Page 2. Portland Observar, October 10,19B4
Thin evidence against Nicaragua
by BUI Bigtiow
The American war against N k a-
ragua grinds on. Despite the official
cut-off o f C IA funds to the counter
revolutionaries, U.S. policy remains
consistent: to create the conditions
for the overthrow o f the Sandinista
government.
In recent weeks U.S. strategy has
assumed three different but related
approaches, each aimed at smoothing
the path toward an eventual direct
military intervention:
— Assistance to the contras;
— Undermining Nicaragua's inter
national standing;
— Building the prestige o f the con
servative Nicaraguan opposition.
Though last June the Senate reluc
tantly voted to end aid to the contras,
the Reagan administration apparently
finds this mercenary war against Nica
ragua loo valuable io abandon An
investigation by Jack Anderson re
vealed that the contra aid is still fiow-
ing. The Reagan administration en
courages private foundations, church
groups, corporations and foreign
countries such as Israel, Taiwan and
Guatemala to pick up the slack in
the funding The New York Times re
ports that this funding has lotalled
over $10 million in the last six months
alone.
Nicaragua estimates a death toll of
7,400 during the last three years. In a
recent and frighteningly typical at
tack, 200 mercenaries entered the tiny
village o f Tapasle. deep in the Mata-
galpa mountains. When villagers
refused to single out members of the
voluntary police and to o l election
board, the contras randomly chose
eight young people and slit their
throats as their families looked on in
horror.
T o fairly distribute the burden of
defense throughout the entire popu
lation, the Sandinistas have resorted
to a military draft. The government
has also been forced to hold down
wage increases and other social spend
ing to pay for the war. The Reagan
administration hopes the measures
will generate divisions and intense
conflict throughout Nicaragua. In
Reagan's dream scenario the Sandi
nista party itself would buckle under
the military and economic pressure,
necessitating a "rescue mission" a la
Grenada.
The war o f words against Nica-
ragua is also escalating. Recently,
President Reagan condemned the
country as a "totalitarian dungeon"
and ridiculed Nicaragua’s upcoming
elections as a "Soviet-style sham." In
July, the U.S. Defense and State De
partments jointly released a back
ground paper which charged that Nic
aragua was “ a nerve center of subver
sion to neighboring countries” and a
"pernicious" aggressor against Nica
raguan government of trafficking co
caine to American cities.
Evidence is thin or non-existent in
all cases. One ex-C IA analyst. David
Mac Michael, said the Administra
tion's subversion report was based on
charges that "they can't back u p ,"
and the Nicaraguan government has
pointed out that, if the country is
such a large-scale arms exporter, it's
strange that not a single shipment has
yet been inteicepted. Surely the hope
o f the U.S. government is that if
enough charges are leveled against
Nicaragua — no matter how ground
less — some will stick, and an image
o f Nicaragua as a bandit nation will
emerge.
Consistent with this desire has been
the U .S .' portrayal of Nicaragua's up
coming elections as meaningless. In
fact, the elections promise to be the
most democratic in the country’s
history. A ll political parties have been
guaranteed radio and T V time in
order to argue their points o f view,
rhough Nicaragua is still at war, par
ties have been assured the right to
travel throughout the country and to
hold public assemblies.
Contrary to Reagan’s derisive char
acterization o f the elections as a one-
party race, there are actually seven
political parties contesting for presi
dent, vice-president and the 90 as
sembly seats Political perspectives of
these groups range from conservative
to liberal to Marxist-Leninist.
The U.S. government's obsession
with portraying Nicaragua as a rene
gate nation is based not on fact but
on fear. I f Americans were to see
Nicaragua successfully developing a
genuinely democratic and indepen
dent society — both politically and
economically — they might not be so
easily convinced that all third world
revo.utionaries are puppets o f the
'soviet Union. U.S. policymakers
would then be forced that much clos
er to admitting the underlying eco
nomic
factors
motivating
their
McCoy on the issues
decisions.
Ariuro Jose Cruz returned to M a
nagua in July and announced his in
tention to run for President o f Nica
ragua. Cruz, former Nicaraguan am
bassador to the U .S .. and now darling
o f that country’s right wing, imme
diately assumed the leadership o f the
Democratic
Coordinating
Com
mittee (C D N ), an alliance o f the Pri
vate Enterprise Council (C O SEP) and
three conservative parties. The group
has been characterized by the
Washington Post as “ weak, poorly
organized and incapable of serving as
a political alternative in Nicaragua."
