LETTING THEM KNOW The convulsions shaking Central America may seem distant rumblings in a confused world. But there's no need to feel powerless to help or act. Like most battles within the Third World the problems in Guatemala, El Salvador or Honduras are best left to those countries themselves to sort out. However, support from concerned people in the West can be important. We can pressure our governments to denounce human rights violations and we can press for assistance to refugees from dictatorial regimes. We can also publicise information to stop companies investing in countries whose government's rule by terror and intimidation. Aid, when it is selective and wellthought out, can also be valuable. In Nicaragua, the recent literacy campaign was given a great boost by funds from Holland, West Germany and the World Council of Churches. Individual action is helpful. Letters and phone calls to politicians and newspapers can influence government policy and the flow of information that reaches the public. But collective action through churches, schools, trade unions, professional organisations and support committees carries even more weight. The following is a partial list of Central American support groups. Most of them have a national out reach. But any of them can probably put you in touch with people in your community who are concerned and informed about events in Central America. Australia Amnesty International PO Box Al 59 Sydney N.S.W. 2000 Canada Central America Support Committee (CASC) 2504 York St Vancouver B.C. V6 1E3 Latin America Working Group (LAWG) PO Box 2207 Station P Toronto Ontario M5S 2T2 Inter-Church Committee on Human Rights in Latin America (ICCHRLA) 40 St Clair Ave E Toronto Ontario M4T 1 MG Secretariat de Quebec Americain Latine 356 Ontario Est Montreal Quebec H2X 1 HB Latin America Information Group (LAIG) PO Box 3560 Halifax Nova Scotia New Zealand Amnesty International PO Box 11648 Manners St. Wellington United Kingdom El Salvador Solidarity Campaign 29 Islington Park Street London N1 El Salvador Human Rights Group 29 Gerrard House Briant Street London SE14 Guatemala Working Group 29 Islington Park Street London N1 Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign c/o 20-21 Compton Terrace London N1 Latin America Bureau PO Box 134 London NWl 4JY Catholic Institute for International Relations 1 Cambridge Terrace London NW1 United States National Network in Solidarity with the Nicaraguan People 1322 18th St N.W. Washington D.C. 20036 Committee on Solidarity with the people of El Salvador PO Box 12056 Washington D.C. 20005 National Network in Solidarity with the Guatemalan People PO Box 13006 Washington D.C. 20009 Oxfam-America 312 Columbus Ave Boston MA 02116 Maryknoll Fathers, Brothers and Sisters Maryknoll NY 10545 Washington Office on Latin America 110 Maryland Ave N. E. Washington D.C. 20002