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John B. OakesJohn B. Oakes
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was really under the control of the military regime. We, the United States, were very strongly supporting and sustaining the Contras in Nicaragua, where I also visited -- Managua [Nicaragua] and some of the outlying -- we went into some of the outlying country, where we could get a little closer to the actual fighting that was going on. We also went to El Salvador, where I managed to get an interview with the then-president of El Salvador -- I now don't recall his name [Josè Napoleòn Duarte] -- and talk to the political people. Here again, in El Salvador, the United States was supporting the most anti- democratic and repressive regimes we could find. I came back and continued to write a lot more. By the way, in El Salvador, I went to see the Catholic rector of a Catholic university who was later murdered --

Q:

Yes, I know who you're talking about.

Oakes:

-- by the government.

Q:

I can't think of his name, but I know exactly who you're talking about. We'll fill it in.

Oakes:

I'm sorry to say I can't think of any names anymore. But I had a wonderful talk with him and got, of course, the picture from his side.

Q:

Was it [Archbishop Oscar] Romero?

Oakes:

No, I don't think so -- that was the murdered archbishop, wasn't it? -- but I could easily get that name. But I remember, particularly, talking with some of the Catholic





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