Reagan Policy in Central America
Dorfman’s article was 99% misrepresentation, Communist propaganda and poppycock. The contras are not just former officers of Anastasio Somoza but a mixture of former Sandinistas, supporters of Somoza and more from other political groups.
These democratic groups and the United States can make sure there is no blood bath. The Sandinista army is not a guerrilla army, but a regular army and its soldiers cannot put their helicopters and tanks in their knapsacks and march off to El Salvador.
If the Nicaraguan people had genuinely free elections (as the Sandinistas promised) where all the candidates could freely campaign and the Sandinistas didn’t control the ration cards, the Ortega gang would be out of power. The Nicaraguan people are not going to fight to perpetuate a fraud.
The Sandinistas are not trying to make their country into a socialist Switzerland. Nicaragua is an offensive base for Communist aggression and the rear base for the Salvadoran rebels. The contras are a balance force for the Salvadoran leftists. The core of Sandinista ideology is hatred of the United States and there can be no peace in Central America until the Sandinistas are gone.
DAVID BOLENDER
Long Beach
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