During the tumultuous 1980s, activists in the United States circulated this striking flyer to protest the bloody conflicts ravaging Central America—particularly Nicaragua and El Salvador—and the brutal apartheid regime in South Africa (referred to here as “Azania”).

Entitled “Where Do The Rivers Run Red?”, the flyer draws a direct line between American foreign policy (including arms funding) and atrocities committed overseas, urging individuals in the U.S. to acknowledge their complicity and take action.

Historical Context

By the early 1980s, Cold War power struggles underpinned violent upheavals across Latin America. In Nicaragua, the revolutionary Sandinistas overthrew the Somoza dictatorship in 1979, sparking U.S. support of anti-Sandinista “Contra” forces. Meanwhile, El Salvador’s military government fought leftist insurgents, with covert and overt U.S. aid intensifying the conflict. Abroad in South Africa, the apartheid government perpetuated a system of racial segregation and brutality, and activists worldwide labeled that regime “Azania” to emphasize a new, liberation-oriented identity for the land.

In each case, American economic and military assistance—whether in the form of guns, funds, or training—was widely criticized by human rights groups. Opponents believed that U.S. resources fueled repressive regimes, contributing to widespread death and displacement. Grassroots organizations such as the “Pledge of Resistance” coalition emerged, urging citizens to speak out or risk moral complicity.

Strategy and Purpose

1. Shocking Emotive Appeal
   The flyer’s rhetorical question—“Where do the rivers run red?”—and references to bullet-riddled bodies and “blood-red streams” create an immediate moral urgency. The text compels viewers to confront the human cost of foreign military interventions.
2. Direct Condemnation of U.S. Policy
   By listing specific funding amounts—such as “$28 million for the contras” and “$6.51 billion in direct investments to South Africa”—the flyer names the U.S. government and corporate interests as key enablers of violence in the Global South.
3. Call to Action
   The concluding line, “SUBMIT OR FIGHT,” transforms the flyer from informational material into an outright challenge. It encourages readers not only to recognize global injustice but to take up the cause of resistance, linking Central Americans’ and South Africans’ struggles to a shared fight against oppression.

Language, Imagery, and Symbolism

• Graphic Descriptions of Violence
  Phrases like “peoples’ blood and lives are poured out cheap” evoke stark imagery of human suffering. This intense language forces readers to confront moral dilemmas about where their tax dollars go.
• Numerical Body Counts
  The reference to “11,000 dead in Azania (South Africa), 10,000 dead in Nicaragua, 50,000 dead in El Salvador” underscores the human toll. Listing casualties in multiple regions highlights a pattern rather than isolated incidents.
• Juxtaposition of Celebration and Tragedy
  The text commemorates Nicaragua’s 1979 revolution, praising improved literacy and social welfare. Simultaneously, it condemns ongoing atrocities in El Salvador and oppression under apartheid, suggesting that grassroots resistance can—and must—prevail despite overwhelming odds.
• Imagery of Corpse-Strewn Ground and Armed Soldiers
  A small illustration shows bodies lying at the feet of armed figures, a stark reminder of direct violence. The reference to T-shirts at South African funerals exemplifies how even mourning rituals become acts of defiance.

Impact

Flyers like this one played an important role in shaping the U.S. grassroots movements of the 1980s. By connecting struggles in Central America and South Africa, activists highlighted the global nature of U.S. foreign policy and fostered transnational solidarity. Their work, combined with sustained pressure from human rights advocates, contributed to shifts in public opinion—eventually leading some U.S. legislators to reconsider aid packages to authoritarian regimes.

The “Pledge of Resistance” network continued to organize civil disobedience, protests, and educational events, leaving behind a legacy of citizen-based foreign policy activism that resonates in modern movements. This flyer thus stands as both a historical artifact of 1980s protest culture and a reminder that grassroots advocacy can force national conversations on moral responsibility, military interventions, and global equity.

Special thanks to the USC Digital Imaging Lab for their support in digitizing this item.