Central America
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With high poverty rates, political instability, and proximity to the United States and Cuba, Central America proved to be a fertile ground for the ideological and military struggles of the Cold War. As civil wars ensued in El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua, Central America also became the focus of much of the human rights movement in the 1980s.
George Lister kept a close eye on developments in Central America, and he was sensitive to how U.S. policymakers and diplomats viewed the region. His concern with U.S. paternalism is evident in a memorandum in which he expresses frustration with constant references to the region as ''our backyard.'' When someone in the Bureau suggested Lister's concerns might be allayed by referring to Central America as ''our frontyard,'' Lister was not appeased. ''The offensive words are 'our yard' Lister wrote in a follow-up memo. ''Can't we just refer to Central America as 'our neighbor' and to its inhabitants as 'our neighbors?' That would be better manners, less provincial, and much smarter politically.''
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Selected Documents:
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Correspondence from Lister to Harry Shlaudeman, June 2, 1976, on Koch-Somoza meeting (2 pages)
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Correspondence from Lister to Hew Ryan, May 12, 1976, on Somoza and Koch (1 page)
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Correspondence from Lister to Harry Shlaudeman, on Salvadoran elections, January 1, 1977 (1 page)
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Correspondence from Lister to Terence Todman and Frank Devine, July 16, 1977 on letter to Congress regarding Nicaraguan aid (1 page)
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Correspondence from Lister to Viron P. Vaky, Sept 29, 1978 on "Anti-Somoza Congressional Letter" (1 page)
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Correspondence from Lister to Brandon Grove, June 20, 1979 on Miguel D'Escoto (1 page)
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Correspondence from Lister to Pete Vaky, June 22, 1979 on Miguel D'Escoto(1 page)
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Correspondence from Lister to Viron P. Vaky, June 23, 1979 on Miguel D'Escoto (1 page)
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Correspondence from Lister to Viron P. Vaky, June 25, 1979 on "Father D'Escoto, Provisional Government Ambassador" (4 pages)
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Correspondence from Lister to Elliot Abrams, June 16, 1982, on "House Hearing: U.S. Policy Toward Grenada" (4 pages)
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Correspondence from Lister to Elliot Abrams, Oct 25, 1982, on "Conference: Guatemalan Human Rights" (3 pages)
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Correspondence from Lister to Elliot Abrams, Oct 27, 1982, on Norman Bent (2 pages)
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Correspondence from Lister to Elliot Abrams, May 13, 1983, on "Words Hurt" (1 page)
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Correspondence from Lister to Elliot Abrams, May 16, 1983, on "Hearing Central America" (2 pages)
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Correspondence from Lister to Elliot Abrams, May 19, 1983, on "Lost Opportunities" (2 pags)
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Correspondence from Lister to Elliot Abrams, Jan 31, 1984, on "IPS: Nicaragua" (2 pags)
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Correspondence from Lister to Elliot Abrams, June 15, 1984, on "Honduras: Reina Reception" (4 pages)
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Correspondence from Lister to Elliot Abrams, Aug 15, 1984, on "GRN Human Rights Record" (3 pages)
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Correspondence from Lister to Elliot Abrams, July 1, 1985, on "Nicaragua: North Korea" (2 pages)
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Correspondence from Lister to Gary Matthews, July 22, 1985, on "Nicaragua/Afghanistan" (1 page)
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Correspondence from Lister to Richard Schifter, May 7, 1986, on "Guatemala: Cerezo Administration" (1 page)
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Correspondence from Lister to Richard Schifter, July 29, 1987, on "Chile-Nicaragua" (2 pages)
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Correspondence from Lister to Richard Schifter, March 22, 1989, on "El Salvador/Nicaragua" (2 pages)
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Correspondence from Lister to John Shattuck, Oct 15, 1996, on "Pena Gomez - USG's Nicaragua Policy" (3 pages)
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Correspondence from Lister to Steve Coffey, May 23, 1997, on "Sonia Picado - Costa Rican Ambassador - Women's Rights" (2 pages)
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