Now compare this to El Salvador, a country who's government was very friendly to American interests. Independent newspapers in the country were regularly bombed and their editors assassinated. Although the citizens were allowed to vote, candidates for liberal parties were kidnapped and murdered by government forces. Many people are shocked and scandalized by the recent findings about the CIA-drug connection. The rest of us have known about it for years.
National interest means economic interest.
I'll only mention it briefly here, but for more, read the excellent article by Mariza Cabral in the Oct. 24 Daily Bruin. The essential story is that President Ford went to Indonesia, who was planning to invade East Timor, and assured their leader General Suharto that there would be no cuts in the shipments of arms to Indonesia if they should begin any military campaigns. Indonesia invaded East Timor and during their invasion, arms shipments by the US actually doubled. This intense global manipulation began in 1947, after the signing of the National Security Act, which created the CIA and the National Security Council. Eventually, the Shah was deposed and replaced by the Ayatollah Khomeini.