DONA VIOLETA

Having spent the past month in Nicaragua as well as being an avid follower of the historical events in Nicaragua, I could scarcely read through this feeble effort at journalism.

Bordreaux’s grossly misinformed and oversimplified article can be summarized accordingly: Chamorro has brought peace, while the Sandinistas are responsible for all of the country’s troubles.

To begin with, no one inside Nicaragua has brought peace to the country; that matter rests solely in the hands of the United States. We are the ones responsible for peace, just as we have been the ones responsible for the war in Nicaragua during the past 10 years. The electoral message of 1990 was clear: A vote for UNO would mean no further U.S.-Contra funding (ending the war), but a vote for the Sandinistas would mean continued U.S. funding to the Contras and more destruction for Nicaragua.

Few in Nicaragua really support UNO. Rather, it was the only alternative left for a nation tired of suffering. Although UNO now has peace within Nicaragua, the economy and inflation are dramatically worsening. Granted, the economy under the Sandinistas was nothing to boast about, yet inflation was kept in check, and food, electricity and water were reasonably priced. Now, however, inflation is rampant, and, worsening this situation, all electric and water bills must be paid in a new (yet still unavailable) form of cordoba . So although one earns all his wages in cordobas , all bills are to be paid in dollars (one loses money every second, for as the value of one’s wages drops daily, the price of one’s bills rise).

Such instances of misinformation often prove to be dangerous to the United States, creating a vacuum of ignorance in which the members of our government are given free rein to carry out their own personal viewpoints in U.S. foreign policy. Even more unfortunate are the results such weak journalism can have upon the foreign countries whose political situations are inaccurately documented.

MICHAEL RAY

Sherman Oaks