Aid to Contras in Nicaragua

I would like each reader to imagine how he, as an American, would feel about having a few Russian divisions landing on our shores to remain until we were no longer intransigent with respect to their wishes. How would we react to having Russians on our shores for many years? Nobody likes a bully, but this is how we have often behaved with the Latin American nations, and in particular with Nicaragua.

We are a great country. We should not have to keep hitting people over the head to keep reminding them of that fact. The United States proved how great it was during World War II, fighting courageously with her allies to win the war, and after the peace was won, generously helping her previous enemies through the necessary rehabilitation period. I was very proud of my country then.

I hope we can now use the same type of wisdom we used in the 1940s and allow the Contadora group to put into effect its plans for a workable peace with the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. The Contadora group and its new additional Latin American support has the desire to bring peace to the Central American region and the credibility with the Nicaraguans that we do not have. The true patriots in this group and its allies do not want communism in this hemisphere. They should be allowed to solve the Nicaraguan problem, unhampered by any artificial time limits or prerequisites. This Administration has had more than five years to solve the problem. It is time it steps aside and allows someone else the opportunity to try.

MARY SAWYER KEISTMAN

Cardiff