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Copyright by Gregory Krauss 2007 - The University of Texas at Austin

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Affairs to ask th<strong>at</strong> the U.S. press the Salvadorans to release Duarte. 101 His memo on<br />

the subject does not mention the Acting Assisting Secretary <strong>by</strong> name, but it was most<br />

likely John H. Crimmins, who served in th<strong>at</strong> position when Charles A. Meyer,<br />

Assistant Secretary <strong>of</strong> St<strong>at</strong>e for Inter-American Affairs, was abroad or on leave. 102<br />

<strong>The</strong> Acting Assistant Secretary, gazing out his window <strong>at</strong> Arlington, told<br />

Lister it wasn’t the business <strong>of</strong> the U.S. government to get involved. 103 However,<br />

Lister insisted, arguing th<strong>at</strong> the U.S. should support Duarte because he was “a<br />

democr<strong>at</strong>.” 104 <strong>The</strong> Acting Assistant Secretary agreed to send the Salvadorans a cable<br />

about the issue, and shortly thereafter Duarte was sent into exile in Venezuela. 105 “I<br />

believe th<strong>at</strong> it was partly because <strong>of</strong> our pressure th<strong>at</strong> Duarte was sent <strong>of</strong>f…” Lister<br />

l<strong>at</strong>er wrote. 106 In the early 1980s, Duarte would serve as president <strong>of</strong> El Salvador,<br />

though his years in <strong>of</strong>fice were marked <strong>by</strong> some <strong>of</strong> worst years <strong>of</strong> El Salvador’s civil<br />

war. 107<br />

<strong>The</strong> support Lister showed for human rights and democracy in L<strong>at</strong>in America<br />

in the l<strong>at</strong>e 1960s and early 1970s occurred <strong>at</strong> a time when “human rights” was not a<br />

part <strong>of</strong> the common vocabulary <strong>of</strong> Foreign Service Officers. Indeed, Lister rarely, if<br />

ever, used the word in his memorandums before 1973. Nevertheless, Lister helped<br />

prepare the Bureau <strong>of</strong> Inter-American Affairs for wh<strong>at</strong> was to come. Crimmins, in a<br />

recent interview, said th<strong>at</strong> Lister “had a very useful effect on…members <strong>of</strong> the<br />

Foreign Service,” <strong>by</strong> raising issues th<strong>at</strong> were not usually given much <strong>at</strong>tention. 108 “He<br />

48

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