Sound Trucks Dominate Leftist Student Protest in San Salvador

SAN SALVADOR —  Leftist student demonstrators and opposing riot policemen gave it all they had Friday, but when it was over, the only casualties were bystanders with vibrating eardrums. It was a battle of sound trucks.

First, the demonstrators blasted out insults: “Assassins! Assassins!” Then: “Gorillas and bourgeoisie!”

Across the street the police fired back, blaring first the sound of sirens and whistles, then: “Don’t be fooled by people who have nothing to offer you.”

Perhaps 1,500 students from El Salvador’s heavily politicized National University marched to mark the 13th anniversary of a bloody confrontation in which 35 people were killed by government forces. They were joined by a few hundred sympathizers, many from the United States and Canada.

The demonstration leaders swore they would not be stopped, and a dozen young men carried nail-studded clubs and had pistols bulging under their shirts.

Soldiers in Key Positions

The Salvadoran government had served notice that it would not tolerate any violence or disorder, and it put several hundred soldiers in key positions around the capital. Helicopters buzzed the demonstrators, machine guns clearly visible in their gun ports.

Troops surrounded the bunker-like U.S. Embassy and trucks carrying policemen armed with rifles were positioned at key intersections, supported by water cannons and the sound trucks.

But at the last moment, the demonstrators veered away from the embassy and followed a circuitous route to the scene of the 1975 clash.

The students, many with their faces covered, started a small fire and placed a wreath and several banners at a highway overpass.

Riot policemen and troops advanced from two sides. Standing shoulder to shoulder and carrying green plastic shields, they blocked the march route.

After half an hour of loudspeaker exchanges, the students marched peacefully the 2 miles back to the university, followed by policemen.