Central America: To Save El Salvador

Fearful of a leftist victory, the U.S. steps up its aid to a beleaguered regime

"There is no mistaking that the decisive battle for Central America is under way in El Salvador."

So said Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs Thomas O. Enders last week, as he defended the Reagan Administration's support for the beleaguered civilian-military government of El Salvador before three U.S. congressional committees. Enders' statement was buttressed by the firmly held position of Secretary of State Alexander Haig. The Administration's top diplomat bluntly asserted before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the U.S. "will do whatever is necessary" to prevent the downfall of the Salvadoran regime headed by President Jose Napoleon Duarte. Said Haig: "I am not about to lay out a litany of actions that may or may not take place. We are actively considering a whole range of options—political, economic and security."

Was Haig hinting, as some Congressmen suggested, that the U.S. might want to make substantial troop commitments in El Salvador? The answer to the question, from Deputy White House Press Secretary Larry Speakes, was that "the President has said he has no plans to send troops anywhere." But then Speakes added: "At the moment."

The fact is, there is little if any prospect that President Reagan would send U.S. forces into El Salvador. As Haig himself remarked, Reagan has a visceral reluctance to consider any such idea. But the Administration is moving quickly to help the Duarte government. After a guerrilla raid at El Salvador's principal military airport, Ilopango, the Reagan Administration announced last week that it would rush $55 million in emergency military aid to the Duarte regime. Much of the money was needed to replace six helicopters and eight airplanes that were destroyed in the guerrilla attack. The replacement helicopters were already on their way to El Salvador last week.

The tough statements by Haig and Enders, and the latest relief measures, came as Congress was reviewing the $129 million in economic and military support that the U.S. proposes to provide El Salvador in 1982. Troubled by the Duarte government's dismal human rights record, Congress in December demanded that President Reagan certify in writing that the Salvadorans had made a "concerted, significant" effort to eliminate brutality by local security forces, and were also making "continued progress" in carrying out political and economic reforms. Congress also demanded assurances that the Salvadoran regime was making "good faith efforts" to investigate and prosecute the murders there a year ago of four American churchwomen and two American aid officials.