CENTRAL AMERICA IS AN OBJECT LESSON in the gulf between illusion and reality. The crisis in the region is increasingly reduced to a shadow play, with reality reduced to one-dimensional black-and- white. Washington intentionally distorts and over- simplifies, for defined political ends; most media coverage, whether through deliberate malice or simple incompetence, leaves surface appearances unchal- lenged. Both sets of shadows converge to produce cari- catures of reality-' 'totalitarian dungeons" and "dem- ocratic success stories," election lines and bang-bang. Rather than look harder at the shadows on the wall, this issue of Report on the Americas tries to shed light on the complex cast of characters and power relations in Central America today. Our lead story looks at Guatemala, a country where the illusion is a return to democracy, and the reality is pervasive military power. Next, we turn to El Salvador and its troubled labor movement, where a reality of duplicity and deceit con- trasts with the shadow play of an embattled democratic center. Our third article considers Costa Rica, the country which perhaps more than any of its neighbors is shrouded in cliche: it outlines the "rescue" of Costa Rica's moribund economy over the last three years, and analyzes the hidden costs. O N NOVEMBER 3 and DECEMBER 8, GUA- temala voted for a civilian president. The Reagan Administration has predictably hailed the vote as "the final step" in restoring democratic rule. Requests for military aid will be followed by demands for more economic assistance-all designed to bolster the power of the new civilian president. But what did the voting mean? The traditional criteria used by election observers hardly seemed rele- vant on this occasion. Was there ballot-stuffing? Were the voting booths transparent? What color was the in- delible ink on voters' fingers? Instead, NACLA sent Report on the Americas editor George Black to Guatemala to take a radically different look at the con- text in which the elections took place. His report, based on extensive interviews with key Army officers and ac- cess to confidential military documents, is a unique study of where real power lies in Guatemala. "The Army may be going back to the barracks," writes Black, "but in its definition the barracks covers most of Guatemala." T HE AFL-CIO CONVENTION IN ANAHEIM, California in late October was an unusually stormy affair with a prolonged floor fight over Central America. There is now heated opposition in the U.S. labor movement to the AFL-CIO's continued support for the Duarte Administration in El Salvador, and its si- lence on the Nicaraguan contras. At the convention, Government Employees' leader Ken Blaylock of the National Labor Committee for Human Rights in El Sal- vador echoed the feelings of many. "When . . . I look at El Salvador," he said, "I would like for one time for my government to be on the side of the people, not on the side of rich dictators living behind high walls." Within days of the convention, the left-wing union federation FENASTRAS held its own convention in San Salvador, with legendary leader Hector Recinos returning from exile for the event. The Salvadorean un- ions, active for the first time since 1980, face a precari- ous existence as they probe the limits of Duarte's "democratic opening." Since U.S. policy defines Duarte as the "left" of the acceptable spectrum, the very labor unions that brought him to power are seen as a radical threat, reports Chris Norton from El Salvador. Washington, which created the pro-Duarte Popular Democratic Unity (UPD) in the first place, has recently set about dismantling its own creation. Finally, NACLA staff researcher Marc Edelman pre- sents a compelling account of the recovery of the Costa Rican economy--declared a basket case just three years ago. Costa Rica's reputation as a stable democ- racy has been one of Washington's most valuable as- sets in the region, and it has devoted major economic resources to pulling its ally back from the brink. But the price of the rescue may be to dismantle the very programs that afforded Costa Rica its uniqueness. Doc- trinaire economics, and an unprecedented intrusion by the United States Agency for International Develop- ment (AID) into domestic politics, may benefit agro- exporters and large industrialists, but threaten to swamp the foundations of the Costa Rican welfare state. Facing a February 1986 election that local pundits call "Mondale vs. Mondale," the outlook for most Costa Ricans is bleak.
