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On June 5, one of the most popular U.S. presidents of the 20th century died peacefully in California. Yet, Ronald Reagan’s eight years in the White House were far from peaceful, especially for Central Americans. Since his death, the mainstream media have heaped praise upon this cold warrior, constantly reiterating his “great achievements.” Occasionally, they briefly mention the Iran-Contra scandal or the record budget deficits run up by this champion of small government, but for the most part—as during his years in office—Reagan’s Teflon-coating remains as slick as ever.
While many in the United States remember this “American hero” fondly, millions of Central Americans recall the havoc caused by his military and economic policies. Reagan assumed office in the shadow of the Vietnam War; an era when popular opposition to U.S. jingoism made direct military intervention into Third World civil wars politically impossible. Despite this obstacle, Reagan successfully escalated U.S. military intervention in Latin America to levels not seen since the mid-1960s. Arming and training militaries in El Salvador and Guatemala, and counterrevolutionaries in Nicaragua, he waged proxy wars throughout the region. His administration, and many in the U.S. Congress, turned a blind eye to the Salvadoran Army’s gross human rights abuses as they funneled more than $4 billion in military and economic aid to that tiny country. The Reagan administration also blocked regional attempts at achieving peace, while significantly contributing to the deaths of some 70,000 Salvadorans and the displacement of another million, many of who came to, and remain in, the United States.
In the mid-1980s, the Iran-Contra scandal broke. In what was arguably a far greater violation of the U.S. Constitution than anything perpetrated by the Nixon White House, the Reagan administration illegally sold weapons to Iran and used the proceeds to illegally fund counterrevolutionaries in Nicaragua. Reagan’s Contra war cost 30,000 Nicaraguan lives and devastated the country’s economy. Additionally, the World Court found the United States guilty of “unlawful use of force,” or international terrorism, for its mining of Nicaragua’s harbors. Never was Reagan’s Teflon-coating more evident than during the Iran-Contra hearings when the president repeatedly answered the investigating committee’s questions by simply stating: “I don’t recall.” Reagan’s blatant obstruction of justice had little effect on his popularity ratings and he left office in January 1989 with the highest approval ratings of any president since FDR.
The Reagan administration’s military exploits extended beyond Latin America and also left a lasting legacy. It supplied Afghanistan’s Mujahideen rebels with billions of dollars in aid and high-tech weaponry, including Stinger surface-to-air missiles, which helped the Muslim guerrillas overthrow the Soviet-backed Afghan government. Both the Taliban government and Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda evolved out of the CIA-supported Mujahideen rebel movement. Following 9/11, retired Soviet Army General Makmut Goryeev, a veteran of his country’s war in Afghanistan, reminded the U.S. public, “Let us not forget that
was created by your special services to fight against our Soviet troops. But he got out of their control.”
http://www.nacla.org/bodies/body75.php