(5 of 10)
Reagan's professed willingness to back regional diplomatic efforts did not represent any new U.S. policy. The Administration still opposes a negotiated settlement in El Salvador that would lead to the guerrillas' sharing political power that they had not won in free elections. Indeed, the word negotiations has become a rallying point for critics who think that the guerrillas would end their rebellion if given a share of government power at the bargaining table. But the tone of Reagan's speech was notably positive about pursuing diplomatic solutions. Only two weeks before, the Administration had been somewhat cool to the work of the Contadora group of Latin American nations, led by Mexico and Venezuela, which has been trying to work out a regional solution to the continued fighting.
Dodd's official Democratic response was more emotionally charged than Reagan's carefully modulated address. Calling the President's policies "a formula for failure," Dodd accused him of ignoring the fundamental factors that led to instability in the region. "If Central America were not racked with poverty, there would be no revolution," Dodd argued. He painted a bleak picture of the Salvadoran government, charging that its land-reform program had long been "abandoned" and that its repressive police tactics still terrorized the populace. "I have been to that country, and I know about the morticians who travel the streets each morning to collect the bodies of those summarily dispatched the night before by Salvadoran security forces." He said the U.S. ought to take up the offer made by some rebel leaders to negotiate a settlement, a prospect most analysts regard as highly dubious.
Dodd's reaction was much sharper than that of many of his Democratic colleagues. Although critical of portions of Reagan's speech, key Democrats admit to seeing very real dangers in reducing Reagan's requested military assistance to El Salvador. House Majority Leader Jim Wright of Texas, for instance, is among those who feel strongly that the U.S. must continue to support its Central American allies. Like their G.O.P. counterparts—and most of the public—Democrats are generally worried and confused about how to handle a problem they all wish would disappear.
This was reflected on the day before the speech, when House Democrats refrained from a head-on confrontation with the White House over a special appropriation for military aid to El Salvador. The Administration asked that $60 million now earmarked for Morocco be spent for this purpose. Clarence Long had originally opposed any additional money for El Salvador's military, but after a visit to that country in February, he became convinced that the government was improving its human rights record. By a 7-to-5 vote, his Democrat-dominated subcommittee gave the Administration half of what it requested.