More Aid to Contras

Strange that at certain moments, all things converge. Oliver North’s trial, mired in Contra aid corruption, ends. And $50 million more is sent down, this time with smiling bipartisan support. We just can’t let go. We will now put Nicaragua under microscopic scrutiny as more covert operations set out to ensure a disputed election. That will, of course, guarantee next year’s installment to the Contras.

In the meantime, El Salvador is in flames, Guatemala slaughters its Indians, Honduras and Cost Rica are staging areas for combat and drug running, and Panama is the central bank for the cocaine cartel.

But Nicaragua remains the whipping boy. Last year I went to Nicaragua to see why. I came away impressed with the gritty and sophisticated political idealism there. Nicaragua’s problem seems to be that its people won a 40-year revolution against the U.S.-financed Somozas and the American Embassy is no longer the capital of the country. We have never forgiven such audacity.

RICHARD PEACOCK

Encinitas