'The most important role belongs to the workers'

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to back up the Salvadoran dictatorship Socialist Challenge 26 February 1981 Page 8 Government troops in Guatemala. Increasingly the conflict in Central America is becoming a regional one. In Guatemala the government is fighting the Guerilla Army of the Poor, in Salvador the FMLN guerillas already control sections of the countryside, and the Honduran army is poised to intervene O. There's been some con fusion about the character sive. People had been exto strike a decisive blow at Ramon Medrano: considered the offensive as a qualitative step forward for our struggle. It was the transition from a stage of the struggle aimed at the defense of the population towards the stage of military offensive As the regime had been carrying out a war of extermination for the preNew population was expecting a military response by the We considered it essential to open up a new phase in the confrontation ween the people and the reactionary forces. So we prepared for a military oftensive.

had no illusions about the possibility since ga decisive, over the past years the regime's force been heavily equip. ped by North American A permanent airlift has been delivering at least ten plane loads of weapons a day to Llopango airport here are now as arcas! 100 American advisers in the than the term 'military assistance' would imply.

Just like in Vietnam, 'military assistance troops.

Q. What then was • the objective of the offensive?

JAM. our intenton w create CaDacil our fighters, and to test Ana Guadalupe Martinez ( conference military leadership capabilities in the framework of a generalised offensive.

Until now the junta's army has been on the offensive, attempting CUS! mobilise important force.

- as thev succeeded in do ing in the Morazan region But in the offensive we proved that were capable of dominating the situation on the military level. Our objective was not to conquer the enem garrisons Our overall o Lens Ve nas nOL OCCH COm pletely successful, but we succeeded in widening the regions under our control Unlike the junta's forces, we didn't concenCOlT forces around San Salvador - we under

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f the Guatemalan gerilla trated the government. e translation is by the ustralian Trotskyist paper