The new threats and the imperialist strategy
Nicaragua's northern for the imperialists. Nicaragua had to accept the Preliminary Accord that it approved in September
1984 being put in question, which was the Reagan given full freedom to stage murderous raids and administration's objective. The aim was to force the sabotage in Nicaragua. The threat they pose to the Nicaraguans to submit to the conditions of the Reagan
Sandinista revolution is forcing the Sandinista National in thef such clashes being used by the impertalists Liberation Front (FSLN) to strike back, On the economic level, the consequences em, and the did to eage make BEC, Sial in the framework of their strategy of provocation.
A Costa Rican representative has said, in fact, that his Democratic governments, and some Latin American overnment was studying the possibility of envoking countries is decreasing he Rio de Janeiro Mutual Defense Treaty (1) i appeals to the Organization of American States (OAS) Throughout the Central American region, and the Contadora Group (Mexico, Panama, Venezuela, mperialists are stepping up their military pressure an reorganizing their forces
NICARAGUA growing along border with Honduras and
Costa Rica. Behind these frontiers,
Colombia) proved fruitless.
the contras are in a context where revolu
At the same moment, the meeting of the Contadora tionary fighters are facing more and more difficult Group held in May marked an initial diplomatic Jeannette HABEL
On January 9, 1983, the ministers of foreign affairs of Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, and Panama decided, with the backing of their respective goverments to offer their mediation for re-establishing peace in Central America. Representing governments geographically close to the Central American isthmus, this group of four countries had various interests in making such a move. First of all, there was a political interest. They wanted to avert a direct imperialist represent a major danger for the Latin bourgeoisies in a situation of economic and social crisis, especially for Mexico, sandwiched in by the pressures both its northern and southern frontiers. They also had an economic interest at stake, because the Central American region offers a major market for the industries of these countries. EEC's attempts to expand its economic relations with Latin America. For the the EEC countries represent its most important market and its second major source of investment after America's exports went to the EEC (the of the Nine at the time). In 1982, 50% of the total aid to Latin America came from the EEC. In 1983, convergence of interests reinforced by the coming to power of governments, while at the same time trying to gain a foothold on the continent
1970s, seeking to take advanInternational Viewpoint 1 July 1985 conditions. these countries promoted by the US. (3)
The meeting in September 1984 of the ministers of foreign affairs of the EEC countries, Spain and Portugal, and leaders of the Central American and the explicit support of the European governments present for the Contadora's Peace
However, the EEC's economic aid to this region remains very modest compared with that of the USA. The dependence of the Central American countries on the US has, in fact, been increased, and the importance of the aid they receive from the EEC been reduced by the extent of the economic problems they now face foreign debts.
Nonetheless, the European parliament has endeavored to support the efforts of the Contadora Group, and the International Court at the Hague has condemned the mining of the Nicaraguan ports. The
International has similar vein, seeking to play a greater mediating and moderating role inasmuch as it is directly linked to parties that hold different positions in the conflict, and it does not intend to put all its eggs in one basket. (5)
Nonetheless, the Socialist International finds its room for seeking a middle of US imperialism in the region, since Washington vetoes any proposal that does not seem to be in its interests. The Reagan administration
It was Nicaragua's approval of the on September 21, 1984, that prompted the Reagan government to mount a general challenge to it, since
Reagan found himself impeded in his diplomatic maneuvers by the Sandinistas' immediately, together a meeting on October 20, 1984, of the leaders of Honduras, Guatemala, and Costa Rica to draw up amendments to the text of the Accord. In reality, the objective was to present an opposing draft and to sabotage the Accord signed by the FSLN. Already postponed for three months, the last meeting of the Contadora Group in May 1985 to this operation.
The participating countries declared for a reediting of the Accord, as the US wanted, and for indefinitely putting off the possibility of an accord on bases acceptable to the Sandinistas.
In fact, the history of the Contadora Group has been marked by postponements and by direct and indirect from the USA, which while giving operation purely formal support, has
The Rio Treaty was adopted in 1947 and reunited all the American states, except Canada, against any of its member states. CETRAL. FAL Amber De Imber 1984.
Some EEC countries still maintain direct links with their colonies or ex-colonies in the
La text approved by Nicaragua
The Party for National Liberation (PLN)
Revolutionary Democratic Revolutionary Front (FDR) of El are all allied with the Socialist International.
New Jewel Movement used to be, and the FSLN, are observers.
to check that the foreign military instal- effort.
sought to discredit the process set in motion. The imperialist alternative the Reagan Plan. This plan is ultimatum aimed at forcing the FSLN to surrender. It demands under the pretext of national reconciliation — dissolution of the Assembly elected in November 1984, new elections in which the contras can participate, a general amnesty, and a ceasefire. A cover for US intervention
This plan could lead to the following scenario: The FSLN would engage in thus be recognized as a belligerant force. The dialogue would fail, because the capitulation by the Sandinistas. But the contras would have thus gained legitimacy and could, therefore, form a provisional government that would appeal for help the imperialists to rescue "democracy." Such a maneuver has been approved by several Latin American presidents, and it is at the center of the pressures the imperialists are putting on the Contadora Group.
