embassy tries in vain
DENMARK ity work in Denmark is on the verge of a breakthrough.
In mid-February, Hans Peter and a colleague, Ingrid, together with a representative from the Danish bulding brigade in Nicaragua will organize the reception of the three prominent Danes to stem growing solidarity with Nicaragua who are arriving on February 26 - Ib Schelde, Johannes Moellenhave and Christian Balslev-Olsen from the Ocumenical Council. These three personalities wil! spend part of their time in Nicaragua in the peace camp in the northern part of the country, where they will have the
COPENHAGEN - The US embassy here has now intervened actively to try to block the work of organizing a Danish peace-watch brigade for
In an attempt to discredit the people who launched the peace-watch initiative, US embassy officials have given "captured documents" from
Grenada to handpicked representatives of the press.
A journalist for Politiken [a right-wing daily], Jan Stage, claims that these documents show that "leading Danish Social Democrats have been manipulated into supporting the initiative." The manipulators, of course, are supposed to be the Cuban Communist Party and a number of Central American revolutionary organisations.
Klassekampen has gotten hold of these "inciminating" documents, and we can testify that Politiken's sensation mongering journalist is deliberately trying to mislead the paper's readers about the real content of the documents.
In no place are there statements that the Central American organizations should try to "lure friends in the Socialist International to show their solidarity with the Sandinista regime."
Such enticement is quite unnecessary, since most of the Social Democratic parties in Western Europe - as
"ready to accept the Latin-American revolutionary process."
It is other organizations in the Socialist International - including the
Social Democrats in Portugal, Italy and the USA - which are described in the documents as "sworn foes" of the revolution in Latin America and which should be excluded.
There is still less support for the suggestion that a meeting in Managua is behind the setting up of the peace-watch project in Denmark.
The document says not a word about that.
On the other hand, it is true the document says the meeting in question
"neutralize the forces in the Socialist Indiscussed various initiatives to ternational" that are working against us.
meting decided to send a top-level delegation to Western Europe to increase understanding, not only for the revolution in Nicaragua, as Stage suggests, but throughout Latin America and the Caribbean area.
Whether the document is genuine or forged, what the story about it shows is how ready Politiken, or rather the so-called clique of pundits in its top editorial offices, is to let temselves be used by the US embassy to spread misinformation.
The objective of this is clear. It is to stem the growth of solidarity in
Denmark with the revolutionary movements in Central America. To the great dismay of Reagan's friends here, solidarity with Central America ıs more widespread than ever, thanks among other things, to the peace watch initiative.
The following article from Klassekampen, February 2, describes the growth of the peace-watch project.
Hans Peter Dejgaard was terribly busy.
He hardly had half an hour to talk to
Klassekampen.
Afterwards, he out the door to meet the minister and author Johannes Moellehave in one of the first well-known Danes who wants to be a peace watcher in Nicaragua.
Hans Peter wanted to go out to show a bunch of photos from a trip he made a while ago to the small war-threatened country in Central America.
Charlotte Falk from the Nicaragua committee also showed up in the little house with a back garden on Istedgade in
On all the tables and shelves were books and articles about the document itself says - are
And it is also correct that the * including an impressive picture book about the Miskito Indians and the new town of Tasba Pri.
The pictures told quite a different one presented by Danish foreign minister Uffe Ellemann-Jensen on January 22, when he maintained that the Sandinista forces attacked and oppressed
Hans Peter is one of the "idealistic youth" that the foreign minister did his best to try to dissuade from participating in the peace camp in Nicaragua. Peter Dejgaard and Charlotte Falk were
Uffe's broadside has only got more people talking about the peace watchers, and they think that the solidarhelp of two Spanish-speaking Danes
At home in Denmark, Charlotte is one of the activists in the Nicaragua committee that is now preparing for a multitude of solidarity meetings across the country with returned peace watchers as speakers
And there is no lack of people for the peace watch. So many prominent and not so prominent people are applying to go to Nicaragua at their own expense to serve in the peace watch that they are nearly standing in line. Every second Sunday a group will be sent off. Flood of interest
Never before during the five and a half year history of the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua has there been so much interest in Denmark in defending the 2.6 million war-threatened Nicaraguans.
"Aren't the Danish peace watchers taking a chance of getting caught in machine-gun fire if the US-backed counterrevolutionaries start an offensive?" I asked Hans Peter Dejgaard.
"The peace are not going that far north, and we do not even think it is necessary to fly a white flag over the house in which they will live. not be in danger of coming under fire."
"Well, then how can they keep watch for peace?"
"By living for a time in northern Nicaragua in a village in the countryside, living on brown beans every day, talking with the farmers, traveling around the country and talking with representatives of the trade unions, church groups and the Sandinista government. show the world that they support Nicaragua and come home to Denmark and tell people about Nicaragua through newspaper articles and lectures." where the Nicaragua Committee in Denmark comes into the picture. This is an excellent chance to organize meetings and get a solidarity campaign rolling."
"What sort of interest are you finding in the peace watch."
"We are getting a near flood of telecalls from trade unionists people in peace groups who would like to go, even though they know that they will have to pay all their expenses." watchers going to be Danes?"
"No, the idea came from a group of American Quakers, who have maintained