But despite Cruz' announced elec
toral aims, the C D N had little to gain
from participating in the elections —
no observers gave the alliance a prayer
of winning — and much to lose: its
claim to be representative o f popular
opinion in the country. Thus, Cruz
and company began making demands
upon the Nic-.raguan government
they knew would not be met, in order
to justify their ultimate decision to
boycott the elections, they wanted the
elections supervised by foreign coun
tries — not just observed, but con
trolled by non-Nicaraguans Other
preconditions included an end to the
military draft and an agreement by
the Sandinistas to enter into negotia
tions with the contras, whom most
Nicaraguans see as mass murderers.
These were set as preconditions for
participation, rather than as part of a
platform on which the C D N could
run and test its popularity.
The winners of this spoof on de
mocracy are: the Reagan administra
tion, which can now claim lhat the
Sandinistas "excluded" the opposi
tion and really are anti-demos ratic;
the contras, whose prestige was en
hanced by Cruz' recognition o f them
as a legitimate politicai force; and
Cruz’ own C D N alliance, which is
now being trumpeted by the U.S. as
the real democratic alternative in
Nicaragua.
Taken together, the components of
U.S. strategy towards Nicaragua aim
at laying the groundwork for a possi
ble military intervention I f all goes
aocording to plan the contra attacks
will continue to weaken Nicaragua
economically and undermine popular
support for the Sandinistas. A t the
same time Reagan, the Great Com
municator, will attempt to deceive
McCormick:
Americans and Ute world that Nica
ragua has become a dope-dealing,
revolution - exporting, totalitarian
nightmare, and hat to be removed.
Meanwhile, the Administration will
lionize the Cruz alliance as the genu
ine democrats o f Nicaragua, the true
proponents o f Sandinismo. For his
part, Arturo Cruz will use his new
found prominence to turn the world
against Nicaragua and position him
self to be leader when the Americans
invade.
A big question mark, as the Reagan
administration orchestrates its pre
texts for a military intervention, is
die consciousness o f the American
people. Daniel O nega, Sandinista
leader and candidate for Nicara
gua’s president, believes that the an
swer lies with Americans who un
derstand the true situation in his
country. The battle for Nicaragua, he
said recently, "must be fought with
in the United Sûtes."
KEN BERRY
B la c k R e p u b lic a n s
h o st D ig n ita rie s
The Oregon Black Republican
Council is very delighted and honored
to have in our d ty the following dis
tinguished individuals:
—Samuel Pierce, Housing and
Urban Development Secretary, who is
one o f the highest ranking cabinet
members in the Reagan Adminis
tration.
— Mrs. LcOree Daniels, chairper
son o f the National Black Repub
lican Council.
— Dr. Edward Victor H ill, pastor
since 1961 o f M t. Zion Missionary
Baptist Church o f Los Angeles, C al
ifornia
— Don Newcombe. baseball star
for many years, now lecturer.
The following agenda is planned
for the Portland area starting Tues
day, October 16:
Breakfast— Holiday Inn Coliseum,
7.-00 a .m ., $10.00 per person. Limited
seating, so please come early or call
249-0711 to reserve your seating.
Dinner— Red Lion M o tor Inn,
Portland Center. 5:30, N o Host Bar;
6:30, Dinner, $17.00 per person;
7:30, Program. Please call for reser
vations at 228-0616.
LILLY TAM URA
c la u d ia
M c D uffie
Help for United Way
Four area residents are on loan
from their employers this fall to help
United W ay o f the Cohim bia-W il-
lamette reach its $16.3 million goal.
Joining United W ay as Loaned Ex
ecutives are: Ken Berry, administra
tive
assistant,
Portland
Public
Schools; Kathi Harvey, driver, T ri-
Met; Claudia M cD uffie, classroom
teacher, Portland Public Schools and
Lilly Tamura, personnel analyst.
City o f Portland.
Loaned Executives come from a
variety o f fields, including govern
ment, education and private indus
try. But, for the next ten weeks will
combine their talent a salespeople,
fundraisers, public speakers and ne
gotiators collectively raising more
than 60*/. o f the total campaign
revenues.
Throughout the campaign, the 82
Loaned Executives seek corporate
contributions and assist company
campaign chairmen conduct em
ployee giving drives.
Campaign ’84 is scheduled to end
with a Victory Dinner Tuesday, Nov.
27 at the Hilton Hotel.
