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From: myers@uwmacc.UUCP (Jeff Myers)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Nicaraguan Opposition access to TV: Reply to Sevener
Message-ID: <880@uwmacc.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 31-Dec-69 18:59:59 EST
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Posted: Wed Dec 31 18:59:59 1969
Date-Received: Fri, 12-Apr-85 07:04:20 EST
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Organization: UWisconsin-Madison Academic Comp Center
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> 
>   I still disagree, but even if you were right, the issue is much broader.
> The question is: will there ever be democracy in Nicaragua?
> A marxist-leninist dictatorship, like the Sandinista government, will NEVER
> return to democracy by their own will. If you don't agree, then ask yourself
> the following question:
>   Right wing dictatorships always end up falling (with or without violence).
> Just look at South America in the last couple of years. Peru, Bolivia,
> Argentina, Uruguay, Brasil, etc. have returned to democratic governments.
> Name one marxist-leninist regime that has gone back to democracy by their
> own will (not by a military coup or by foreign invasion).
>   Don't look too hard because you won't find any. Isn't this interesting?
> -- 
>    Eduardo Krell               UCLA Computer Science Department
>    ekrell@ucla-locus.arpa      ..!{sdcrdcf,ihnp4,trwspp,ucbvax}!ucla-cs!ekrell

Like a good mouthpiece of the Reagan Administration's view of the world,
Eduardo declares by fiat that the Nicaraguan government is Marxist-Leninist.
Not only Marxist-Leninist, but a M-L Dictatorship.  The world is neatly
divided up into three Kirkpatrian parts: ``totalitarian'' regimes
(communist by implication), ``authoritarian'' regimes (US allies whose
internal policies are less enlightened than our own), and ``democracies''
(US allies with our without much of a democratic tradition and which aren't
military dictatorships).

By Marxist-Leninist dictatorship, el sen~or Krell presumably means a
country where only one party is legally allowed.  Funny, I seem to recall
that 5 or 6 parties registered for the November elections, including
the FSLN, and that non-FSLN parties control 40% or so of the seats in
the legislative assembly.  This assembly is charged with writing a new
constitution for Nicaragua, so that the form of government itself can
be voted upon by the Nicaraguans.  It will be interesting to see in what
manner this will be handled.

I'm getting really sick of anti-historians like Eduardo ranting about lack
of democracy as if one can develop a working and equitable democracy by
pulling it out of a hat.  I guess it's easier to kill what you don't
like or understand.

***NOTE*** Every subscriber to net.politics should watch PBS's Frontline
program this week (9:00pm Central Time) which is a four-part series on
Central America and the US.  The Thursday installmant is devoted to
Nicaragua.

-- 
Jeff Myers				The views above may or may not
University of Wisconsin-Madison		reflect the views of any other
Madison Academic Computing Center	person or group at UW-Madison.
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