The Accord signed by the Nicaraguans in September 1984 has already been subjected to many amendments and corrections. An additional protocol was drawn up concerning the means for inspection to make sure that the provisions of the document are observed. But the essential thing in the original text is not that. It was a general document for Central America, including economic, social, and political aspects. It laid the bases for integration of the region, proposing reactivization of the American Common Market and preparway for a readjustment of the institutional frameworks of the various
This document affirms the right of
America to self-determination. It opposes atory treatment and economic embargoes. It takes a stand against any foreign intervention and any use of force. It, moreover, defines the bases for agreement on the military problems of security, opposing international military maneuvers or foreign bases or military schools, and demands the removal of those already there.
The document also proposes checking up on the numbers of foreign military advisors and withdrawal of those whose functions are essentially operational. It bans all support for irregular forces fighting to overthrow the existing governments. It proposes surveillance of the borders, disarmament of the irregular movements, and dismantling of all military installations used against neighboring governments.
The Contadora Accord rules out any financial support for acts of sabotage or terrorism and defines the means for inspection applicable to problems of security, which are to make it possible actually dismantled, that a detailed classification is established the arms, equipment, transport, and military installations of the navy, air force, intantery, paramilitary forces, etc.). need for "pluralist democratic systems" in which all political currents can participate in "honest and regular elections." It finally, "national reconcilideveloped, the establishment of dialogue with "the opposition groups" and a fullfledged amnesty.
The last part in form resembles Ronald Reagan's proposals, but, in substance it is quite different, because this process of dialogue and reconciliation is envisaged in the context of what the underpinning document, that is, the withdrawal of the bases and of the military advisors, which are essentially American, and the end of all foreign intervention. mander Bayardo Arce calls the conformity with the "project of the Nicaraguan revolucounterrevolutionary forces, which would then no longer enjoy colossal support from the imperialists, which would thus semi-disarmed counterrevolutionary forces deprived of their major card. And it is clear that without the military support of the CIA, the contras would virtually disappear.
For its part the FSLN has already said that there was a place in Nicaragua for that operate civilian basis," (6) that such forces could have the benefit of the amnesty and return to Nicaragua. This measure applies particularly to the peasants recruited to the counterrevolution.
The Contadora Peace Accord into a precise context. The symmetry imperialists want to get accepted between Soviet and American isthmus masks a situation in which the military relationship of forces is overwhelmingly in favor of the world's greatest military power. buttressed by the presence of gigantic US military bases in Honduras, by the amounts of arms given to the Salvadorean army, by the militarization of Costa Rica, and by the presence of 16,000 US-trained contras on Nicaragua's part about foreign military involvement, September 1984 Contadora document for the imperialists. is all the more true because proposed, initially at the request of the United States, are, because of their precision, a means imperialists'
Eden Pastora Gomez
The full application of this Accord -which was to go into effect after being approved by five Central states - would have meant the withdrawal of the advisors without any serious quid pro
The presence of the Cuban advisors is very limited, as the Pentagon very well. The Nicaraguan's armament is old and insufficient, and if
Yankee threat did not exist the Nicaraguan people would have no diffidefending their revolution by
As for the revolutionary in El Salvador, they do not draw their foreign aid, unlike the CIA's mercenaries. The American imperialists are well aware of this. This is why, while maneuvering to avoid a direct confrontation with the Contadora Group, they have continually increased the number of conditions, and finally come to veto a document that all the Central American countries were initially ready
The "amendments" suggested by the American Security Council are aimed at reversing the logic of the document, making Nicaragua the aggressor. In the name of a purported Sandinista threat, they would then keep their bases, their maneuvers, and their military advisors.
these conditions, they could propose an amnesty for the contras, keep the present relationship of forces, and on this basis set up the mechanisms for arms limitations. legitimizing superiority of the imperialists, demanding that Nicaragua give up its defenses.
Daniel Ortega, president of at a press conference in Paris, May 13, 1985.
In April 1984, Honduras was able to receive 15,000 US soldiers of the 82nd brigade in one afternoon. Pensamiento Proprio, Managua, March 1985.
International Viewpoint 1 July 1985
complement all these devices and to get the Sandinista revolution in a vise where it would have to chose between being crushed militarily and capitulation. This is the reason why the FSLN has put so much effort into getting an agreement with the Contadora Group
In total, three successive versions of the Contadora Accord have been rejected by El Salvador, Honduras, and Costa Rica. Nicaragua then relaunched bilateral negotiations with Honduras, proposing joint military patrols and guaranteeing the inviolability of the frontiers. the Honduran regime turned this down.
