The Arms Race in Nicaragua : It Takes Two to Disarm--Contras As Well as Sandinistas

Nicaragua is not Lebanon--at least not yet.

So recent reports that the Sandinistas are passing out guns to their supporters before handing the government over to President-elect Violeta Chamorro are not the cause for panic that they would be in Beirut. But it’s an alarming development that must be stopped.

The tactic is not new: The need for a well-armed militia has been Sandinista dogma ever since they took control of the popular revolution that overthrew Somoza in 1979. The country’s 75,000-person army, for example, includes 30,000 militia members and reservists who keep their weapons at home. So the Sandinistas won’t stop their routine practice of distributing thousands of pistols and rifles while the Contra rebels who have been fighting against them also remain armed.

After their defeat in last month’s election, Sandinista leaders said they were willing to give up power. But they won’t leave their many supporters in the Nicaraguan countryside to the mercy of the Contras or the vengeful landowners who may try to retake farms that were confiscated during the last 10 years and broken into small plots for pro-Sandinista peasants.

That’s why Chamorro and other opposition leaders must renew their effort to persuade Contra leaders in neighboring Honduras to demobilize their troops. Turning in their guns would be the clearest signal the Contras can send the Sandinistas. That would also deprive the Sandinistas of any excuse for handing out any more guns on their side--or, if they did, subject them to condemnation by the United Nations, Organization of American States and the many other neutral bodies that verified Chamorro’s election victory.

Obviously when lots of people have guns, the potential for a blood bath exists. But it doesn’t have to come to that--if both sides are convinced that there’s no longer any need for violence in Nicaragua. For now, the first step must be taken by Chamorro and the opposition. They have won, after all, and if the Sandinistas try to deny them that victory, they will have something a lot more potent than guns to back them up: world support.