LATIN AMERICA
PEREZ ESQUIVEL FIGHTS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
1980 NOBEL PRIZE WINNER PRESSES NON-VIOLENT PROTEST

Author: By Stephen Kinzer Globe Correspondent

Date: Sunday, October 18, 1981
Page: ?????
Section: FOCUS

Above all, Adolfo Perez Esquivel is an activist, an advocate who seeks, in his own words, "to be a voice for those who have no voice." But he is also one of the world's leading theorists of non-violence, which he believes is the most effective tactic in his struggle against injustice in Latin America.

"Non-violence is the way to resist evil and oppression," he said in a recent interview. "We do not respond to violence with more violence, but rather we seek to change the mechanisms by which society is governed.

"Our first step is always to make people aware that they are human beings and deserving of dignity. Non-violence is an act of resistance through which we seek to create a new society where the power relationships are different than they are today."

Perez Esquivel's approach to social protest grows out of several related concepts: Gandhi's "force of truth," Martin Luther King's "civil disobedience," and the tactic of "permanent firmness" used by activist Catholics in Brazil. Through his influence and that of his Justice and Peace Service, the doctrine of non-violent resistance has become an important force in Latin America.

A sculptor by profession, the soft-spoken 49-year-old Perez Esquivel was barely known outside the activist Christian community when he won the Nobel Prize a year ago. His Nobel citation is a concise account of what happened in this country during the last decade:

"In the early 1970s, Argentina experienced a form of civil war in which extreme terrorist organizations created an atmosphere of insecurity and fear by their murders, bomb attacks, abduction and blackmail.

"The military regime that was subsequently set up has itself made use of extreme violence. Thousands of persons have vanished without trace, and in many cases we know that they have been brutally treated and put to death. All this has been carried out under the cover of complete silence, without the semblance of legal procedure. This has disrupted the lives of men and women who have nothing in common with terrorism.

"Perez Esquivel is among those Argentines who have shone a light in the darkness. He champions a solution of Argentina's grievous problems that dispenses with the use of violence, and is the spokesman of a revival of respect for human rights."Changing US policy in region

Among Perez Esquivel's greatest concerns today is the changing policy of the United States toward Latin America.

"The policy of President Carter, with all its problems and errors, was positive," he said. "It recognized the problem of human rights. It showed that the United States government was concerned and wanted to change the grave situation facing many Latin American people.

"Carter's policy was very contradictory. On one hand, he spoke of human rights, but on the other he supported military regimes like Guatemala, El Salvador, and Somoza's government in Nicaragua. But, in general, Carter deserves credit.

"I don't see this concern in the new Reagan government. The worst aspect of the new policy is its reliance on arms sales. This does not help our countries resolve their problems. If the United States is the leader of democracy, why does it not support democracy instead of dictatorship in Latin America?

"Reagan's policy worries us very much," he concluded. "Our countries do not need weapons. We need help to develop ourselves, to provide structures of decency that include housing, health care, education and land. Giving military support, as Mr. Reagan is doing in countries like El Salvador, only leads to massacres and reinforces the belief of military regimes that they can impose
violent solutions on their suffering people."

He was first nominated for the Nobel Prize by two former winners, Irish activists Betty Williams and Maread Corrigan. "We regard him as the greatest living radical pacifist leader," they said at the time. "No man understands better the sacrifices which must be made in the pacifist struggle for justice. He is a tremendous source of inspiration to people working under extreme military repression and is a living example of what the pacifist struggle for justice is really all about." Latin America full of conflicts'

Anyone devoted to campaigning against oppression in Latin America finds no shortage of injustice against which to protest. The campaigns Perez Esquivel has joined include marches demanding amnesty for political prisoners in Bolivia, protests against the destruction of Christian communities in Paraguay, support for Brazilian labor unions, and solidarity with peasant movements seeking land in Ecuador and Honduras. His most controversial activities have been here in his own country, Argentina, where he has repeatedly expressed support for mothers seeking information about sons and daughters who "disappeared" after being abducted by military authorities.

"Latin America is full of conflicts," he observed. "There are two kinds.

"First are the situations of extreme violence, such as we see in El Salvador, Guatemala, Bolivia and here in Argentina, with all its human rights problems. Then there are countries torn by structural conflicts, societies built on misery and exploitation, which are themselves a form of violence.

"Much of this suffering is due to military rule, since soldiers have always been unable to resolve national problems. The only way they hold power is through repression. They will not allow people to live in a democratic way.

"These military regimes, which govern on behalf of small minorities and multinational corporations, close all avenues for self-expression and self- improvement. Citizens are reduced to being spectators, rather than being able to act."

His own country, he noted, is an extreme example of what can happen when "all controls are lost. We are especially anguished over the fate of the many infants who were kidnapped or have been born in captivity. These kinds of events have created in Argentina a crisis that is not only political, but also moral and spiritual."

Such views, not surprisingly, have made Perez Esquivel most unpopular with Argentina's military rulers. He was arrested here in April 1977, and held for 15 months without trial. Recounting the abuses he suffered while imprisoned, he said he was once beaten simply for laughing.

A curious quirk in Argentine law has made Perez Esquivel's Nobel Prize even more embarrassing to the military government. Under a long-standing legal provision, any Argentine who wins a Nobel Prize must be given a lifetime pension equivalent to the salary of a Supreme Court justice - about $26,000 annually. In order to avoid complying with this requirement - which would force the regime to support an organization it detests - a new rule has been formulated stipulating that the pension cannot be given to anyone who spends more than 60 days per year outside the country. Since Perez Esquivel's work requires him to travel constantly, he is thus rendered ineligible for the stipend.

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