For many American liberals - many of them veterans of the 1980s opposition to Reagan’s Central American wars - El Salvador is the site of a startling, disturbing, political project.
Thank goodness the Canadians know how to take care of themselves because the US has generally made a mess of things with the rest of this hemisphere. Thanks for addressing the warning signs in El Salvador's election and its outcome and providing some important history we need to know going forward. I would add that US gunmakers certainly found their goldmine markets in Central and South America, and wasted no time providing the tools for suppression and ongoing crime, both gangland and governmental. One can argue that the Chinese or Russians would have sold them arms and he'd be right, but US gun guys got there first and made a killing. (Pun intended, so shoot me.)
March 24 will mark 40 years since Archbishop Romero was murdered while saying Mass. Nicaragua went from a popularly supported FSLN to a dictator and the same man in power...Daniel Ortega. I watch folks resigning from the US state department because of a total lack of knowledge or deep understanding of the Palestinian experience since 1948. Willful ignorance does not support democratic principles or practices. Hell.We Americans by and large do not know our own history of internal and external colonialism or recognize how white Christian nationalism has become the cornerstone of the fascism that has taken over the gop. An organizer I worked with years ago said something that startled me with its truth: "The vote is the weakest link in a democracy ." We the people have walked away after marking our ballot and gotten on with dealing with life's daily struggles. Following your vote is really difficult work. Even decent people get caught up in the shenanigans and workings of the system. That's why coalitions of regular folks need to keep taking the pulse of their government, at some level.
Coming to this late -- all eyes were on Central America in the 1980s, especially on El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala, but my knowledge of what has happened since then is sketchy. I got the connection between gangs and drugs (and the U.S. market for drugs) but not much more than that. Thanks for filling in the gaps. It's hard to fault the voters of El Salvador for prioritizing "law & order" in a lawless state and deferring less desperate (it seems) issues till later, and it's also not hard to see why certain U.S. politicians have benefited handsomely by manufacturing and exaggerating "law, order & the border" in similar fashion. (P.S. Archbishop Romero was assassinated in March 1980, not 1984.)
Well, I kind of lived this one back in the 80s, and it kept my attention. My Aspergian brain will keep anything that interests me forever. Any thing that doesn't is "in one ear and out the other."
Yes, it's truly unfortunate that Mesoamerica was "discovered" (invaded) by the most regressive, medieval, holy-war believing state in Europe - Spain - which had only emerged from the medieval holy wars against Islam a matter of months before Columbus set sail on his first voyage. That mindset was deadly.
Thank goodness the Canadians know how to take care of themselves because the US has generally made a mess of things with the rest of this hemisphere. Thanks for addressing the warning signs in El Salvador's election and its outcome and providing some important history we need to know going forward. I would add that US gunmakers certainly found their goldmine markets in Central and South America, and wasted no time providing the tools for suppression and ongoing crime, both gangland and governmental. One can argue that the Chinese or Russians would have sold them arms and he'd be right, but US gun guys got there first and made a killing. (Pun intended, so shoot me.)
"The road to Hell is paved with good intentions." TC, I gotta say you are one prolific Substack author and it's all great stuff!
Thanks!
"Good intentions and ignorance. It’s a deadly combination."
And then, there's us. Bad intentions and ignorance.
Bad intentions called good ones.
March 24 will mark 40 years since Archbishop Romero was murdered while saying Mass. Nicaragua went from a popularly supported FSLN to a dictator and the same man in power...Daniel Ortega. I watch folks resigning from the US state department because of a total lack of knowledge or deep understanding of the Palestinian experience since 1948. Willful ignorance does not support democratic principles or practices. Hell.We Americans by and large do not know our own history of internal and external colonialism or recognize how white Christian nationalism has become the cornerstone of the fascism that has taken over the gop. An organizer I worked with years ago said something that startled me with its truth: "The vote is the weakest link in a democracy ." We the people have walked away after marking our ballot and gotten on with dealing with life's daily struggles. Following your vote is really difficult work. Even decent people get caught up in the shenanigans and workings of the system. That's why coalitions of regular folks need to keep taking the pulse of their government, at some level.
The cause of mass immigration: fleeing the lawless gangs and corrupt militaries
How many General Milleys do we have left?
The Republican ideal of a “democratic system”..
“It will be the first time in a country that just one party exists in a completely democratic system. The entire opposition together was pulverized.”
Coming to this late -- all eyes were on Central America in the 1980s, especially on El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala, but my knowledge of what has happened since then is sketchy. I got the connection between gangs and drugs (and the U.S. market for drugs) but not much more than that. Thanks for filling in the gaps. It's hard to fault the voters of El Salvador for prioritizing "law & order" in a lawless state and deferring less desperate (it seems) issues till later, and it's also not hard to see why certain U.S. politicians have benefited handsomely by manufacturing and exaggerating "law, order & the border" in similar fashion. (P.S. Archbishop Romero was assassinated in March 1980, not 1984.)
thanks for the correction.
You’ve been busy. Vely Intelesting. How do you know so many things, TC?
Well, I kind of lived this one back in the 80s, and it kept my attention. My Aspergian brain will keep anything that interests me forever. Any thing that doesn't is "in one ear and out the other."
I enjoy learning from you.
Thank you. I enjoy learning from you guys.
It’s a knowledgeable bunch.
ouch.
got me AGAIN.
Your last line says it all. Thank you.
And all she wants to is dance...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eud5AurOxm0
Good thing I live alone. Cuz all I want to do is dance at 5 a.m.
Tom, would you agree, with all your vast knowledge, S.
American government has always been pretty corrupt?
And now, Russia is moving in
and helping.
Yes, it's truly unfortunate that Mesoamerica was "discovered" (invaded) by the most regressive, medieval, holy-war believing state in Europe - Spain - which had only emerged from the medieval holy wars against Islam a matter of months before Columbus set sail on his first voyage. That mindset was deadly.