‘Cave-in on the <i> Contras</i> ‘
McCarthyism is very much alive today. Our President has no shame and members of the House of Representatives have no backbone.
The President brands Nicaragua Communist, drags out the red herring and most of our representatives bust their butts lining up behind him.
What we are doing in Nicaragua smells to the high heavens. It is a renewel of our Banana Republic mentality.
It is common knowledge that the core of the contras are the members of the late dictator Anastasio Somoza’s National Guards--killers, torturers and rapists, with a few dissident Nicaraguans (and what revolution doesn’t have some of those?). Our CIA, with millions at its disposal, hires masses of hungry youth with the promise of food, clothing and money.
We help organize mercenaries on the Honduran and Costa Rican borders, mine the Nicaraguan ports, cut off International Monetary Fund loans and then scream when President Daniel Ortega goes to Russia for aid. We don’t mention the fact that he also went to France and Germany and is also seeking aid from the Contadora nations. We also fail to mention that many of our so-called democratic friends (Turkey, Egypt, India, Philippines, 38 African nations and 15 non-Communist Latin American countries) are receiving aid from Russia.
WALTER SKIBA
Redondo Beach
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