COLUMN LEFT : Latin Generals Count on the Wages of War : Poland gets economic aid; Central America gets more suffering backed by the dollar.

The irony of President Bush forgiving 70% of Poland’s $2.9-billion loan and the promise of $470 million more for next year is not lost on Latinos. At a time when all sorts of social services and education programs are being cut to the bone, Bush plays Santa Claus in the name of freedom overseas.

This generosity is typical of American policy, maintaining the white-on-white tradition of aid to nations led by Europeans. Noticeably missing from the history of U.S.-Latin American relations is any serious policy attacking the problems in this hemisphere.

It is only in the times of crisis that we shed tears--crocodile tears--for the well-being of Latin Americans. We cared about the rights of Cubans and Nicaraguans, not because they were Cubans or Nicaraguans, but because we feared that they would become communists. Now we are supporting the worst kind of military governments throughout Central America--a policy that is making democracy an impossible dream. This promises to fulfill the prophesy of the Latin American proverb, Crea cuervos y te sacaran los ojos --”Raise crows and they’ll take out your eyes.”

Take what is happening in El Salvador. In the past decade, our government has sent the Salvadoran military $4.2 billion to institutionalize war and, as a consequence, destroy any semblance of a free market. Through its control of the political process, the military has taken charge of public pension funds, which are a major source of investment capital. The military complex has monopolized the commercial and financial infrastructure of the country to the point that leftist parties are championing a free market. The army, through its control of the Arena party, has built a political machine that makes sure the war goes on and U.S. funds flow into the country.

The United States had the opportunity to break Arena’s grip during the March 10 elections. It was simple: Washington only had to insist on free and open elections, pressuring El Salvador to adhere to the standard of fairness that the Sandinistas were held to in Nicaragua’s last elections. This would have guaranteed meaningful multiparty representation in the National Assembly, which could have pressured President Alfredo Cristiani and the Arena leadership to bargain in good faith at the peace negotiations. Instead, Americans--even the news media--were conspicuous by their absence.

True, we paid $2.7 million to five organizations to serve as monitors. The Organization of American States got $2 million and Freedom House, the Center for Democracy, the National Republican Institute and the Southwest Voter Registration Project divvied up the rest. The participation of Freedom House and the Republican Institute was a joke; these self-proclaimed defenders of democracy have a history of Cold War rhetoric.

The Southwest delegation, which was ideologically and ethnically balanced by congressional order--something that was not required of Freedom House--reported that the election process was not fair and open. It found overwhelming evidence of intimidation and military intervention, and it underscored that violence continues to be a very real factor in Salvadoran politics.

The military, through its surrogate Arena, controls a large bloc of votes; it also, through control of the certification of voters, regulates who votes and who does not. In Nicaragua last year, of an estimated 1.97 million persons of voting age, 1.75 million (or 88.8%) were registered. By contrast, in El Salvador’s presidential elections of 1989, between 2.4 and 3 million people were of voting age, but only 1.8 million were registered. For last month’s election, 400,000 persons who registered did not receive their voter photo IDs. A large portion of this bloc--its size significant in an election where 1 million ballots were cast--failed to vote because of government manipulation.

There is no doubt that history will judge the American role in the institutionalizing of the military dictatorship in El Salvador. The Bush Administration has used hardly any moral persuasion to change the situation. Instead of supporting United Nations efforts to mediate a cease-fire, it has subverted the process. It has given tangible support to the armed forces even as they grossly violate human rights. Its role in the investigation of the brutal Jesuit murders is shameful. Further, what kind of message did Bush send on Jan. 15, when he lifted restrictions on $42 million in military aid?

Military dictatorships, however, have a way of unraveling. In the case of El Salvador, we have nurtured our crows--now we had better watch our eyes.