. the long run it could prove, as the Marshall Plan has
proven, to be one of the best investments our country ever made.
In his remarks to the Joint Session of Congress this week,
President Reagan came a long way in recognizing the dimensions
of the challenge in. Central America. He gave due emphasis to
the necessity of addressing the social and economic injustices
and the human rights conditions in order to achieve long-term
stability and security in the region.
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I believe it would be wise for the President to bring in
organized labor to play a key role in the formulation and
execution of our Central American foreign policy.
Labor has led the way. It was there during the struggle
for Europe after World War II. It is working now in Central
America. Labor's special contribution to American foreign policy
has been its compassionate heart combined with its cool head.
Its voice needs to be heard now.
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