By 1985 US unions demanded the elimination of U. S. funding and support for the El Salvadorian Government’s air war directed against its citizens and “called on all countries in the region to respect trade union rights as basic human rights.” Similarly, some unionist in Nicaragua criticized and opposed the Sandinista government. The situation in Central America led DC 37 and other U. S. based labor unions to act and oppose U. S. military support for Central American dictators in El Salvador and Guatemala and denounce the funding of Contra forces seeking to undermine the FSLN government in Nicaragua. Unions took a similar stance toward the repressive regime in South Africa. Union leaders framed the struggle of working class people in both regions as a continuation of the civil rights movement and as an international labor movement.