This was the final touch to the imperialists' plan. The US broke off the Manzanillo bilateral negotiations FSLN. Reagan had made use of these talks running up to his reelection. But the difficulty with them for him was that they pointed up the role of the US as the main dealer too much. The aim of government, is to minimize its role. The offered no response to the Sandinista's new diplomatic compromise for taking into account the American "security needs" and tolerating the existence of military bases in HonGuantanamo base on their territory
So, the Contadora Group ended up in an impasse. Under the pressures put on them to include the Reagan Plan in the Peace Accord, the member governments contradicted each other a good condemning the Reagan Plan, describing
"preparation for war." The Venezuelan president, Lusinchi, approved it, comparing it to the negotiations
El Salvador the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) and the government. Only the Mexican president, de la Madrid, the cornerstone of the Contadora Group, said that the process reconciliation "that go beyond the character of the group, one of whose fundamental International Viewpoint 1 July 1985 principles is nonintervention in the internal affairs of countries." (8)
for the Socialist International, condemning the Reagan Plan as a plan
One might wonder what the practical effects of these statements will be. The Contadora diplomatic operation seems more and more fictional, less and less in line with the political behaviour of the states concerned, the Latin American bourgeoisies is still to avert a regional confrontation of incalculable consequences.
The FSLN is trying through this diplomatic battle to build up the maximum Latin-American resistance to the imperialist plans. But it cannot today hide the fact that its efforts ended in failure at the last meeting of the Contadora. And it is unlikely, despite the worsening of the situation in the region, that the next meeting of the Contadora will change this course. Outcry against US embargo Contadora Peace Accord, the embargo declared on May 1 by the US governcondemnation in the OAS in particular. But it is a long way from words to
For the European and LatinAmerican bourgeoisies anything that weakens the Nicaraguan revolution is not too hard to swallow. Covert war, slow steady strangulation, are less glaring and less dangerous than an open military intervention.
Even if the economic embargo fails to strangle Nicaragua, even if it can be partially circumvented, it will not fail to have an effect. (9) The Nicaraguan was traditionally linked to the USA, and it is going to have to suffer the consequences of a shortage machinery and its transport fleet. It is going to have to reorganize its medical
US arms on their way to Honduras services, to renegotiate for new imports conditions of a worsening of the economic situation, with 40% of the budget
Foreign debt and the cost of the war have created enormous difficulties. Nicaragua's oil needs alone represent a cost of 175 million dollars a year, 40% of all income from exports. Nicaragua owes Venezuela and Mexico, its main oil suppliers up till 1983, almost a billion dollars. Today, Iran and the USSR have replaced Venezuela, and from Mexico have
It was in this difficult conjuncture that the Nicaraguan president, Daniel Ortega, recently travelled to the East countries to appeal for aid "survival" of the Nicaraguan people. And this was just the pretext
Ronald Reagan would take, eve of the summit meeting of the to announce his economic blockade of Nicaragua.
Of course, the imperialists' omic pressures do not date from that administration intervened to stop the Inter-American Bank for Development from granting a 58 million dollar loan to Nicaragua, while the 25 Latin American members of this bank had approved
In February 1981, the government of the United States had already suspend‚ed a loan and blocked the loading of 10,000 tons of wheat, then it stopped loans from interational organizations, blocked access to sources of private or official financing in the US, closed the traditional markets to revolutionary Nicaragua, etc. This war of economic attrition, ranging from the mining the ports — which resulted in the loss of 19 million dollars worth of exports — to the destruction of agricultural cooperatives, had already been envisaged by
US joint congressional headed by Henry Kissinger.
In this report presented in January the Kissinger Committee wrote
"Nicaragua must know that the use of force is only a last resort ... We have additional nonmilitary measures that have not been used yet, such as economic restrictions and the limitation of diplocontacts." [Retranslation from
The blockade is going to affect all sectors of economic life, starting with imports. The following are the sectors concerned — medical care (70% of medical equipment came from the US), transportation, (35% of the spare parts), industry, energy, and telecommunications. But it is agricultural production, which is 8. Barricada, Managua, 12 April 1985.
This embargo includes the banning of all trade between the USA and Nicaragua, the suspension of all air and maritime traffic and the cancellation of the Treaty of Friendship, Trade and Navigation, signed in 1956 under the Somoza dictatorship which gave Nicaragua certain trading rights.
5
ital to the economy of the country, that is going to be hardest hit. The material needed for the sugar mills, for the cotton and coffee harvest, and for irngation came from the US, as well as fertliizers and various chemical products.
On the export side, the main products affected will be bananas, molasses, and sugar. But now only 16% of Nicaragua exports go to the US. The worst hit will be the middle and big private producers, those who have built up their business on agricultural exports to the US and are used to American technology. (10)
The primary objective of the US blockade is obvious. It is to weaken Nicaragua and to bring its people to their knees by starvation and misery. But the embargo is also aimed at creating growing social tensions. It is not impossible that we will see a "radicalization" of the Supreme Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP) and of the agricultural exporting sectors, attempts at boycott and sabotage, to say nothing of plant closures because of lack of raw materials and spare parts.
