The Tar Heel Thursday. June 20. 19853
1 F I rSV
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NiesiFaOTa: A moirsil coses m
The U.S. as Woria Moral
Force
Perhaps the most hotly debated
topic in America today is the issue
of whether or not the U.S. should
aid rebel insurgents in Nicaragua. In
Chapel Hill, 15 people staged a sit
in in Rep. Bill Cobey's office to
protest current U.S. policy toward
Nicaragua and the rest of Central
America while in Washington, Con
gress in reaction to Ortega's recent
visit to Moscow, passed a $27 million
aid package for the contras, .
But the issue goes much deeper;
contra leader Pastora has been
quoted as saying even with U.S. aid,
rebel forces have a slim chance of
overthrowing Nicaragua's current
left-wing government. The real
question is not simply whether or not
to aid the contras, but what kind of
role the U.S. wants to play in world
politics.
The Reagan Administration would
like to present to the American
people the image of the U.S. as a
moral force, a benevolent "big
brother," if you will, fighting in the
rest of the world for the freedom and
justice we already enjoy here. Our aid
to El Salvador against its "terrorist
rebels" and our mission as a "peace
keeping force" in Lebanon last year
and are both examples of this.
Though we do not yet know the full
effect of our policies in El Salvador,
we do know that when President
Duarte asked that we provide human
itarian aid, we sent weapons and
military advisors. Our policies flatly
blew ud in our face in Lebanon,
where our unclear goals and lack of
ti!:WKrrttfl
, Geography and Society
The Republic of Nicaragua, the
largest country in Central America,
is about the size of Michigan. It has
three major geographical regions, the
Pacific or western region where the
two largest freshwater lakes of
Central America are located, the
eastern Atlantic Coast Region, and
the Central American Highlands.
Most of Nicaragua's 2.67 million
inhabitants (the 1980 figure) are
concentrated in the Pacific Zone. The
population is about 70 percent
Miskito (Spanish and Indian or
other), 17 percent white, 4 percent
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understanding of the situation ended
with the death of 250 U.S. Marines.
Is the U.S. acting for the good of
its world neighbors in an exempli
fication of moral conduct, or do we
treat the world and its people as space
in which to exercise our own will by
sheer power and strength?
U.S. Policy Toward Nicaragua
A simple look at the facts of events
between the U.S. and Nicaragua of
the past few years can answer this
question. The U.S. started out as a
lender, though not a major one, to
the brand new and very needy
Government of National Recon
struction. By 1984 however, the tone
of the Reagan Administration
1 toward Nicaragua had changed from
not totally receptive to completely
hostile.
In September 1984 a helicopter
was shot down while attacking a
Nicaraguan military school. Four
Nicaraguan children died in the
attack, and four people in the
helicopter were killed. Later, two of
the helicopter victims were identified
as Americans who had independently
decided to fly to Nicaragua and
provide the contras with their own
aid. The incident brought into light
Reagan's policy not discouraging
such support of the contras by private
individuals and groups. John Hughes
of the Reagan Administration said
that Reagan chose this policy after
Congress refused to approve more
aid for the Contras. One of the
implications of this kind of policy is
that any person or group (for exam
ple, the recently infamous radical
group MOVE, the Ku Klux Klan or
the American Nazi Party) could take
themselves to any war, anywhere m
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Nicaragua: Some background information
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Indian, and Derhaps 9 percent black.
Indians and blacks predominate the
East; Miskito and blacks the Pacific
region. Roman Catholocism is by far
the pervasive religion.
Economy and Communication
Nicaragua's main agricultural
products are cotton, coffee, sugar,
tobacco, rice, beans, corn, and cattle.
The manufacturing industry includes
food processing, clothing, chemicals,
and light metals. Nicaragua's chief
exports are cotton, coffee, sugar and
beef. Imports in 1980 totalled $800
million and consisted mdsfcy of
machinery and equipment, raw .
materials, and semifinished compo
nents for industry. Ten Nicaraguan
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the world", any time they felt like it,
without it ever even being considered
in Congress.
