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toward Latin America was to be
"free of paternalism" and "toler–
ant of political and economic
diversity."
The first applicat ion of the
new "globalist" yardstick was
the agreement with Panama, rat–
ified in the U.S. Senate in 1978,
ceding U.S . sovereign control
over the Panama Canal. The
new canal treaties, said Mrs.
Ki rkpatrick, symbolized " the re–
pudiation of our hegemonic
past. " Former Vice-President
Mondale said they also symbol–
ized "the commitment of the
U.S. to the belief that fairness
and not force should lie at the
heart of our dealings with the
nations of the world. "
Moscow and Havana got the
message! The coast was clear to
challenge America's new "hands–
off" policy right in its own back
yard.
The first target was Nicaragua.
Widespread resentment had been
mounting (encouraged by com-_
munist propaganda) against the
50-year-long rule of the Somoza
fami ly. The well-trained commu–
nist-backed Sandinista National
Liberation Front preempted the
opposition movement.
The United States, fearful of
being on the "wrong side of his–
tory," helped ensure the Sandin–
ista victory. While Fidel Castro
was airlifitng one planeload after
another of arms to the rebel
forces, the U.S. government shut
off military assistance to the be–
leaguered Somoza government.
" lt
was like cutting off oxygen
from a drowning man," said one
observer.
The rest is history. The new
Nicaraguan government , far from
being "nonaligned," as blinded
U.S. academics st ill insist, has
slipped almost totally into the
Marxist orbit.
National elections won't be
held until at least 1985. Accord–
ing to authorities in Managua, the
capital, the public must first be
"reeducated" to know how to
vote.
In the name of advancing litera–
cy, the Sandinistas instruct young
4
people in the ways of Marxism and
Sandinismo.
(In the primer text–
books, the letter
G
is for guerrilla;
S for Sandinista.)
Radio and television is thor–
oughly revol u tionary in tone.
Neighborhood watchdog commit–
tees enforce public indoctrination
meetings one night a week. No
attendance means no jobs and no
schooling for one's children.
Nicaragua's business commu–
nity- an early supporter of the
revolution- is now suspicious, if
not hostile, to the new govern–
ment. Prívate investment is at a
standsti ll . T he economy, devas–
tated by the $2 bill ion civil war,
lies in shambles.
U .S.
aid-re-
PT
map by Minette Collins
s umed at first to
encou rage "moderates"
within the Sandinista-dominated
j unta- has been stopped. This
only permits the government to
blame Washington for the eco–
nomic mess. America is the "bad
boy" once more.
Revolution Gone Sour
The Nicaraguan public now real–
izes this was not what they bar–
gained for when they rose up en
masse against the Somoza gov–
ernment. T he communists clev–
erly preempted the revolution.
As one lady in Nicaragua said:
"We haven't fought for this. We
were fighting to get Somoza off
our backs. T hat's why we sup–
ported them [the Sandinis tas]–
not to fall into a nearly 100 per–
cent communist direction." (Re-
ports now reveal that the Somo–
za family did not hold as much
property as had been alleged–
simi lar to inaccuracies about the
wealth controlled by the Shah of
I ran.)
One opposition political leader
added: "We have emerged from
one dictatorship and entered
another. Nicaragua has become a
satellite of a satellite of the Soviet
Union."
El Sa lvador Quagmire
The results in Nicaragua, howev–
er, did not dampen U.S. support
under the previous administ ration
of "forces of change" elsewhere
in Central America, notably El
Salvador and Guatemala.
What is happening in El
Salvador is not a civil
war, as the press care–
lessly presents it. The
Salvadoran public as a whole is
sick and t ired of the wanton vio–
lence, which has claimed 13,000
lives in the past 14 months.
There are distinct differences
between Nicaragua and El Sal–
vador. In El Salvador, rulership
did not take the
Personalismo
form as in the case of Somoza's
government. Neither was there a
ground swell of public support
to remove the old regime
despite inequities within
the country. (Of course, dis–
sent has always been present in
sorne form or another .) The
issue was rather the attempt on
the part of the radical left to
ride the tide of
Sandinismo
into
power.
What El Salvador is experienc–
ing, according to one source close
to the scene, "is not civil war; it is
terrorism and vandalism." Near
anarchy prevails. In the country–
side, farmers' crops are torched in
the field whi le urban bands con–
duct bold daylight robberies in
the cities. ( Half the buses in El
Salvador were destroyed last
year.)
Young people from the ages of
11 to 17 are kidnapped and forced
to join leftist terrorist brigades.
On the other hand, youths sus-
(Continued on page 44)
The
PLAIN TRUTH