There may be processes of hoarding or sabotage of production - land left uncultivated, destruction of materiel, spare parts hidden, etc. In a general way, the economic war is aimed at suffocating the revolution, at undermining its social base in order to prepare the way for its destruction. Unholy alliance against Nicaragua
It is true that the Sandinistas, forseeing this decision, had begun to diversify their exchanges. In 1983, when the US closed its doors to sugar exports, the Sandinista government found new markets in the Middle East and North Africa at preferential prices. In 1985, Nicaraguan purchases of American products amount to 110 million dollars as opposed to 247 million in 1980, and Nicaragua's sales in the US are only 58 million dollars.
Moreover, the economies of other Central American countries are also going to suffer the consequences of a
Nicaraguan purchases, and investment is going to become scarce in a situation of rising tensions. Finally, the payment of Nicaraguan debts to US banks, which amount to 225 million dollars, will also be compromised.
However, the imperialists' major ob. jective is to create a deteriorating situation within the country that can lead to the disaffection of some sections of the population from the Sandinista regime, creating divisions and breaks that could reinforce the opposition of the middle layers.
It is easy to imagine how the COSEP and the Church hierarchy could try to channel this discontent and force the FSLN to take coercive measures against some elements of the private sector. Such a policy could create favorable conditions for a direct American intervention by reconsolidating the ranks of an internal political opposition that is today divided and disorganized.
international Nicaragua have? In his recent trip through East and West Europe, Daniel Ortega got, in the words of an American newspaper, "a lot of sympathy in the West and financial help in the East." (11) Oil is being supplied essentially by the USSR, which was already the case after Mexico stopped its deliveries to Nicaragua, having demanded payment in advance.
The Soviet aid is apparently not in Nicaraguans supplies that are often costly to use and not always suited to the needs. Offers of aid have reportedly come from Sweden, Finland, and Canada. government of Francois Mitterrand is prepared to expand commercial exchanges with Nicaragua only on the basis of mutual advantage, which in the present state of affairs amounts to accepting a substantial cut in aid, if not ending it demand that the Sandinista government immediately pay all debts. Development aid projects may also be suspended in reprisal after Daniel Ortega's statements that are supposed to have West Germany as an accomplice of the US in its policy in Central America. The Portuguese Social Democratic Mario Soares, has confined himself to expressing his fears that Nicaragua will align itself with the Soviet Union.
For its part, the Spanish Socialist
(PSOE - the Social Democratic party) has just made known officially cover Nicaraguan government's export credits the last three months. The stated portrayed as "purely technical" is that the Sandinistas have not paid the interest on loans granted since 1981. The decision not to provide credit cover for exports was taken on March 12 by the Spanish (CESCE), in which the government has to the Financial Times correspondent in Madrid, this decision means that commercial relations between state and Managua have Felipe Gonzalez's government will not grant additional credits until a part of despite the official support of the government for Nicaragua, it is also making its contribution American blockade in the name of defending the mixed economy the private sector. The fact that Felipe Gonzalez is also one assigned by
International to Latinaffairs can only be a cause worry to the Sandinista alignment of many American and European governin practice of US imperialism makes dangerous, in essentially in kind and will not be sufficient to compensate for the effects of the blockade.
Itisis unfortunately not as the proceedings of the last meeting
Contadora Group show, that governments hostile to a direct military intervention will prefer a more discreet policy of strangulation which would be less compromising for the Latin American bourgeoisies. Militarization of the region
This disguised war against Nicaragua has been accompanied by a regional policy designed to prepare the way for overthrowing the Sandinista regime. modernization and reorganization of the armed forces, the building up of massive military infrastructures, the percentage of appropriations for Central America represented by military credits all part of the preparations for military intervention in
The realignment of forces in the region "Switzerland" of Central America, which long ago adopted a treaty of perpetual neutrality, has just welcomed in the first Yankee troops assigned to "protecting" its northem border. This is the first time that American soldiers have been stationed in Costa Rica. In May, twenty US officers trained 750 members of the Civil Guard to form a "rapid response" battalion stationed near the Nicaraguan
Monge, the head of the Costa Rican member of Socialist International, has said that his country cannot defend itself - against Nicaragua, was the implication — "with muskets." (12) Members of the Costa Rican Civil Guard are being trained in the Regional Military
Center in Honduras and others in the US and Venezuela. Two anti-terrorist forces have been set up, one special operations unit and the public force "reserve."
