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The Voice
several classes the week of October
19, relating the "emotionally charg
ed" and often confused situation in
Nicaragua. Her St. Andrews visit was
one stop on a speaking tour to share
her experiences with churches and
schools in her home state, North
Carolina. Witness For Peace is an
American organization committed to
maintaining a vigilant American
presence in war-torn areas of
Nicaragua and to opposing U. S.
policy toward that nation.
The word 'martyr,' says LaFever, is
a good symbol for what's happening
in Nicaragua today. Sandino was a
martyr. The children and peasants
who are maimed by the contras, are
martyrs. "Mauricio," one of my best
friends, was murdered in a contra at
tack. He and a busload of peasants
suffered 150 rounds of U. S.-
supplied bullets. A child carried by
Mauricio on his back was saved by
Mauricio's body. Mauricio is a mar
tyr. Maurice was a Swiss social
worker who had been helping the
Nicaraguan poor as part of a Euro
pean program similar to the Peace
Corps.
American Invasion Long
Photo by Inanna LaFever
Visiting Speaker Reflects
The Voice Of Nicaragua
By Connie Cope And Dave Snyder
The voice of "el pobre" in Nicaragua
Is being heard.
It is painfully and hopefully being
carried by Americans who are
reaching into Nicaragua and bringing
back with them what they have seen
and what they have heard, Inanna
LaFever is one such Individual who
spent the past year with the Witness
for Peace organization in Nicaragua,
living with the poor (el pobre). In
sharing their way of life, taking their
testimonies and witnessing the
atrocities committed by the contras
on the Nicaraguans for herself,
LaFever came to identify with the
people. She spoke at vespers and at
The United States supports the
contras to the tune of over $100
million. This support began in 1980
with Reagan's presidency. U. S. in
volvement in Nicaragu has a long
history. In 1933, the U. S. installed
dictrator Anastasio Somoza after a
seven year period of occupation by
U. S. Marines to protect American
business interests. Somoza ruled un
til 1979, when a fomenting rebellion
against long-standing economic
hardships erupted into a broad-based
revolution. The revolutionary party
took the name "Sandinista" after an
earlier independence leader, San
dino, who was killed by Somoza
forces. The Sandinista party, accor
ding to Reagan, is allied with the
Soviet Union and Cuba and aims to
install another Soviet-style police
state in Central America. Aid to the
contras, oi "freedom lighters" as
Reagan calls them is designed to
prevent such a dictatorship and
perceived threat to American securi
ty.
LaFever feels that much of the pro
blem is a misunderstanding of the
Sandinistan party now in power. She
cites three Sandinista tenets: political
pluralism, non-alignment and a mix
ed economy. "Socialism" is to be
achieved as a final ideal, not
prematurely forced by the state.
The Nicaraguan mixed economy
includes 65 percent free enterprise
and 35 percent collective enterprise.
Nicaragua’s supporters include the
Soviet Union and its bloc, most non-
aligned third world countries and
many Western countries which pro
vide humanitarian assistance to the
Sandinistas. Its arms and military ad
visors come from Cuba and the
Soviet Union. There are no foreign
military bases insie Nicaragua. Accor
ding to LaFever, "the only reason the
Soviet Union is supporting the San
dinistas is because the U. S. refused
to do so when asked. The U. S. saw
the Sandinistas as an immediate
threat and the contras as the only
means of combating the 'emerging
communism.'
Nicaraguan Democracy
Far From Ideal
Politically, Nicaraguans did par
ticipate in a national election in 1984,
President Daniel Ortega of the San
dinista party received two thirds of
the vote, with some opposition par
ties boycotting elections on the
grounds that insufficient time was
allowed to campaign though the
elections had already been delayed
by several months. International
observers declared the elections fair
and valid, and many experts doubted
whether the opposition parties would
have gained much support had they
participated. Members of the non-
Sandinista parties were given a fai>
proportion of seats in the legislature,
but there is doubt that this body has
much political clout. Repression of
political opposition, coming from top
church leaders (though not grass
roots churches) and the press has
recently increased. La Prensa, the
most widely-read opposition
newspaper was recently shut down.
Sandinistas justify these measures as
necessary for internal security during
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