Alexander Cockburn

Thank you for publishing Alexander Cockburn’s column “What Are the Contras Up to Now?” (Commentary, May 23).

There is such a need for the American public to understand what the Bush Administration’s foreign policy is for Central America. Cockburn points to the deception involved in continuing aid to the Contras without insistence on their promised demobilization and with no real intention of encouraging reconciliation in Nicaragua.

The Sandinistas continue to be a thorn in the Administration’s side as they represent legitimate political opposition to President Bush’s plan to help the new Nicaraguan government reverse hard-won reforms of the Sandinista revolution--reforms achieved despite the pressures of a war and the U.S. economic embargo.

For eight years Witness for Peace has consistently been sending back reports of the Administration’s efforts to destabilize Nicaragua and reports of the Contra atrocities both before and after the cease-fire, but few seem to listen. I feel sure that our policy in Central America will be recorded as one of the most cruel in our history.

PATRICIA S. CARMEL

Rancho Santa Fe