Parallel to this, the Agency for International Development Rica an outright gift of 160 million dollars. Soon, the Voice of America will begin to broadcast toward Managua from
Finally, the presence CIA agents in the country has been
Thus, with the buildup of a Costa Rican armed force and the stationing of military detachments on the northern frontier, the reactionary military potenthis country on Nicaragua's borders has been reinforced. Nicaragua finds itself caught between Costa Rica in the south and El Salvador in the north.
Small, middling and large account for 60 per cent of the total production
Financial Imes, 15 May 1985.
International Viewpoint 1 July 1985
And in this encirclement Costa Rica is the kingpin.
In Panama, the nationalist policy of Tonijos ("Torrijismo") is in decline. (13) Joint military maneuvers by the Panamanian National Guard and the US army show how much cooperation the US brass has been able to extract from the local government. Finally, the Yankee imperialists are also envisaging the installation of a military base on the regional level an antibuilt to mesh with the counterrevolutionary "Northern Triangle" (Guatemala,
Honduras), of which is been transformed into a permament US base. The gigantic military infrastructure established in this country has made it maneuvers and exercises that continually
Honduras plays a key role. It is the imperialists' guard tower and a bulwark for the Nicaraguan Democratic
(FDN). From its territory, it is possible to put pressure on the rear areas of the Salvadorean guerrillas and to maintain surveillance of the Guatemalan
A real epicenter of counterrevolutionary struggle in the region, Honduras protectorate. It is revealing in this regard that the signing of a new military aid treaty, as well as the setting up of the Puerto Castilla military training center, were not reported to the Honduran parliament until June 1983, when the US Green Berets were already disembarking
Salvadoran aircraft have the Honduran territory. Thanks to the peace treaty signed between and Honduras soldiers can be trained in planes fly out of the Palmerola base to inform the Salvadoran army of the movements of the FMLN. The FDN groups also get supplies and air support when they move into Nicaraguan territory. When the contras retreat under pressure
Sandinista army, they get cover from Honduran artillery.
HONDURAN AIR FORCES 15B-2 Super-Mystery 25 180-Cessna 10 F-86 Sabre 30 185-Cessna 16 A-37 B Dragon 1 Piper Pa-31 Cheyenne 12 T-37 Tucano 2 S-76 helicopters 4 0-2 Push and Pull 2 H-19 Sikorsky 10 C-47 35 UH1H 4 C-54 Skymaster 15 UH10 6 IAI Arava 1 0H6A 1 Electra 1 Mescalero 4 C-130 Hercules 12 T-28 A 1 West Wind 6 T-6 Texan 1 Beeck Baron 12 T-33
The Honduran air-based war involves
232 machines for combat amongst which are 55 helicopters, 83 transport planes and 37 for tactical support.
Source: Barricada, 26 November 1984. International Viewpoint 1 July 1985
However, the militarization of the region is not a simple affair or without contradictions. Revolutionary movements have existed for a long time in Guatemala and in El Salvador. Such movements are underdeveloped in Costa Rica and Honduras. Nonetheless, in Costa Rica the American plans are running up against an antimilitarist and antidictatorial tradition, and these problems are compounded by an acute economic crisis. The buildup of the country's military capacities, and the presence of mercenaries are eroding the traditional underpinnings of the state and its previous relative stablility.
In Honduras, the presence of three foreign armed forces, the contras, the Salvadorans, and the American Green Berets, and the privileges they enjoy, can create a favorable situation for the growth of popular mobilizations. This Is why the regime is redoubling its efforts to forestall any opposition. Since 1982-1983, more than eighty persons have "disappeared," 28 activists and leaders are known to have been murdered by the armed forces or the paramilitary squadrons. Spying and informing have been institutionalized
However, this militarization is not necessarily being accompanied by the maintenance of open military dictatorships. The crisis of the system of impeerialist domination in Central America, as well as reasons of international policy, are inducing the imperialists to adjust the forms of their domination.
If the objective is to overthrow the
Vista regime, the to be made presentable for international unless, as revolutionary themselves offer the US a pretext for militarily in the name of
The Pentagon is working in the framework of a strategy that combines military and economic strangulation of Nicaragua in order to set the stage for a direct military intervention that would have to be able to finish off the revolution at the least possible human cost for the
The war of attrition, thus, does not exelude a massive intervention, whose timing cannot be predicted. If an opporPentagon will seize it. The emphasis up till now has been put on the war attrition, because a certain number conditions are not yet "ripe" for moving on to the next phase.
