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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, FEBRUARY 1, 1982
PAGE 13
If El Salvador's revolutionary government
of Jose Napoleon
Duarte falls, there seems to be little possibility of preventing
either the repressive military regime in Guatemala or the freely
elected civilian government of Honduras from being replaced by
Marxist-Leninist regimes allied to Cuba. Then drastic polariza
tion is likely to be started in Mexico, which is nominally revo
lutionary but socTally backward.
violent conflict in Mexico
would be likely to have serious security implications for the
United States.
And that's putting it mildly! The mind boggles. Will we one day see MiGs
in Mexico City? Or missiles in Monterrey?
That sounds prepostrous at first. But Communist Russia's ties to Mexico
are long, going back to the early days of the Bolshevik as well as the
Mexican revolutions.
Notes Valenta:
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Early Bolsheviks were viewed as
natural allies by revolutionary and patriotic circles in Mexico.
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Until
the Cuban revolution, Mexico, Uruguay and Argentina were the only Latin
American countries with which the USSR had diplomatic relations. Before
World War II, Mexico's legal Communist party was the principal center for
the dissemination of Communist propaganda literature to Spanish-speaking
countries in Central America.
Now, for the first time, the Communists and other leftist small parties in
Mexico have united to field a single candidate in that nation's upcoming
national election. He won't win against the handpicked government candi
date, of course--this time. But it will be interesting to see the vote
totals.
The Soviets will be watching, too. They may choose to continue to work with
their own small party in Mexico. Or, they may choose, at some later date,
to switch support to a revolutionary "progressive" force more in the
Sandinista mold--whichever group best serves Moscow's interests at the
time.
Truly, the U.S. faces a bleak future in its own back yard in Central America
and the Caribbean, the region Soviet geopoliticians refer to as America's
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strategic rear.
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President Reagan has once again issued veiled threats to
Cuba to mend its ways. In a televised interview with CBS' Dan Rather the
other evening, Mr. Reagan suggested that Cuba
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rejoin the Western Hemi
sphere," and did not rule out any type of U.S. action. But will America
back up its words with actions?
--Gene H. Hogberg, News Bureau