Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 29, 1978)
opinion tom fhompson Somozas have failed Nicaragua Editor’s note: Tom Thompson is an assis tant professor of political science at the University who specializes in international affairs. His column will appear every two weeks in the Emerald. For several weeks now the Somoza dynasty, which has ruled Nicaragua as a family fiefdom for 42 years, has seemed to be coming apart at the seams. With the coordinated attack by guerillas of the San dinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) on eight Nicaraguan cities Sept. 9, the political crisis in Nicaragua exploded. Yet General Anastasio Somoza Debayle manages to cling to power. His 10,000-man National Guard has retaken six cities and for the time being appears to be putting down the popularly supported civil rebel lion. If ever a dictator deserved to be over thrown it is General Somoza. The 52-year old General insists that his government is a bulwark against communism in Central America, and repeatedly has accused Cuban leader Fidel Castro of financing, training and supplying the guerilla forces of the FSLN, which have plagued Somoza in creasingly in recent years. General Somoza’s charges, however, seem to be primarily a smokescreen to draw attention away from himself. The fact is that the Somoza leadership is virtually without redeeming political or so cial value for Nicaragua, or for the rest of the world. The political power of the original Somoza, Anastasio (Old Tacho) Somoza Garcia, father of the current president, had its origins in the second of two U.S. Marine meanwhile, back in the swza Sunken. . interventions in Nicaragua: 1912-1925 and 1926-1933. The Marines trained a police force to con trol turbulent Nicaraguan politics, and they worked through “Old Tacho.” When the Marines finally pulled out in 1933, they left “Old Tacho” a present: A combined army and national police force known as the Na tional Guard, well-trained and well equipped, by U S. instructors and with U.S. funds. During 45 years of Somoza rule, the U.S. has not only trained and armed the National Guard, but propped up the Nicaraguan economy and given the Somozas continu ing political support. The Carter administration apparently has stopped military aid to Somoza and in July the Senate wisely ended U.S. training of the Somoza National Guard. The French newspaper Le Monde recently reported that on Sept. 13, Viron Vaky, the newly appointed U.S. assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs, told a closed session of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the Carter ad ministration was pressuring General Somoza to resign. The Somozas have run Nicaragua as though it were a cattle spread in the Wild West days. They have thoughtfully cut themselves in on every business in the na tion. Through the family and its connections, General Somoza owns outright or controls the national airlines, at least 30 percent of the prime farmland, cement, meat-packing, lilt- id i i cityi tiscaii i uiim w>ivi viv piai uo, a construction monopoly, a newspaper and t.v. station and a port called — you guessed it _ Puerto Somoza. Somoza contrails the country's financial system, too. Opposition leaders — including businessmen, industrialists, workers, cam pesinos, and students — have demanded Somoza’s resignation. Somoza accepted an offer from the Car ter Administration to help set up negotia tions between the general and his foes. But his expensive American public relations men now have a difficult time representing Nicaragua as a "democracy" and a "Free World” ally. Somoza has done virtually nothing for his people, half of whom are illiterate. Yet the Somoza family is said to be worth about $500 million. Even when disaster struck Nicaragua, in the form of the 1972 earth quake that levelled the capital city of Man agua, Somoza responded characteris tically and quickly — by making a financial killing. In a conciliatory moment, Somoza re cently offered to step down when his term expires in 1981 and to hold "free" elections for his successor. General Somoza's re tirement at that time would not likely have any positive effect on life in Nicaragua. The current dictator’s 26 year-old son, already a major in the National Guard and head of a recently created elite unit person ally loyal to him, will be ready to get firmly in the saddle and continue family rule. The “free" elections would be “postponed.” No matter what else happens, Nicaragua is in for more exploitation, bloodshed and strife. Student liked campus office Although i am no longer a stu dent at Oregon I would like to say that during my two years at UO one of the best discoveries I made was the Office of Student Services and the excellent counseling it can offer. They can help a student if they’re on probation, need advice on their degree and career choice, have a conflict with the school or staff or would like information on the Lifelong Learning Services or the Physically Limited Students Services. Located in Oregon Hall, the staff in this office provides per sonal, friendly, caring and effec tive advice and help for students with academic and even personal problems. Kit Hill, Senior, psychology Cal State, Hayward fetters pdcy The Emerald will accept and try to print all letters and opinion columns containing fair comment on ideas and topics of concern or interest to the University community. Letters and opinions must be typewritten, using 65-char acter margins, and should be triple-spaced. Letters and opinions must be signed, with the author's year and field of study (or faculty status) noted. Letters and opinions will be run on a first-come first-served basis. 'You wnt asuit, \ sor ASurr— so, vwwwer pit? i say youp like the w theirs_ Problems remain after Camp David From tha Satwn Capitol Journal The United States is trying to preserve the “Spirit of Camp David” in pressing for further steps to bring a permanent peace to the Middle East. And no one thought the task would be easy. The euphoria that greeted the signing of the Camp David ac cords quickly evaporated as Is raeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat began talking pub licly about the issues that still di vide them deeply. As expected, the accords drew a hostile response from other Arab nations and the Palestine Liberation Organization. President Carter reportedly took Sadat and Begin aside after his address to a joint session of Congress and urged them to cool their public rhetoric before they pushed the peace effort back into a stalemate. We assume that both Begin and Sadat, and especially Begin, were talking for home consumption. Begin gave up a great deal more than some of his more militant supporters view as acceptable trade-offs for peace. He faces a difficult job of selling the agree ments to the Israelis. Sadat also has problems, al though his primary opponents are not in Egypt but in the other Arab nations. No one will fault Carter if the peace negotiations crumble. He achieved more at Camp David than anyone thought possible. But the issue is not whether Jimmy Carter will go down in history as a great peacemaker, but whether there will in fact be peace in the Middle East. The United States must keep the pressure on both Begin and Sadat to follow through with the provisions of the accords and to bring the other Middle East na tions into tho fnlH