Nicaraguan magazine Pensamiento Propio considers that the lack of political consensus in the US on intervention Central America and the reactions in Latin America "does not seem to allow the political aim of destroying the Sandinista revolution to be pursued by means of the direct intervention of US troops. We are seeing rather the combination of an aggressive escalation in military, economic, and political forms accompanied by attempts at negotiation for the sake of appearances without any political will to attrition or a conflict,' of American toward Nicaragua." (14)
Ronald Mutual Assistance - to send forces into next time, said. (15) level, US officers vention. posed were viously imperialists drew Vietnam and to do, they have at least to refurbish their image a bit and dissociate themselves from the most reactionary regimes. They need presentable goverments and credible partners to justify their enormous war effort and prepare the way for
However, it is difficult for the imperialists to have any credibility in condemning the gulag and "totalitarianism" in Nicaragua, if Major d'Aubuisson rules in El Salvador, if the contras are led by former Somozista National Guards,
US government supports 13. General Omar Torrijos renogotiated in 1977 the agreements on the Panama Canal which became known as the Torrijos-Carter accords. Torrijos died in an air crash in 1981. 14. Pensamiento Proprio, Managua, March 1985. 15. International Herald Fibune, New York, 6 May 1985. 16. Kissinger challenged "the inability fot the administration] to take a clear decision. For him, those responsible for the policy Central America "are like long distance runners refusing to sprint, in order to save their energy for part of the way. But the risk you run in proceding in this way is to lose the marathon altogether. At a certain moment they have to go out in front and know when to make a decision. (quoted in El Pais, Madrid, 19 May 1985.) The former secretary of state attacks what he considers to be the uncontrolled and hesitant policy of the Reagan administration.
7
th pr an of fis th ge slo m: Co th le re it
Sandinista soldiers on their way to the combat zone (DR)
The themes ofdemocracy and elections are becoming central in the imperialist policy for the region. Such elections are held to provide an appearance of democratic legitimacy and to camouflage the growing militarization. Thus, after the vote in El Salvador, elections are to take place in most of the Central American countries in the coming year - in Guatemala in October 1985, in Honduras in November 1985, in Costa Rica in February 1986, and in Belize in December.
The Colombian model, which combines opening a dialogue leading to national reconciliation with the "rebels" laying down their arms, an amnesty, and the participation of these forces in elections, has already inspired the course followed in El Salvador, as well as the Reagan Plan.
Behind this regionwide pattern you can see the shape emerging of an operation to strangle the revolution by a democratic counterrevolution. This is what the American strategists call the "two-lane road." It combines US military aid and selective repression with "democratization" of the regime and some attempts at reform.
Even though the democratic and social aspects of this strategy are only a mascarade, the Christian Democrats' electoral victory in El Salvador gained Napoleon Duarte a not insignificant international and diplomatic credibility, above all, support from the US congress.
Such a combination of a new rise of the regime's military activity behind the democratic smokescreen of the Christian Democracy may create new problems for the FMLN.
This new imperialist tactic is necessary to isolate Nicaragua but it is also related to the traditional system of la let domination. The military dictatorships outside intervention, whether American consolidated the alliance between the or Cuban, and profoundly changing ar old oligarchy - the landowners and the the economic and social structures. ca bourgeoisie exporting agricultural pro- This would make it possible for a vast ev ducts and importing industrial goods intermediate class to emerge." (17) fo (the compradore bourgeoisie) - and the
Cwi army. In order to defuse the explosive The chances for "democratic" Me reform Cal social situation that exists now, it is necessary to shove aside the old oligarchy, break its alliance with the army, However, carrying through such a give impetus to the development of an project, which is similar to that of the industrial bourgeoisie, and force through Social Democratic parties and a section an agrarian reform and institutional of the American administration, requires reforms. having strong domestic allies, a social
This attempt at "reform from above" base capable of supporting the economic, has so far run up against all sorts of political, and military changes that have obstacles. In fact, the dynamic of the to be accomplished in the framework mass movement is making it difficult of a counterrevolutionary strategy and to isolate the old oligarchy without of maintaining an army that has, moreundermining the army. However, the over, to be professionalized, modernized, army is essential in order to inflict a and adapted to the present circumstances. defeat on the mass mobilizations and Countries with infinitely greater to crush the radical wing of the FMLN resources than the small Central American in El Salvador or other revolutionary states have had big difficulties when movements. it came to undertaking partial reforms.
How can this old alliance between In Colombia, for example, there was the oligarchy and the military be broken an attempt to institutionalize a up for the benefit of the industrial restricted form of democracy at the end bourgeoisie when the latter is still in of the 1970s. This was a response to the formulation, when local industry is rise of mass mobilizations and the threat weak, and the domestic situation is so posed by a guerrilla movement, as well unstable that capital is fleeing the as to the need to make room for the country? That is the imperialists' finance capital that had consolidated dilemma. itself at the expense of certain sectors
Andres Zaldiva, the chair of the of the traditional bourgeoisie. Christian Democratic International, for The plan of the Colombian president, example, argues that there is a need for Belisario Betaneur, which inspired the an orientation that will make it possible Contadora operation, includes some econto remove from power "the landowning omic, political, and institutional reforms, oligarchies supported by unscrupulous such as a dialogue with the guerrillas. In armed groups." This would require *regrouping the democratic forces that
17. Amerique Latine, journal of CETRAL are in favor of peaceful solutions without October-December 1984.
International Viewpoint 1 July 1985
----- photo credits and running heads -----
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International Viewpoint 1 July 1985 of the parties,
Whether the depends entirely Colombia itself political and
It legislative means law on the levels have Mexico's president, Campins signs a treaty.
by the lack of electoral traditions, the all the however, entanglement of the army in every struggle for influence, and the existence of parallel networks and general corruption, complicated still more by the
-the status settling of political accounts by parareform,
The crisis of the parties
Colombian model within the in crisis and in El Savador into the
An ability in its on the to settle
Coordinadora de la around dependent
"take get
So far, to restore the parties reflects deep extreme and electoral tions, and the further. Elections some country, whose members are often better fed and paid than the Honduran soldiers.
