Page 2, 15th July 1988
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Gary MacEoin our Americas correspondent, reports on the challenging Central American Kairos document, a blueprint for emancipation.
MORE THAN a hundred Central American Christian leaders have issued a biblical and theological reflection on the political situation in that region. They roundly condemn US intervention and support of local tyrannies.
But they also challenge the theological traditions that condone oppression, call the churches to penance for their role in the Conquest and its aftermath, and hail the emergence of the people as historic subjects.
The 10,000-word statement is called the Central American Kairos after the document signed by 111 South African Christian leaders in September 1985. In theology, the kairos is the moment of truth, the time of grace.
"The Central American Kairos." they write, "rises out of 464 years of struggles, agonies, and hopes. The confrontation with the neocolonialist and interventionist policy of the United States is reaching its highest point in the entire region."
"The war of aggression against Nicaragua, the constant pressures of the US government on the governments of Central America (including Belize and Panama) to support its policies, the occupation of Honduras as a military platform, and the military support of the repressive regimes of Guatemala and El Salvador imperil the lives of more than 22 million human beings in the region. Our peoples, already impoverished by an unjust national and international economic system, groan and struggle with courage and hope."
The document locates today's struggles in the context of the Spanish Conquest. In the last century, the region was incorporated into the capitalist system of production, concentrating on export of agricultural products. More recently, the military were entrusted with maintenance of order without justice.
While the conflicts have common roots, they express themselves differently in each country. In Nicaragua, a young revolutionary state fights to protect its gains. In Guatemala, a longstanding dictatorship has assumed the form of a Christian Democrat regime, "a facade for the genocide and ethnocide that is again being intensified. " In E.! Salvador, a popular guerrilla movement continues to grow, offering an alternative to the US
puppet regime. The true government of Honduras is the army that represents the aggressive and militaristic policies of the United States.
Democracy is growing weak in Costa Rica and loses credibility because of poverty and debt. Panama is faced by the US intrigues designed to negate the Torrijos-Carter treaty which provided for the return of the Canal.
Viewed in the light of faith, this situation can be seen as a kairos, a time of grace. "We consider that the historic conscience of our Central American people is maturing. the majorities that were so long oppressed are becoming conscious of their dignity. From being masses, they are becoming ever more consciously a people. The poor are breaking into history as people who are making themselves the subject of their liberation."
Responding to the struggles of the Central Americans, the nations of Latin America are trying to implement a regional solution, first through the Contadora Group, then the Support Group. Central America has thus revived Simon Bolivar's dream of a united Latin America. Even the Organisation of American States, formerly an instrument of US interests, is exercising more autonomy.
The war m Central America, the document asserts, is also "a religious and theological war, a struggle between gods situated on both sides of the conflict. The God of the poor revealed in Jesus has once again heard their cry and is today present to lead the oppressed to liberation from their oppressors and their gods."
The goverments of Central America are urged to fulfil the obligations assumed at Esquipulas II last year, including democratisation, respect for human rights, and voluntary repatriation. A similar appeal is made to all governments, especially those of the United States and Israel, to end military and police support to the governments of Guatemala and El Salvador, whose armies are at war with their own people.
The US government is further asked to end economic and military aid to the "contras", and to accept the judgement of the International Court of Justice, including its award of compensation for civilian deaths and destruction of property.
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