Gullette charged the Secret Service agents with"complete irresponsibility" in their handling ofthe demonstration. "They simply tried to bulldozethrough the crowd," he said. "I pulled a woman'sleg out from under the wheels of the limousineabout six inches before it would have beencrushed."
The motorcade stopped backing up when itcollided with a private car coming out of theCambridge St. tunnel. The group of vehicles thensurged forward, getting by the protesters andspeeding north on Mass. Ave.
More than thirty officers from the SecretService, Cambridge and Harvard police were on handto deal with the rally. Spokespersons for thoseagencies were not available last night to discussthe measures used to deal with the demonstration.
Student protests and the tight security alsocaused difficulties for those attending--orwanting to attend--the afternoon's squash matches.
Gullette and Darren S. Aronofsky '91 said theymanaged to get onto the court next to the one onwhich Cristiani's son was playing.
"We opened up the banner and started screamingat the crowd to leave," said Aronofsky. Aronofskyand Gullette were later forcibly ejected from thebuilding.
Several students who wanted to attend the matchcomplained that police turned them away.
Students said squash team members and theirfamilies were the only ones allowed into theviewing area.
Cristiani and his right-wing ARENA party havebeen linked to the murders of political dissidentsin El Salvador. The attacks have been carried outby well-organized "death squads," who arereportedly supported by the Salvadoran military.
David R. Grosser of the Cambridge-El Salvadorsister city project described life under theCristiani regime as "a tale of almost constantharassment and infringement of human rights."
CASA member Dan McLaughlin said the recentarrests of several military officers for thekilling of six Jesuit priests in November did notpersuade him that Cristiani was improving hishuman-rights policies.
"It's just a farce. The responsibility goesmuch higher than the people he's arrested,"McLaughlin said.
Rebecca D. Knowles contributed to thereporting of this story.