This situation is reviving the old antiwhile the nationalism,
Salvadoran military occupation is giving rise to what the Jesuits in the country have called the
"denationalization of Honduras."
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Others guarantees.
are of boycott and pure have their hands to
with Nicaragua. This text was signed by several well-known personalities living in have a special importance because they come from Prague and are mainly members of Charter 77. It is the first time that activists involved in the fight for democratic freedoms in Eastern Europe have taken a position in defence of a revolution under
US imperialist attack. Such an internationalist and anti-imperialist consciousness is a very important development which shows the political evolution that is taking cracy, can only serve to strengthen the credibility of the struggle for democratic for the Defence of Unjustly Tried Persons) and ex-engineer and currently a heating engineer who has spent nine years in prison; Anna Sabatova, a member of VONS;
professor Iaroslav Sabata, ex-spokesperson of Charter 77, ex-member of the central years in prison; Jiri Dienstbier, formerly a journalist and now a heating engineer and current spokesperson of Charter 77; Doctor Gertruda Sekamnova-Cakrtova member of VONS and former parliamentary representative in Prague; Vasek Maly, member of VONS and former spokesperson of Charter 77, responsible for the
'flying university"; Milo Rejchrt, former spokesperson of Charter 77; Eva Kanturkov free and destabilize the Christian "(PUSC) and its Democratic government. candidate, Rafael Calderon. The massive
For the moment, since the elections, given to this the army general staff has constantly leaves no doubt about Washington's proclaimed its support for Duarte's preferences. It wants to take advantage "democratically elected" government and of the decline in the credibility of the respect for the Constitution. This Monge government, which attitude is not by chance. It corresponds as still not hard line enough, in order to the imperialists new tactic and their to put in a candidate who is centering project of installing civilian governments his campaign around the danger that in place of the old military cliques. This is supposedly poses to Costa designed, moreover, to assure the survival Rica and criticism of Monge for his of the regime, and reinforce the state lack of support for the American apparatus, while modernizing the army in order to adjust it better to the needs of PUSC leaders counterinsurgency warfare. private that Calderon's first decision
In Costa Rica, if he were elected would be to break is unfolding in a different context. off diplomatic relations with Nicaragua. This country has an electoral tradition Moreover, some political observers think and a well defined framework of legality. that if the PUSC wins, there is no doubt It is ruled today by the National Libera- that US bases would be established on tion Party (PLN), which is linked to the Costa Rican territory. Socialist International. Given the growing ineffectiveness of
The objective of these elections the old military dictatorships and the is to confirm the realignment crisis of the oligarchic system of dominaCosta Rica and its open support for the establishment counterrevolutionary elected" governments is essential for the electoral process is to be used to create a imperialists and for their domination of consensus for this by undermining the This policy is made more country's tradition of peace and neutrality, which is incompatible with the mili- revolutionary movements, by the extent tarization that is underway. of the decay of these regimes, and by
The breakup of the political consensus contradictions in these that reigned in recent years is leading to a reorganization of the traditional electoral policy is obviously political forces. The PLN went into an an integral part of the counterrevolucrisis after President Monge's tionary policy, but as the Guatemalan Revolutionary acceptance of the stationing of US Green Armed forces (FAR) say, "this is not just Berets in the country. a maneuver" and regarding these elections through Reagan's "as a comedy and a farce could lead us to Republican Party, the imperialists are make serious political errors." supporting the Social Christian Unity These electoral maneuvers are designed
Czechoslovak dissidents solidarise with Nicaragua
On May 8, 1985 the French daily Le monde published an appeal for solidarity the capitalist countries.
Ten new signatures have since been added to the original list. These signatories place among these militants.
The taking of this position, which cannot fail to embarrass the Prague bureaurights in Eastern Europe as well as the struggle of those imperialism. Basically this appeal will not please either Reagan or Gorbachev.
