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Central America
Dr. Jess G. Nieto was part of a historic effort in 1985 to promote peace in Central America. It was during the memorable trip to Mexico and to the Central American countries of Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, that the Peace Delegation of 13 Americans, accompanied by Rep. George Brown, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, traveled to these countries, including Cuba, to ascertain the conditions of the civil wars in Central America, to interview the various "players" (groups) of these conflicts, and to assess the role that the United States was playing in these struggles. It was a prime objective of the trip to promote the "Contadora Peace Initiative" that had been proposed by a number of Latin American countries but had been strongly rejected by President Ronald Reagan and his Administration. It was within this framework that the Delegation traveled to the Central American countries and to Cuba and met with President Fidel Castro and members of his government in order to assess the role of the Cubans in these conflicts. For a more complete report of the Peace Delegation's trip, see "Report of the Peace Delegation to Central America, July 1985" (see below or download here). Also, view the video footage on this page, "Meeting with Rebels," for more information about the historic trip.
Report of the Peace Delegation to Central America, July 1985
Since 1985, Dr. Nieto has made four other trips to Cuba, accompanied by son Diego, a biologist / entomologist of the University of California Santa Cruz on two instances and wife Peggy, teacher of a middle school in California, on one occasion, as part of a number of academic delegations to Cuba in 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2007. Significant scholarly and academic relationships have been forged as a result of these trips. Visit our Cuba section for more details.
Meeting with Rebels - July 1985
Photos from the Delegation's Visit
 Nicaraguan
President Daniel Ortega, Dr.
Armando Navarro (UC Riverside professor), Sam Maestas (community
activist in Southern California), and Dr. Jess G. Nieto are
discussing the possibilities of peace in Central America when
the Sandinistas were fighting the U.S. sponsored Contras, in
July 1985.
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 These two guerrillas were
part of the revolutionary army of the FMLN which fought against
the U.S. sponsored President Napoleon Duarte government. Dr.
Nieto and the Peace Delegation traveled to Perquin of the
Morazon Province in July 3-4, 1985 which was guerrilla held
territory, and we met with the leading guerrilla commandantes to
discuss the peace initiative which we were proposing. The FMLN
leadership gave a letter to the delegation to take to Congress
and the American people in which they stated that they were for
peace but that the U.S. had to stop supporting the Duarte
government and the death squads which murdered thousands of
innocent people of their country. Delegation members Aris and
Caroline Anagnos and Dr. Jess Nieto traveled to Washington D.C.
where they delivered a copy of their Report on the findings of
their trip and the letter from the FMLN to Congress and the
American people. This initial effort by the Peace Delegation
was the first serious dialogue between the various sides in El
Salvador and the U.S. which eventually led to a peace
settlement. The U.S. supported Duarte government and billions
of dollars of aid to El Salvador could not defeat the FMLN.
Mauricio Funes, an ex-guerrilla and member of the FMLN, was
recently elected president of El Salvador in 2009. |
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In 1985, Dr. Jess G.
Nieto and Aris Anagnos of the
Peace Delegation met with
President Fidel Castro, members
of his government, and his older
brother, Ramon Castro, who was
in charge of the dairy industry
in Cuba.
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FMLN - El Salvador - Guerrilla en Morzan
Los Torogoces de Morazon, Soy Excombatiente del FMLN
"No Mataras" by Yolocamba Ita of El Salvador
Yolocamba Ita- "Canto a la Patria Revolucionaria"
"La Opcion Por Los Pobres"- Yolocamba Ita (Cancion deddicaada a Monsenor (Archbishop) Romer)
"El Pueblo Ta Venciendo" Yolocamba Ita
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