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From: matthews@harvard.ARPA (Jim Matthews)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: My article on Nicaragua
Message-ID: <93@harvard.ARPA>
Date: Tue, 30-Apr-85 18:15:38 EDT
Article-I.D.: harvard.93
Posted: Tue Apr 30 18:15:38 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 2-May-85 06:25:21 EDT
References: <153@ttrdc.UUCP>, <1411@bbncca.ARPA> <160@ttrdc.UUCP>
Organization: Aiken Computation Laboratory, Harvard
Lines: 45

> Good point; probably not.  However, I think that it is clear to anyone
> who looks at the evidence that Soviet involvement in Nicaragua in
> particular, and Central America in general, is pretty minimal.  

	Could you back that up?  The evidence I've seen indicates
that the Soviets send 20 times as much aid to the region as we do
(this includes Cuba, of course).
> 
> It is little surprise to me that the Nicaraguan government isn't too
> crazy about the U.S.  If I were them, I'd be pissed as hell at a
> government that supported a dictatorship in my country for decades.  

	What do you mean by "supported"?  The Carter administration 
gave the Sandinistas more government aid in one year than the U.S. had
given Samoza in three decades.  The U.S. cannot be held responsible
for the tyranny of every pro-U.S. dictator around the world, especially
when we give them no substantial support.

>  Tell me, what choice does
> that government have when the Reagan Administration:
> 
> 	- funds terrorists dedicated to overthrowing the country,
> 	- mines its harbors,
> 	- cuts off all economic assistance,
> 	- pressures its allies to freeze out the Nicaraguans (mostly
> 	  unsuccessfully, thank goodness, which is further testimony
> 	  to how isolated the Reagan policy is in the world),
> 	- *and now* talks about an economic blockade because the
> 	  Administration is in a snit over loosing a funding battle
> 	  in Congress.  The U.S., by the way, accounts for about 20%
> 	  of Nicaragua's foreign trade.  An economic blockade would
>           be pretty serious.

	The Sandinista military buildup, establishment of a one-party
junta, and institution of relocation camps all antedate the actions
you describe.  Ortega and Tommy Borge went off to be educated in Moscow
*before* all these things.  The Sandinistas adoption of an openly
anti-American national anthem happened while we were sending them
aid.  The "we drove them to the Soviets" argument just doesn't hold
water.
> 
> Mike Kelly

Jim Matthews
matthews@harvard