NATION AND WORLD
University Daily Kansan, March 23, 1984
Page 10
Sunday's election won't be fair in El Salvador
Roberto d'Aubuisson
Gary Smith/KANSAN
Many presidential candidates have ties with current regime
EDITOR'S NOTE: Staff reporter John Henson, Prairie Village senior, is studying this semester at the University of Costa Rica. He filed this report Wednesday.
By JOHN HENSON Staff Reporter
SAN JOSE, Coca Rica — The elections in nearby El Salvador Sunday are legitimate in the sense that most Democrats are likely to vote; the candidates will become president.
Many countries have similar elections, but doesn't mean they are equally elective.
THE SALVADORAN elections are not popular elections because not everyone can vote nor can just anybody run. Many of the eight candidates on the ballot have connections to the present interim government of Alvaro Alvarez.
The leftist elements in Salvadoran politics, which may represent the will of as much as 30 percent of the electorate, are not participating in the electoral process.
ANALYSIS
Thus, Sunday's elections will reflect the will of some Salvadorans — but not all. They cannot reflect any national unity or common within El Salvador because none exists. They cannot distribute the political power shares accurately among the parties because not all parties are represented.
Gary Smith/KANSAN
These elections instead are an elaborate production with all the world as an audience. A key element of that audience is the United States.
THE FACT THAT these elections
may not be entirely fair does not make them unimportant. However, the winner will be charged with the difficult task of bringing order to one of the least orderly — and most blood-stained — regions in the world.
D'Aubusson may win. He has the traditional "14 families" behind him, meaning extensive financial support for his children and their presence in person and before crowds.
Three of the eight candidates are given a chance of winning: Roberto D'Aubusson of the Nationalist Republican Alliance, also known as the ARENA party; Jose Napoleon Duarte of the Christian Democratic Party, also called PDC, and Francisco Guerrero of Party of National Conciliation, or PCN.
D'AUBUSSIN IS THE ultra-right wing candidate of the landed oligarchy. He is condemned by many as a killer; they say he ordered the assassination of Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero in 1980. His opponents also say that he has been involved in directing much of the death soad activity in his country.
The man most likely to win Sunday's election is Jose Napoleon Duarte. The Kissinger Commission called his position, D. Aubusson calls him a communist.
However, a victory by Duarte may lead the military to lose confidence in the government, and thereby bring on a possible coup.
FAR MORE PEOPLE than just the Salvadorans will be watching the polls. Action in Congress on military and economic aid to the country probably will be affected by the outcome of the presidential election in the United States, including 19 members of Congress, will observe the elections.
Jose Napoleon Duarte
BURDENS AND BROKENNESS
Get Involved— We're Going Places!
Trees break under heavy burdens (of ice)
So do people (mid-terms, broken relationships,
quilt, discouragement)
Committee Applications now available in the SUA Office, 4th Floor, Kansas Union.
Jesus promised to share our burdens with us. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened."
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POLICE ACADEMY
"POLICE ACADEMY" A PAUL MASLANSKY PRODUCTION
STARRING STEVE GUTTENBERG • KIM CATTRALL • BUBRA SMITH • AND GEORGE GAYNES AS COMBET LASARD
STORY BY NEAL ISRAEL & PAT PROFT • SCREENPLAY BY NEAL ISRAEL & PAT PROFT AND HUGH WILSON
PRODUCED BY PAUL MASLANSKY • DIRECTED BY HUGH WILSON
A LOAD COMPANY WILSON
OPENS AT THEATERS EVERYWHERE ON MARCH 23.
BBQ CHICKEN SPECIAL Our Original Deep Hickory Barbeque 1/2 Chicken
$3.50
Served with tater curl fries,
choice of side dish and bread
Served after 4:00 p.m. daily
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