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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, JANUARY 22, 1982
PAGE 11
Thus the Soviet threat to the very "neck" of the western Hemisphere should
be able to proceed in two directions, checked only by Moscow's timetable
and pocketbook. It will fan out relentlessly northward to the oil fields of
Mexico, perhaps� Mexico itself.
One can only hazard a guess what the impact upon the U.S. would be should
Mexico ever go communist. The economic rupture of the extensive U.S.
Mexican relationship would only be one casualty. Certainly several million
Mexicans would stream across the U.S. border seeking escape from Communism,
paling into insignificance the refugee problem from Cuba, El Salvador and
elsewhere in Central America today.
Southward the tide would extend through Costa Rica (which now is creating
an army again after 33 years without one) to the Panama Canal, still the
most vital element to U.S. dominance of the high seas. A Communist clamp on
the canal would place several South American nations such as Colombia,
Peru, Chile, even Brazil in extremely serious straights (to say nothing of
Japan, the canal's chief seafaring power).
The Soviets are aiming high--but cautiously at the same time. In Nicaragua,
as elsewhere, the Kremlin is proving the value of working through revolu
tionary groups which appear to be home-grown, thus receiving the applause
of the Third World. The leading Soviet expert on Latin America, Sergey
Mikoyan (son of the late Anastas Mikoyan), recently counseled the need to
build on "military political fronts" like the Sandinista movement rather
than avowedly Communist parties, in order to sow revolution in Central
America.
The Communists are far more clever than their adversaries. "The Soviets
want a division of labor, not total control," stresses Walter Laguer, an
expert on guerrilla movements. "For this reason it is wise to let subcon
tractors like the Sandinistas, like Kadafi take both the praise and the
blame."
The U.S. has no means to counter this cleverly-contrived style of warfare.
--Gene H. Hogberg, News Bureau