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Central American Teach-In

By Reggie McLeod

Reggie McLeod
Winona, MN

The focus was on U. S. policy in Central America during a three-day teach-in in Winona, Minnesota, in March. An information table at the university, movies, a concert, an art exhibition and a debate drew lots of attention from both the public and media in the southeastern Minnesota town of 25,000.

The art exhibition, "Art not Arms for Central America" was installed in the windows of an empty storefront in downtown Winona from February 20 to March 24th. The exhibit included more than 40 painting, photographs, sculptures, and drawings from over two dozen artists and school children. Artists from five states submitted work for the show. The show went on display in downtown La Crosse, WI, on March 25.

Two Vietnam Vets, Billy Curmano, 38, a performance artist, and Tom Biesanz, 40, a ceramicist, organized the show.

"I'm overwhelmed by the response to 'Art Not Arms.' I've been given six more pieces since the show went up." Said Biesanz the day after the show opened.

Curmano, who travelled to Nicaragua last year with other VVAW members, said he sees parallels between the Vietnam War and U.S. policy in Central America. "The Administration, from the start, has been using a disinformation campaign. I thought a show like this would help people to realize they are not alone in their opposition to what is happening there."

Singer/songwriter McDonald is a former member of the rock group Country Joe and the Fish. The group's song, "Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag" was a popular anti-war anthem in the late 1960's and early 1970's. McDonald's recent album, "Vietnam Experience" contains songs about his experience in the service as well as songs about veterans, Central America and the environment.

Curmano opened the show with his performance piece, "Midnight Babylon" in which he, during a sleepless night, confronts the horrors and foolishness of war and the arms trade. McDonald providing rousing entertainment full of songs and raps about Vietnam veterans' issues and life in the late 1960's.

Frank Graves, a former State Senator and member of the Republican National Committee, and Enrique Serra, chair of the Hispanic Caucus of the Minnesota Independent Republican Party, spoke in support of the current U.S. policy. Mary Turck, chair of the board of the Central America Resource Center and a teacher at Metro College and St Catherines College in the Twin Cities, and Ann Bailey, VVAW Regional Coordinator, spoke against current U.S. policy.

Graces started the debate by saying, "The first fact is that there is in the world a predatory nation, the Soviet Union, whose leadership understands that geography is destiny. Are you prepared to concede Central America to the Soviet Union?"

Turck asked, "Is it right for us to pay for the contra army whose stated targets are farmers, farm cooperatives and health workers?"

She rephrased Graves' question: "Are we willing to accede control of Central America to Central Americans, to the people in each of these countries?"

Replying to the question of what role in the U.S. should play, Bailey pointed to recent history, the Vietnam War. "Our role was arrogant. We presumed a lot of things about the Indochinese people that were not true. We won every battle but lost the war because of bad policy."

Serra replies that nations should support the industrial and economic development of Central American countries without interference from the U.S., Cuba or the Soviet Union. Cuban advisors and Sandinista troops are repressing freedom in Nicaragua now, he said.

The debate aired a broad variety of views. Graves warned that the Sandinistas may invade Texas. Turck called upon an impressive array of facts and figures to illustrate that the U.S. government has little support for its policies from its own citizens, its allies or other Latin American countries. Serra, who grew up in Cuba and fled with his family after the revolution, warned that Nicaragua may become another Cuba. Bailey appealed to the audience's moral responsibilities and explained parallels between the Vietnam War and Central America.

The success of these events in Winona was testimony that people are concerned about what's happening in Central America and are ready to become involved in the process of examining and perhaps changing the unpopular policies of the Reagan Administration. It also showed the results of skilled organizing by six local groups—Central America Resource Alliance, Students for Social Responsibility, united Campus Ministries, Lutheran Campus Ministries, Newman Center and the Vietnam Veterans Against the War.