Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site cornell.UUCP Path: utzoo!lsuc!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxn!ihnp4!qantel!lll-crg!ucdavis!ucbvax!decvax!tektronix!uw-beaver!cornell!gil From: gil@cornell.UUCP (Gil Neiger) Newsgroups: net.politics Subject: Re: Orphaned Response (Nicaragua) Message-ID: <1132@cornell.UUCP> Date: Mon, 25-Nov-85 14:25:18 EST Article-I.D.: cornell.1132 Posted: Mon Nov 25 14:25:18 1985 Date-Received: Fri, 29-Nov-85 21:12:56 EST References: <7559@ucla-cs> <13700029@uiucdcsp> Reply-To: gil@cornell.UUCP (Gil Neiger) Organization: Cornell Univ. CS Dept. Lines: 72 In article <13700029@uiucdcsp> ashby@uiucdcsp.CS.UIUC.EDU writes: >You say you want the story straight from the horse's mouth, >from someone who has been to Nicargua? A friend of mine has >spent the last two years in Honduras as a Peace Corps volunteer. >During this time he has visited Nicargua. Did he find a charming >land of freedom and happiness? NO! He reported an armed camp, >with few freedoms and rampant paranoia. I was in Nicaragua this year and although I can't say I found it a land of complete happiness, it certainly did not appear to be an "armed camp." If your friend came in through the Honduran border (where the war is going on), that may explain why he found it quite different. >Does he expect the Sandies to stay around? No. Although they >did do a lot for the poor in the beginning, they have ignored >them of late. Worse, they have totally alienated the middle >class, on which the success of any country is based. It is true that the Sandinistas have not been doing as much for the poor as they did immediately following the revolution. This is largely because Nicaragua is now fighting a war of survival (a fact forgotten by many of the Sandinistas' critics) and some 60% of the government budget goes to defense. The working class of Nicaragua complain now because such things as the right to strike have been suspended. Much of the renewed suffering on the part of the working class is could be avoided if the Sandinistas did not want to avoid totally alienating the middle and upper classes, which has not, contrary to what you say, happened yet. >Finally, you say that the US has rejected the Contadora process. >Obviously you haven't kept up with recent developments. For it >is now the Sandanistas who reject that process, and the US which >supports it. What are your recent developments? There is a Contadora draft treaty that the Sandinistas have stated their willingness to sign. The U.S. has indicated no interested in Contadora in quite some time. The Contadora countries, realizing the intransigence of the U.S. have stated that they will suspend the Contadora process at the end of this month is no new progress is made. A key point is the presence of foreign military advisors. The Contadora treaty draft would prohibit them in Central America. Nicaragua says it is willing to remove all such advisors from Nicaragua. The U.S. and nations such as El Salvador refuse to sign the treaty as long as it they point remains in it. Furthermore, a few years ago the U.S. unilaterally suspended the bilateral talks with Nicaragua that it was holding in Manzanillo, Mexico. Nicaragua has repeatedly stated its desire to continue such talks. The U.S. refuses. >So, why don't you get YOUR facts right, and quit belly-aching about >how bad the US is. Open your eyes to the abuses of the Sandanistas. >Or do you agree with what they are doing? I feel that the Nicaraguan government, which is what the Sandinistas are, has a right to defend the country, difficult as that may be. It is unfortunate that they have suspended civil rights in the course of doing so. I do not agree with all of their policies. However, if a person can see all the events occurring inside of Nicaragua solely as the result of the Sandinistas pursuing their own goals and can see no U.S. culpability there, then that person needs to open their eyes. -- Gil Neiger Computer Science Department Cornell University Ithaca NY 14853 {uw-beaver,ihnp4,decvax,vax135}!cornell!gil (UUCP) gil@Cornell.ARPA (ARPAnet) ; gil@CRNLCS (BITNET)