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Americans in Support of Democracy in Latin America
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135840658
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Americans in Support of Democracy in Latin America
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Records of the White House Office of Public Liaison (Reagan Administration)
Morton Blackwell's Subject Files
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1984-12-31
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1984
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Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Digital Library Collections
This is a PDF of a folder from our textual collections.
Collection: Blackwell, Morton: Files
Folder Title: Americans in Support of
Democracy in Latin America
Box: 2
To see more digitized collections visit:
https://reaganlibrary.gov/archives/digital-library
To see all Ronald Reagan Presidential Library inventories visit:
https://reaganlibrary.gov/document-collection
Contact a reference archivist at: [email protected]
Citation Guidelines: https://reaganlibrary.gov/citing
National Archives Catalogue: https://catalog.archives.gov/
AMERICANS IN SUPPORT OF DEMOCRACY
IN LATIN AMERICA
October 21, 1983
(415) 479-3361
Faith Ryan Whittlesey
Assistant to the President for
OCT 25 1993
Public Liaison
Washington D.C.
Dear Faith Ryan Whittlesey,
Thank you for your letter of October 11, and the encouragement
you have given us is appreciated.
Enclosed is a copy of the letter we prepared for the National
Bipartisan Commission on Central America so you can see the
major conclusions we reached after our visit to El Salvador.
Also, we are sending a copy of the letter to Mr. Morton Blackwell.
Best wishes to you in your work which provides help to groups like
our own here in California.
Kend Kent Sincerely, Philpot Phone
Ms- 10/28
J/K Did you with Itr
4th Octill furlt
Oct
AMERICANS IN SUPPORT OF DEMOCRACY
IN LATIN AMERICA
October 18, 1983
(415) 479-3361
The Kissinger Commission
on Central America
Dear Friends,
Americans in Support of Democracy in Latin America is a non-
partisan group established in January, 1983 by Geoffrey Tachet
and Kent A. Philpott, the author of this letter. Mr. Tachet is
a businessman and I am also in business and for sexteen years have
been a Baptist minister. Although neither of us had been involved
in politics before, we were concerned about the conditions in El
Salvador. It seemed to us that El Salvador was in danger of being
reduced to conditions that might lead to another Marxist takeover
after the fashion of Nicaragua. We did not believe that the
fighting in El Salvador was a civil war, but believed the "rebels"
were insurgents supported and trained by other Marxists states.
Our concern was to learn the facts, seek to inform others, and
rally support for our government's efforts in Central America and
especially El Salvador. These are the goals of our organization.
In pursuit of our goals we took advantage of free speech
messages offered by the media in the San Francisco Bay Area, read
everything we could get our hands on, talked to our friends, dis-
tributed broadsides, and organized a small group of people who
shared our concerns. From September 13 to the 23rd of that month
Mr. Tachet and I visited El Salvador on the basis of an invitation
and spoke to many people from many sectors of Salvadoran life and
traveled to eight of El Salvador's fourteen provinces. A summary
of basic points from that trip is enclosed with this letter.
P.O.BOX 6358
SAN RAFAEL, CA. 94903
page 2.
The purpose of this letter to the Kissinger Commission is to
relate general concerns and conclusions based on our findings.
As you know there are three forces acting and reacting in the
political environment of El Salvador. There is the left whose
extreme and bulk is the guerrillas. There is the right, that, as
the left has gradations including a growing group of moderates, has
a radical element which conducts terrorist activities almost in
competition with the leftists. Both extremes seem to act out of
the fear of not having power and increasingly of the fear of being
powerless. In the middle, along with some few moderate leftists and
rightists, are the Christian Democrats, who happily have the primary
sympathy of our own government, but, who unhappily, have become
the enemy of both extremes.
We urge the continued support of the Christian Democrats by the
U.S. Government. This is, of course, tactically correct and difficult
all at the same time. The U.S. must maintain distance for the sake
of the integrity of the Salvadoran Government, certainly, but a
political party isolated in the middle needs strong support.
The Christian Democrats are concerned about providing "political
space" in the government for both moderate elements of the right and
the left. This stance must be encouraged. We believe that especially
among the right wing political parties there are substantial elements
who would like to moderate their position and cooperate with the more
centrists groups. Reprisal from within their ranks prevents this.
The U.S. can strengthen the political climate of El Salvador by
a walk-soft policy with the right while at the same time providing
reasons for the them to participate more productively in the demo-
page 3
cratic process.
Members of the right wing have been most affected by the three
basic reforms instituted in 1980. These reforms were urged by our
government under the Carter Administration and continued under the
Reagan Administration. These reforms were vital and should be
implemented with vigor. However, many elements of the right have
been seriously aggrieved by the reforms. We urge the moderation
of the reforms with a view to injustices visited upon those who
lost much through the various expropriations and restrictions that
were imposed. In many cases wealthy persons were run rough-shod
over, necessarily for the most part, but these persons who could
add so much to the stature of El Salvador have been radicalized by
the reforms and need to brought back into the mainstream of the life
of the country. We do not mean they need to be restored to their
original positions, but their complaints should be heard and any
untoward injustices redressed.
We spoke to business people who were moderate politically,
people who were concerned about the building up of the economy of
El Salvador, people who desired to see the rise of a middle class,
people who felt stifled by the banking and export reforms. It could
be that the major flow of cash out of El Salvador has begun to cease
and some restrictions could be lifted so that the private sector could
once again freely move in an open free enterprise system. A strong
economy, a growing and satisfied middle class is the best weapon
against those who would exploit a weakened society. Also, foreign
industry, a crucial factor in a country where there is too little
land and too many people, must be diligently encouraged.
page 5
The three reforms of 1979-1980 have been of considerable
value, but the blessings have been mixed. Unavoidably the cart
may have been put before the horse. By the horse we refer to
administrative reform. A corrupt and ineffecient bureaucracy
was commissioned to adminstrate the reforms. Huge amounts of
money passed through many hands and in fact continue to do so.
No doubt some of this precious money does not accomplish the
desired end. And little else could have been expected. Un-
questionably a shake-up in the governmental and military aparatus
would be a sensitive operation. It was suggested to us on several
occasions that the struggle against the insurgents is being pro-
longed to assure the continued flow of American dollars. We
have no proof that this is so, however, from many indicators it
appears the raw material for victory is present within the country.
We recommend the U.S. Government closely observe the military
process and urge a vigorous pursuit of the situation. of course,
the problem becomes one of avoiding superimposing oneself on a
fragile and critical Salvadoran administration.
This last recommendation deserves first priority and is placed
here so that it may receive emphasis. We are speaking of educational
reform. Perhaps "reform" is not the right word. Briefly, the
educational level of the people needs to be accelerated. During the
crisis of the past four years, the literacy rate has actually dropped.
This unfortunate circumstance is understandable. And certainly
the guerrillas have and would do anything to disrupt any educational
program. Still, the effort must be made, We recommend an evaluation
of the present educational efforts in El Salvador and that U.S. dollars
page 6
and teaching personnel be targeted for El Salvador and other
Central American countries for the sole purpose of educating
the peasantsand urban poor. This would be of inestimable value
to the people, but would also damage the guerrillas as much or
more than bullets and bombs.
In conclusion we want to say that we are proud of our
nation's commitment to the people of Central America and to-
the halting of Marxism in the region. This commitment must
not flag or falter even though the road to the achieving of our
goals is a long one. The investment in the people of Central
America will reap rich rewards for them in terms of peace,
freedom, and the security that comes with living in a pluralistic
and democratic society.
Sincerely,
Kenta
Kenta.Philast Philpot