January 11
GUEST: Alexis Stoumbelis, long
time activist and Executive Director of the Committee in
Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), talks
about the long history of US corporate interests that have
frustrated the will of the people for democracy.
CISPES
I remember that time in the 1980s when many of us joined CISPES. A lot of our time was spent learning how the US trained and armed the Salvadoran death squads, and how they murdered famous people like Archbishop Oscar Romano. We let the history in by telling ourselves that El Salvador was a temporary mistake our country was making. When our leaders finally woke up to their war crimes, why things would change.
We read about the bodies by the side of the road that were picked up in the mornings. We saw pictures of them, freakish looking in their twisted shapes and sizes.
We opened our homes to Salvadoran refugees, many on speaking tours across the US. I remember two brothers telling us about the murder of their other two brothers. We called a meeting at a local church, so that more people could hear what they had been through. As they drove away, I wondered how long our government would put up with this carnage.
But Central America is a mirror that reflects US imperialism. There is hardly a country that has escaped US assassinations and invasions. Alexis Stoumbelis is a capable guide, having worked in El Salvador for decades. There is still a CISPES, and there are still murders of environmentalist and union leaders. And like most bloodbaths in the world, the US is in it up to its neck.
That's what I learned in my years of CISPES.
