. . . or click on the link here for Audio Player – CBS World News Roundup + Newsbreak + Hourly News – Feb. 27, 1981 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection.
News for this February 27th in 1981 had much to do with the visit of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to Washington and the veritable love-fest that blossomed between The White House and Number 10 Downing Street.
Thatcher arrived in Washington for talks. And by the end of the first day it was apparent that both Prime Minister Thatcher and President Reagan greatly admired each other. Though the subject of both country’s economic woes didn’t come up, they spoke at length about their shared ideologies.
But while that was going on, the situation in El Salvador was becoming the focus of a Joint Chiefs Of Staff meeting, scheduled to take place on this day to discuss a list of options for increased military aid to that country. The options presented were small teams of Military Advisers to teach weapons maintenance and basic Infantry techniques. In addition, the Pentagon was expressing growing concern over American pilots flying helicopter patrols along El Salvador’s mountainous northern border, and apparently rebels had been firing on those helicopters.
Secretary of State Alexander Haig told reports at the previous nights’ gala White House dinner that El Salvador was not going to become another Vietnam, as many people had feared.
Elsewhere in the world, arrests and a widening of purges in Spain’s military followed an aborted coup d’Etat, with 4 generals reportedly held. All told, some 30 officers were in custody as well as some 240 civil guardsmen who held control of the Lower house of Parliament for 18 hours. The Defense Ministry added that other branches of the military were also under investigation. The attempted coup sent thousands of Spaniards to the streets to rally in support of Democracy and to condemn the abortive coup. The marches, with an expected estimate upwards of a million people were expected to be held all over Spain was actively supported by all of Spain’s political parties and the major trade unions. The government, in the meantime, launched an official inquiry over the aborted Military Coup. The King, vowing to uphold democracy in Spain, had condemned the plot, but warned the public to be calm and exercise restraint, fearing too much criticism of Spain’s armed forces could prove counter-productive.
And that’s a small slice of what went on in the world, this February 27, 1981 as reported by The CBS World News Roundup.
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