U.S. Policy in Nicaragua

“I have the most conclusive evidence that arms and munitions in large quantities . . . have been shipped to the revolutionists . . . The United States cannot fail to view with deep concern any serious threat to stability and constitutional government . . . tending toward anarchy and jeopardizing American interests, especially if such a state of affairs is contributed to or brought about by outside influence or by a foreign power.”

The above words are from a speech by President Calvin Coolidge delivered before Congress in 1927. The revolutionists to whom Coolidge referred were peasants led by Augusto Sandino, fighting to rid Nicaragua of occupation by U.S. Marines; the “outside influence” or “foreign power” referred to Mexico, at that time considered “Bolshevist” because it had expropriated mines and land holdings held by the U.S. business community.

Coolidge is the President that Reagan holds in the greatest esteem. And no wonder. The speech by Coolidge might have been uttered by Reagan. Like Coolidge, Reagan’s speeches are laden with emotionally charged words and concepts. Presumably, upon hearing words like “Marxist,” “communism,” “Cuba,” and “Russia,” the public, like Pavlov’s salivating dogs, is supposed to react automatically while denying reality and suspending judgment.

Fortunately, a large segment of the public and Congress refuses to be flimflammed. Going beyond the Reagan rhetoric to the facts, it is becoming increasingly obvious that Reagan’s policy toward Nicaragua is as wrongheaded and misguided as was that of his hero, Calvin Coolidge.

NORMA LITMAN

Whittier