A Response to Nidya Sarria's Small Arms in Latin America Piece

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Thanks very much for that. The part of the book you referred me to clarified what you were saying. As it turned out the weapons came from an unexpected source: the Honduran military officials, hoping to cash in on the debris of Nicaragua's civil war, had raided weapons caches left over by the CIA in their country. These arms originally were intended for the Contras as Congress was preparing to cut off funding. When the Contras faded from the scene, the weapons lay unused but secured. With the assistance of professional arms dealers, they found their way to left-wing rebels in El Salvador.)

I have added what I think were some missing bits in what you wrote that now make more sense. Sorry to be a pain, but the Honduran military being helpful by supplying arms to the FMLN is beyond imagining. The Honduran military being corrupt and selling weapons in the black market is more realistic. The Honduran military were in no way "supplying" the FMLN and really I think it is politically ludicrous and even offensive to link the two structures. Or to link the CIA to supplying Nicaragua when they were in fact attacking Nicaragua.

Regards,
Linda Seaborn
Tasmania, Australia