§ Lord Chitnisasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they are aware that Jose Napoleon Duarte was not President of El Salvador in 1979 as stated in their background brief Crisis in Central America.
§ Baroness YoungI am grateful to the noble Lord for drawing our attention to this slip: Jose Napoleon Duarte was not of course President of El Salvador in 1979. But this does not materially affect the point the brief was making: namely that Duarte espoused the reform programme in 1979, before becoming President the following year.
§ Lord Chitnisasked Her Majesty's Government:
What evidence they have for the statement made in their background brief Crisis in Central America that the number of civilian deaths in El Salvador seems to be falling.
§ Baroness YoungThere is evidence from several Catholic sources in El Salvador that the rate of noncombatant deaths was falling during the first six months of 1983. TheGuardian of 18th July quoted an Associated Press report to this effect. The background brief Crisis in Central America was published in August.
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§ Lord Chitnisasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they consulted with British citizens living in the eastern part of El Salvador before drafting the section on that country in their background brief Crisis in Central America.
§ Baroness YoungNo. But members of our embassy in Tegucigalpa regularly visit El Salvador in the normal course of their official duties. They consult a variety of contacts in the country, including British nationals living there, and, as explained to the noble Lord on 12thDecember, the embassy's reports were used to cross check the accuracy of the published material.
§ Lord Chitnisasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, in line with their concern that Nicaragua should not become too dependent upon Cuba as expressed in their background brief Crisis in Central America, they would be prepared to pay the full local costs of all British volunteers working in programmes in Nicaragua.
§ Baroness YoungWe will consider on their merits applications for aid to Nicaragua put forward by British voluntary agencies. The level of any funding will vary according to the project and the availability of funds.
§ Lord Chitnisasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, following the statement in their background brief Crisis in Central America that the Miskito Indians are "largely English speaking", they can say what percentage of the Miskito people speak (a) English, (b) Miskito, (c) Spanish.
§ Baroness YoungPercentage figures are unavailable. But there are numerous published sources indicating that, although Miskito Indians naturally speak Miskito as their native language, English is among them the most widely spoken foreign language, followed by Spanish.
§ Lord Chitnisasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether in expressing their concern for the Protestant Miskito Indians in Nicaragua in their background brief Crisis in Central America they sought the opinion of the British Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.
§ Baroness YoungNo. The background briefCrisis in Central America concerned itself with a factual statement of the position of the Miskito Indians in Nicaragua based on published sources cross checked against official reports from our representatives in Latin America. But we are always ready to listen to the opinions of all informed sources.