In November 1984, there were
reports that Nicaragua had received
a number of MIG jets from a Soviet
freighter ship that reached the port
of Corinto. This claim was batted
about for four days, until Adminis
tration officials reported that they
were almost certain that there were
no fighter planes aboard the freighter
after all. At this, Reagan warned that
if such aircraft are ever delivered, the
U.S. will take action. Is it any wonder
the Nicaraguans are convinced that
Administration created this report as
media-hype before an invasion? Later
in the same month, Reagan expressed
his concern over what he called "an
increased flow of Soviet bloc wea
pons" to Nicaragua, a claim he had
no evidence to support. Even anti
Sandinist leader Aldolpho Calero
said his troops have seen very little
evidence in Nicaragua of a major
USSR-backed arms buildup.
But the worst outrage of the past
year is the publication and subse
quent downplay of a CIA-written
booklet titled Psychological Opera
tions in Guerilla Warfare, which tells
rebels how to win popular support
and gives advice on political assas
sination, blackmail and mob vio
lence. The Administration reacted by
ordering two investigations a
move which on the face of it looked
as if it were trying to get to the bottom
of the Droblem but the two parties
investigating the leaflet were the
CIA's inspector general and the
CIA's oversight board. The leaflet
included such euphemisms as
'remove' meaning 'assassinate,' and
the Administration further insulted
American intelligence by saying that
remove' meant 'remove lrom ottice.
cordobas eaual SI.
Nicaragua has three principal
ports (Corinto, Puerto Sandino, and
Bluefields). It has one international
airport in the capitol city Managua,
and nine secondary airports. Its three
daily newspapers are the Barricada
(official Sandinista), El Nuevo Diario
(leftist) and La Prensa (rightist).
Early Background
Nicaragua was ruled by Spain
from the 16th century until 1821,
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Reagan's final action in this case was
to promise that those responsible for
the leaflet would be punished; he then
proceeded to discipline several
middle-level members of the CIA
who couldn't have had enough power
to create and distribute such a
pamphlet.
The U.S. has done more that it
is difficult to label 'moral'. CIA
agents have been trying to destroy
Nicaragua's economic infrastructure
since 1981; then the Reagan Admin
istration in 1984 points out how
poorly the economy is doing then
under the Sandinistas as compared
to five years ago. When Nicaragua
tried to take its charges against U.S.
military attacks to the World Court,
the U.S. walked out. Is this any way
to maintain our moral position in the
world community? How can we
flagrantly violate international law as
it suits us on the one hand, and then
on the other, condemn terrorists and
the like for similar behavior.
Another Reagan deception is his
evaluation of the Nicaraguan elec
tions as a 'farce.' It is true that they
had some flaws: for example, three
anti-Sandinista parties were stripped
of legal status because they refused
to register candidates for the elec
tions. Predictably, although a large
contingent of observers from the U.S.
and other countries were in Nicara
gua to watch the elections, the
America claimed they were rigged.
Actually, several charges turn the
other way, towards the U.S.: in
October 1984, several Reagan Admin
istration officials say the Administra
tion privately disputed Arturo Cruz's
(an opposition leader) participation
in the Nicaraguan elections fearing
his presence would legitimize the
electoral process.
when it became part of "the Central
.
American hederation. At IMicara-
gua's request, U.S. forces established
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A Real World Moral Force
The U.S. is doing exactly the
opposite of what it should be doing
in Nicaragua if it wants to actually
be the "world moral force" Reagan
paints it to be. We have the strength,
the resources, and the influence to
really make a difference to the smaller
countries in the world. We lack the
vision.
Instead of making an enemy out
of the Nicaraguan government, we
should be trying to make a friend.
They were the smaller and younger
of the two of us; therefore it was up
to us to make the iniative of friend
liness when thev were fira tartinv
out. We should have extended to
them not just a token, but a real offer
of support. Above all, we should not
have cut off that support. A young
and poor country has to get aid from
somewhere, and if not from us. they
will have to go to the Soviets. The
best way to protect ourselves and
Nicaragua from the 'Red Scare' is to
keep them with us through financial
support. Then why would they want
to become a Russian satellite?
We should not try to force any
country, including Nicaragua, into
our will for it through a political
blackmail. Everybody wants the
integrity of self-determination. We
should, however, watch, study, and
come to understand another country
before taking any action. If we want
to be effective in building peace, we
must know how to use our power.
Without knowledge, we will expe
rience still more Lebanons and Viet
Nams. It is high time America got
beyond the kind of arrogance and
egocentrism that makes us think that
what is good for us is good for
everyone else.
bases in 1912, but left in 1925. They
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See Nicaragua page 4
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