Central American support groups from around the state gathered at the Newman Center on Saturday to address the continuing conflicts in the Central American region.

Richard Grossman, a panel member and representative from the Nicaraguan Solidarity Committee in Chicago, said, “It is amazing that the people in Nicaragua and Central America are surviving.” Grossman made a trip to Nicaragua this past June.

The Illinois Network on Central America is concerned with the ongoing effect of U.S. policies toward the region which they say are causing an enormous amount of suffering for the Central American people.

“By supporting the effort of the Contras, the Reagan administration is helping to destroy the economy of Nicaragua,” Grossman said. “The people in Nicaragua seem to be getting fed up with the American plans for freedom and are becoming very cynical and apathetic about our system and our ideas of democracy.”

Eliseo Rojas, a native of El Salvador who now lives in the United States, said the next few months in El Salvador will be critical to the people of that country. “We need media coverage in the U.S., and we need people to become more aware of the many problems we now face,” Rojas said.

The Illinois-based network meets four times a year to exchange ideas and discuss the many problems Central America faces. Dan Wyman, co-coordinator of the network, said, “By coordinating statewide demonstrations, lobbying and humanitarian projects, we hope to change the U.S. policy toward Central America into a more just and humanitarian policy.”

The network was established in 1984 and has expanded into 25 different communities.