American Aid to the Contras

In response to your Letters column of July 6, I am compelled to relate certain facts for the benefit to those supporting President Reagan’s position with respect to contra aid.

First, the present Nicaraguan government is officially recognized by the government of the United States, in addition to most other governments. It enjoys the overwhelming support of its people. It is therefore sovereign and legitimate. It is thus illegal for the United States to wage war against Nicaragua without a formal declaration of war. To do so openly by proxy, as we are witnessing at present, illustrates the basest contempt and disregard in the highest echelons of government for the principles of the U.S. Constitution, which our leaders are sworn to uphold.

Second, the government of Nicaragua is in reality far more democratic than most other governments in the region. It operates with a popular mandate, and reflects the will of its people far better than the U.S.-supported dictatorships and other puppet states that the Reagan Administration routinely lauds as pillars of democracy.

Third, the contras are mercenary terrorists. They strike at innocent civilian targets, upon which they inflict destruction, cruel torture and death. Individuals are provided with subsistence at the very least for their participation. The contras were originally created, organized and funded by the CIA. They contain many elements of the hated regime of Anastasio Somoza . Disgracefully, they enjoy the aid and support of powerful private interests in the United States, as well as the U.S. government, as they engage in the brutal task of attempting to reassert the U.S. economic dominance that was lost to the popular revolution. They are guilty, as numerous eyewitness accounts attest, of the most heinous crimes.

Fourth, it must be emphasized that whatever faults the Sandinista government possesses (with respect to constitutional rights as we know them in the United States), it has addressed itself very effectively to the most important and pressing human problems in the region, such as food, shelter, medical care, literacy and education.

The dramatic progress in these areas is what the Reagan Administration fears most, as evidenced by the contra strategy of striking particularly at the facilities and people associated with such progress.

It is the potential contagion of this kind of social progress that has stirred the Reagan Administration to jingoistic frenzy, as the economic interests of certain U.S.-based corporations could be compromised by truly indigenous socioeconomic development.

Fifth, the Sandinistas, but more important their younger followers, are being driven into the Soviet embrace by U.S. policy. We have forced them into a wartime state of emergency, deprived them of crucial economic and human resources, abetted the killing of innumerable innocents, and through this cruelty have engendered the vigorous hatred of the youngest generations of Nicaraguans. They will never forget the misery and injustice that their giant northern neighbor has inflicted upon them.

They will naturally look elsewhere for help. They will naturally tend to view ideologies opposed to our own as good and right, with little regard for merit. Is this the kind of condition that U.S. foreign policy should strive to create?

STEPHEN M. BATIE

Santa Barbara