U.S. Policy in Central America

Of all the editorials The Times has published in opposition to the Reagan Administration’s destructive policies in Central America, none has been more eloquent than the one published on July 20.

In this editorial a point was made that is too often neglected in this country’s discussion of its historical behavior toward Latin America in general and its current behavior toward Central America in particular--that this behavior often brings about and subsequently aids and abets the very revolutionary and political forces that the United States is attempting to thwart.

Inevitably, democracy is thwarted also, as repressive right-wing dictators are installed and kept in power by the United States to do its bidding in keeping leftist revolutionary and political forces at bay and protecting the interests of American multinational corporations. The people who pay the biggest price for this, of course, are the poor and helpless who make up the bulk of the populations of these countries.

Alas, this is all lost on the policy-makers in Washington, as they continue the nation’s run on this time-worn treadmill, which will produce the same, inevitable tragic results.

MARCIA SIMONSON

Los Angeles