Amongst the new signatories are Peter Uhl, a member of VONS (Committee the Communist Party, elected at the fourteenth congress, eight current spokesperson of Charter 77.
to ma sit of cu ag:
att ml is the to isolate the revolutionary movement, to create illusions in certain sections of the dir
"who do not see revolution the as a real and immediate perspective." It
COl is not possible to ignore this process in a
SOl
"without isolating ourdifficult period in selves from the popular masses 18)
to mi
The big squeeze cal ob exi
The combined military and political en:
offensive of the imperialists, the realignin ment and reorganization of the forces the on a regional scale, as well as the modernflic ization of armaments and the profesmil sionalization of the bourgeois armies, the are creating a more difficult situation for ter the revolutionary movements
In Guatemala, the armed organizagro tions have suffered reverses. In the words reg of the FAR itself, they are going through ty.
a "difficult situation." (19) The effect of it the bombing, the regrouping of the poputer lation in
"model" villages in the frameter work of so-called Civic Action programs yol plus the creation of the
"self-defense"
wit patrols have enabled the army to retake fro control of fin:
certain zones that were formerly held by the guerrillas.
fav
The guerrillas have been analo not nihilated, but they have been forced retreat, organizing mobile guerrilla units that no longer control territory and
De are relatively cut off from their social base.
In El Salvador, the army is taking its inspiration from the new politicalass military tactic applied in
Guatemala.
According to the
US advisors themin selves a status quo is being maintained the and a military victory is not on the of agenda. Although the 32,000 soldiers of
Who make up the official army are better int and better trained, they cannot defeat the the
5,000 to 7,000 guerrillas "who can still cor strike where and when they want,"
the
American colonel
Edward
King
US put it.
An
However, the bombing is having terrible effects. The FLMN's lack of heavy armament and anti-aircraft weapons is limiting its capacities for
Panorama,
Mexico,
April 1985 balance sheet of the national leadership of FAR (June-
July 1984).
Idem.
International Viewpoint 1 July 1985
action. The FMLN guerrillas are obliged about quickly in in order to escape the night-time patrols, army has been able to retake some villages for a time.
Nonetheless, the dynamism of some mobilizations, movement is reorganizing in the new situation, shows that a rapid denouement of the conflict is not on the horizon.
In Nicaragua, despite enormous diffithe revolution is holding out against imperialist aggression and attempts to strangle it economically and militarily. The mission of the contras is to undermine the popular support for the Sandinista government through economic sabotage and a military offensive directed against civilian targets, forcing
Sandinista government to considerable human and financial resources to defense. The idea in this way private capital will be able to exploit the crisis in order to undermine the mass movement.
Militarily and politically, the contra has failed to objectives. It has been unable, for example, to win a social base that would enable the contras to eneyst themselves in Nicaraguan territory. To the contrary, the blows that the Sandinistas have inflicted have obliged the contras to avoid confrontations themselves to murderous raids on scat-
However, to inflict losses on small groups enjoying a sanctuary in Honduras requires overwhelming military superiority. These needs of military defense make it necessary to organize an effective territorial defense through setting up territorial combat brigades and mobilizing youth in the Patriotic Military Service, with all the human problems that flow from this. The activities of the contras, finally, are creating a focus of tensions favorable to all sorts of provocations along Nicaragua's frontiers. Democracy under the gun
Thus, all the conditions have been assembled for making the Central American crisis a long-drawn-out conflict in which the American strategists and their local allies are pursuing a policy of attrition and gradual strangulation of the revolutionary forces locally and internationally in order to prepare the way for carrying out a massive confrontation at the least cost.
To accomplish this objective, the g US imperialists have first to prepare American public opinion for such g a confrontation. That is the meaning f of the battle over credits for the contras in the Congress and Senate. They also have to make sure that the human cost of an invasion of Nicaragua is as limited getting bogged down as they did in Vietnam. The US has to be able to wage 35 International Viewpoint 1 July 1985 democracy, and this means that they have to find presentable partners in these
Finally, the US imperialists have to overcome or neutralize the reticence of the Latin American bourgeoisies, which opposed to any direct intervention under the present conditions of social explosiveness that exist on the continent.
The points scored by Ronald Reagan's policy in Central America makes Nicaragua the key to the situation in the region. Any defeat for Nicaragua will be a defeat for the revolutionary movements. Conversely, Nicaragua cannot hope in the get help from another revolutionary victory. Reagan is counting on time to tighten the noose around the choice. It is giving priority to the war effort. It has first to crush the armed counterrevolution. Otherwise, it faces the danger that the activities of the contras я318 can serve as a pretext for an imperialist provocation, whatever form it might take, a punitive expedition or invasion.
This war effort cannot fail to cause economic and social problems. FSLN has at the same time to deepen popular support for the revolution by appropriate compromising the neutrality of certain sectors, of reinforcing the internal opposition and seeing the international bourgeoisies line up more openly behind
Despite the military aggression and scarcities, the maintenance of a pluralist democracy in Nicaragua is an unprecedented fact that must be publicized by an international campaign of support to expose the shameless demagogy of the crusaders for "freedom." 20. Latin America Regional Report, Mexico rand Central America, published in London, 15 February, 1985: