editorial
Nicaragua makes
a peace initiative
Once again Nicaragua has publicly challenged the
Reagan administration. Not with any military build-up or
threat to invade Honduras and Costa Rica. Instead, the San
danistas have challenged Reagan with a more powerful
weapon: diplomacy.
On Saturday, the Sandanistas officially stated that they
will sign the 80 page document known as the Contadora
peace plan, provided the United States respects the agree
ment. The stated purpose of the Contadora group (Mexico,
Venezuela, Colombia, and Panama) has been to try and
establish a political solution to the current crisis in Central
America.
Among other things, the 21 points of the peace plan call
for each of the five Central American nations to commit
themselves to free and open elections, to eliminate all
foreign military bases and training centers, to stop arms
shipments to any groups of people seeking to destabilize
governments, and to establish a military balance between
nations in the region.
In the past, die Sandanistas have been reluctant to sign
the Contadora plan without a promise from the United States
that it cease hostilities against Nicaragua. Initially, Reagan
claimed that he supported the Contadora process, arguing
that Nicaragua’s reluctance to sign the peace proposal was
another example of the Sandanistas’ refusal to help establish
democracy and peace in the region.
By agreeing to sign the plan the Sandanistas have now
turned the tables on the United States. If Reagan refuses to
accept the Contadora peace plan, then he will be sending a
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never has been dedicated to a political solution to the grow
ing violence in Central America.
Already the Reagan administration has responded to
Nicaragua’s support of the peace plan with criticism. Accor
ding to State Department officials, even if Nicaragua signs
the plan there is no guarantee that the Sandanistas will
reduce their reliance on Soviet weapons and stop military
support of the Salvadoran guerillas.
United States allies in the region (El Salvador, Hon
duras, and Guatemala) who once claimed to support the
Contadora peace plan are now waivering in their commit
ment to sign the agreement. It appears that to the United
States and its Central American allies, the Contadora peace
plan was only of value as long as Nicaragua didn’t agree to
it.
Nicaragua’s desire to cooperate with the Contadora na
tions has brought to light the hypocrisy of Reagan’s policy in
Central America. While mouthing slogans of diplomacy, the
United States has been promoting one of the biggest military
build-ups in Central American history.
Although Reagan claims that the Nicaraguans are the
key military supporters of the Salvadoran rebels, three years
of intensive surveillance by the United States have not yeild
ed even one cache of arms en route from Nicaragua to El
Salvador.
Reagan calls Nicaragua a “totalitarian dungeon.’’ Yet
no death squads operate in Nicaragua and no mutilated
bodies are found beside dusty roads. By contrast, in El
Salvador, a country which Reagan describes as
“democratic,’’ an average of 140 people were killed each
month during 1983 by military and paramilitary units, ac
cording to the State Department’s own records.
European leaders have announced their support for the
Contadora peace process and many praise Nicaragua for its
agreement to sign the plan. Meanwhile, the Reagan ad
ministration is busy with it’s own Central American peace
process: sending more military equipment to El Salvador,
Honduras and Guatemala.
r
letters
Better next time
As I walked toward my first
class on Thursday morning, I
began to wonder how the
previous day’s IFC elections
would be reported by the
Emerald. Most of my thoughts
centered around trivial aspects,
such as the size and choice of
quotations.
What I found, however, was
an article in which all but the
first two paragraphs were
devoted to allegations of “dirty
politics” against four of the
seven members. For a moment I
thought I had accidently picked
up one of those trashy cash
register tabloids instead of the
Emerald.
If your reporter had bothered
to question the individual
members of the committee, she
might have received a different,
more accurate view of what ac
tually transpired in the days
before the chair/vice-chair
elections.
First off, the article neglected
to acknowledge that I spoke
with both Apalategui and
Lieberman individually for
about an hour. During that time,
I attempted to learn more about
the two probable candidates for
the committee chair. The
dialogue of these conversations
roamed over various topics from
summer jobs to policies if
elected to the chair, in hopes
that I might be able to make a
choice beneficial to the commit
tee as a whole.
There were also allegations
that we were somehow
"pressured” into supporting
Lieberman after this meeting.
Not true! No vote selling took
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m
place in the meeting between
Lieberman, Jackson, Rowell,
and myself, and further, my
decision was never fully finaliz
ed until I marked my ballot.
I would hope that in the
future your reporters would
stick to the business at hand in
stead of printing allegations
made by one committee
member. If you decide to choose
the latter course of action, 1 can
only hope that you will have the
decency to consult the people
about whom you are writing, to
ensure the validity of the allega
tions. I know it might take a lit
tle more time and energy to
compile an accurate story, but
“inquiring minds want to
know!”
Lloyd Anthearn
IFC Member
Harsh reality
It’s all so simple sometimes
that it makes me sick to watch
our politicians. Nobody I know
would watch their neighbor
starve as long as they had extra
food. Ask yourself this, would
you help your neighbor if it
really came down to it?
If you say that you wouldn’t
than you might as well jump off
a bridge because when it comes
down to it you’re of no use to
your own kind. As a matter of
fact, I’ll drive you to the nearest
bridge, but I’ll take the long
way because everyone, even
you, has a purpose for living.
We must realize that all the
other countries in the world are
our neighbors. Would you give
your neighbor a gun to take
something from someone else
down the street? I wouldn’t and
I don’t think you would either.
Would you aim a gun at your
neighbor and threaten him day
and night? This is what our
politicians do. Is this the kind of
neighborhood you want to live
in?
As neighbors we have gotten
so bad that we can’t even share
the neighborhood that we live
in. When will our world
leaders, the heads of this
neighborhood, have the
strength and wisdom to go out
in the streets and shake hands.
When will they learn how to get
along with each other? They
must if our neighborhood and
the people in it are going to
survive.
Walt Zabel
Livermore, Ca.
Poor taste
One cannot but agree with
Miss Dahlin’s letter in the
Emerald (Sept.27) concerning
sororities celebrating things we
judge to be in poor taste. Why.
just the other day 1 was walking
up 13th street towards the
Honor’s College, when I spied
two females festooning what
seemed to be a miniature mesa
on the lawn of a sorority.
The women were adorned in
brown fur and wearing coyote
head masks, and their house
was decorated with boulders
and false cliffs. It looked like a
macabre staging of a southwest
econiche, complete with fauna.
I asked one of the XX
chromosomals if they were
deliberately festooning with an
Anasazi, Hohkam or Gallina
black-on-white theme. They
responded that they were
celebrating the Road Runner.
1 am sanctimonious and so
should anyone be who enjoys
feeling superior. The Road
Runner is an appalling part of
the world*8 cartoon industry. It
is an affront to thousands of en
dangered species and conserva
tionists to stage mock black and
white paint-tunnel sketches
around a theme of sadism and
lycanthropy. The Road Runner
is a violence festooned cartoon.
The Road Runner theme is. in
itself, really gross. But how
wonderful it is to find people
over whom one can feel
preeminence.
Matthew Ruane
Graduate, Anthropology
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