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From: vanzandt@uiucdcsb.CS.UIUC.EDU
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Contras arm&arm w/Guard
Message-ID: <11000129@uiucdcsb>
Date: Sat, 15-Mar-86 17:42:00 EST
Article-I.D.: uiucdcsb.11000129
Posted: Sat Mar 15 17:42:00 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 17-Mar-86 22:23:50 EST
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Nf-ID: #N:uiucdcsb:11000129:000:1377
Nf-From: uiucdcsb.CS.UIUC.EDU!vanzandt    Mar 15 16:42:00 1986


  Contras and the Old National Guard:

	The Contras may not be the most humane people, but the one thing
they are NOT is the Somoza National Guard. The number of living and residing
in Nicaragua Guard is estimated (by all sides) the be in the low thousands,
like 2000 or so. Assuming all joined the Contras they would constitute at
most a 5% minority. It has long since been shown that it is impossible for
the Contras to be dominated or influenced by the Guard - even the FSLN dropped
this line of propaganda about 4 years ago. The fact of the matter is that
the Contras are a haphazard band of disgruntled ex-Sandanista, some former
Guard, and a large percentage of Miskito Indians.

	The Miskitos are the residents of ~45% of the land mass of Nic., that
is the Atlantic Coast lands. The people represent about 10% of the general
population of Nic. Since the Spaniards came, the Miskito (and the Rama, the
Sumu, and the Creole) have never coexisted well with their western relatives.
The indians of the east of suffered a history of oppression from the westerners
and it is no wonder that when an undisciplined group of them band together that
their rage vents itself in the form of the massacre of some of the western
citizens. 


	Source of info:
		Humberto Belli, former La Prensa Editor
		Area Handbook, 1981
		"Cocktails at Somoza's", Richard Elman (visiting reporter)