Panelists Discuss War In El Salvador

Representatives of widely opposing views on El Salvador agreed at an Institute of Politics (IOP) forum Saturday that the United States must concern itself with the continuing civil war in that country.

More than 100 people listened while five experts defined the crisis in El Salvador in terms of internal and international interest.

Mauricio Silva, spokesman for the Frente Democratico Revolucionario (FDR), the umbrella organization of the Salvadoran left, charged the United States with prolonging the war in El Salvador.

But if the U.S. withdrew its support from the El Salvadoran government, the result would be "polarization" of the many factions and the "killing of 200,000 people." Robert Pastor, National Security Council adviser for Latin America, said.

The U.S. is supporting the civilian-military junta that controls El Salvador to prevent a "total disintegration of that society." Jim Cheek, deputy secretary of state for inter-American affairs, said at the forum, adding that the regime at least provides order.

Each panelist presented his view as compromises between all of the factions in El Salvador, but John McAward, associate director of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, attacked the spokesmen for the Reagan administration, saying. "If this is a civilian-military government. I'd hate to see what a rightist government would look like."

W. Scott Thompson, a professor at Tufts' Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, stressed the importance and success of land reform, saying that 1.8 million El Salvadorans have already benefitted from the program.

"The issue of land reform is thrown at us to mislead us." McAward said, adding that farmers need not only land, but credit and a good price for their crops.

Cheek said that the U.S. is not trying "to win the war militarily," adding that the emphasis of U.S. policy is reflected by the $200 million in aid earmarked for agrarian reform and food aid.

"We are supporting a killer government that denies freedom of speech, assembly and religion," McAward said, adding. "We are not going to lose El Salvador because it is not ours."