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29th National VVAW Meeting

By VVAW

VVAW recently held its 29th National Steering Committee Meeting in Jersey City, NJ.

A number of important decisions were made at this meeting which also included a summation of work during the past year and re-election of officers.

Agent Orange

The Agent Orange campaign was summed up by National Coordinator John Lindquist. He pointed out the disappointment and anger that was felt nationally over the sell-out settlement agreed to by "our" lawyers. He said that most of the local Agent Orange groups, which had appeared around the lawsuit, had now ceased to exist because of burn-out over the sell-out.

Suki Wachtendonk of the Madison VVAW Chapter proposed a medical conference around the issues of Agent Orange to be organized and sponsored by VVAW. This was discussed and passed by the body with members of chapters volunteering to coordinate local work for a national conference in Madison.

Central America

This situation in Central America was discussed thoroughly and passionately. It was the unanimous feeling that American aggression in Central America was increasing and the possibility of another Vietnam existed. In response we decided to hold regional demonstrations on the 15th anniversary of Operation Dewey Canyon III on April 19th, 1986. The theme will be 15 years ago we fought against an immoral war in Vietnam: now we must fight against another "Vietnam" in Central America. Our demand will be "Money for Benefits, Not Dictators and Terrorist."

Other Business

Again this year VVAW awarded the Veterans' Service Award to deserving individuals who have worked unselfishly in the cause of veterans brought credit to the veteran community. This year three individuals were recipients of these awards: Mike Gold and Laurie Sandow of New York City, and Bill Branson of Chicago.

Bill Davis, John Lindquist, Barry Romo and Pete Zastrow were unanimously re-elected to the National Office of VVAW, with great praise for their past work.

The meeting also discussed problems vets were having with the VA, VVAW opposition to apartheid and support for majority rule in South Africa, the dangerous situation in the Philippines and high school counter recruitment.

(The following report is prepared by Evan Douthit, editor of Central America News Update, a twice-monthly summary of news articles on Central America which is published in Chicago.)

If one follows the U.S. media, the image (to the extent that you get one) of the situation in Central America is of the U.S. on the march, the Nicaraguan economy in shambles, the Salvadoran guerrillas on the run, and the only thing holding the U.S. back from giving its enemies the coup de grace are odd pangs of moral conscience that no other nation in the world ever suffers from.

Oddly enough, this view of reality does not accord with the information that one finds in the Mexican press, especially the Mexican daily Excelsior. There one gets the idea that the Contras are smashed, the Salvadoran guerrillas are politically and militarily on the offensive, Guatemala and El Salvador are in server economic and political crisis, and Honduras and Costa Rica are in the process of being destabilized by U.S. intervention and their own economic crisis. Meanwhile the U.S. is under mounting attack from the other governments of Latin America where the ruling elites are increasingly convinced that U.S. green on the debt problem and U.S. clumsiness in Central America will succeed in destabilizing the whole of Latin America.

In El Salvador U.S. aid has reached $2 million a day while the military engages in intense bombing of civilians in the 40% of the country controlled by the guerrillas. These facts, both virtually unreported in the U.S. media, testify to the increasing desperation of the government's position. Unable to make their troops fight, the government must bomb; unable to make the economy work, they must rely on U.S. aid to survive. The guerrillas, in response, have spread their forces throughout the country to engage in a political, economic and military was of attrition. In daily small clashes and acts of sabotage, the guerrillas are bleeding the Salvadoran army white and shattering the government's war economy.

In Guatemala the worst economic depression since the 30's has sent thousands into the streets in protests and on strike. The government has declared itself insolvent, important financial figures speak of imminent "total collapse," and the contradictions among the ruling elites has led to army death squads being unleashed on right-wing businessmen. Meanwhile, the guerrillas in the countryside are increasingly active, the Guerrilla Army of the Poor, for example, overrunning five villages on September 24th and decimating an army column three days later.