‘Fanning the Flames--Again’

Indeed, President Reagan is fanning the flames again in Nicaragua as The Times points out. He has never stopped fanning the flames, even when he pretended sincerity in seeking peace.

Congress should not give the Contras another cent. We learned recently that the independent Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa is being financed in part by the U.S. That would seem to make it less than independent. We also learned that U.S. ambassador to Nicaragua, Richard Melton, had been meeting with right-wing opposition groups in Nicaragua. This might explain why he was ousted from that country. Further, the new military leader of the Contras, Col. Enrique Bermudez, is a protege of dictator Anastasio Somoza and would like nothing better than to return a Somoza-type government to Nicaragua. Then he could resume the butchery that prevailed under Somoza.

Reagan’s foreign policy in Nicaragua has been a total disaster. How can a country of 3 million--economically bankrupt--be a threat to the United States? Reagan has a paranoiac fear of Marxism, and nothing will stop him. He is determined to destroy the government of Nicaragua. He is determined to make it cry “uncle.” And we should make sure that he never succeeds.

DON RADEMACHER

Los Angeles