Uiiited W ay o f the Columbia-
Wilhimette serves 97 agencies in
Clark, Clackamas, Multnom ah and
Washington Counties.
RAINBOW RALLY
AT
Pioneer Courthouse Square
Saturday, October 20th
1P M
Nothing groat wroa aver achlavad
without anthualaam • Emareon.
j ob development
For more Inform ation, call 283-0090
Continued from Page 1 Col. B)
The plan was originally endorsed
by some parents, the Urban ».’ague
and the N A A C P . However, the even
tual scattering o f Black students,
who bore the desegregation efforts,
raised outcries from the Black com
munity. But M cCoy attributed the
problem to an individual who did not
want a middle school in her neighbor
hood. "She did not want Black chil
dren from the inner city brought in.
The District did not desegregate on
the basis o f race but on providing the
best program for our students.”
M cC oy said the scattering of
Black children occurred in advance of
the formation o f middle schools
"T he Board spent time trying to get
school funding levies passed. This set
us b ack." However, she admitted,
“ W e were not sensitive to the fact that
we had so many kids going to so
many different schools "
After the mobilization of the Black
community and two school boycotts,
the unfair provisions in the plan were
shelved M cCoy is criticized today for
her continuous support o f the plan,
even after independent research vali
dated its negative impact on Black
students.
She refused to respond to this criti
cism. "Some people were critical
while others were supportive. The is
sue is not relevant to the C ity Council.
I'm not going to rehash it,” she
quipped
As County Commissioner, M cCoy
said her presence was not always
felt in the d ty . "B ut when people had
problems we just solved it ." She
maintained an active commitment to
senior citizens, developed a short
term youth employment program, the
911 emergency phone number, sured
up the financial stability o f the library
system and supported health services
for low-income residents
Critics stated M cCoy was silent on
a number o f other issues facing her
Northeast
constituencies.
"Even
though the Northeast was my dis
trict, policies that were made at the
county level were reflected in the un
incorporated areas of the City,
M cCoy said as City Commissioner
she will be able to do more because of
quantitative and qualitative increases
in resources coupled with the ability
to operate witltin any boundary in
the dty.
McCoy has been called a tradition
alist who sometimes represents th-
status quo. Her name fam ilian., ■'
(Continuad from Paga 1 Col. 41
«fr*. t ë f i s z ’ A i -
Paid for by tbs Oragon Rainbow Organizing Comirwttea. Kay Sohi Traaaurar
His main campaign issue is job
development. “ Oregon is one o f five
states in the union with chronic un
employment. I have a history o f creat
ing jobs in the private sector that
shows fiscal responsibility. The City
Council would show strong, affirm a
tive leadership by working with all
communities in Portland to bring
jobs to the Sute. Portland is the win
dow o f Oregon and my 17 years in
business will bring this about."
T o beef up the City's Affirm ative
action record, McCormick said he
would employ a group o f "lean,
mean private businessmen to provide
commendable. But it is not worth the
rest o f Ballot Measure No. I," she
concluded.
Herndon said communities o f color
would suffer disproportionately if
this measure passes. " I t is document
ed that when police officers had the
choice to give citations or make ar
rests. Black people were arrested in
much higher percentages than other
groups. The likelyhood o f abuse is
too high. The individual rights of
Oregonians will slowly erode if it
passes."
quality leadership with strong follow-
through" to address the problem.
H e said his Affirm ative Action
record at his many restaurants "is ex
cellent." “ I don’t know how many I
employ but one o f the people I do is
Charles Jordan’s brother. I don't dis
criminate on the basis o f sex, age or
race.”
McCormick said his advisors have
narrowed the field of other City
Council candidates down to seven se
rious contenders. "A n d the Black
community is not going to be dis
enfranchised if I'm elected. The proof
is in the pudding o f my 17 years in
business."
BACON
ARMOUR
PAN SIZE
SAVE
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PKG
LUNCH MEATS
ARMOUR
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® 00
T h e Black U nited Front
T eenage Care Project - 232 9751
A Public Sarvtca of t h .
10 T« 12 ax
HOTDOGS
P o rtla n d ( M o o n a t
ARMOUR
Portland W o m e n 's Crisis Line
with an expeienced political base
places her in an advantageous posi
tion with voters in a dty-wide race.
She expects a victory in November
and predicts a run-off election. " I'v e
proven my worth as a decision maker
to recognize issues and cut through
red tape io solve problems That type
o f background is important to the
d ty ."
Ballot Measure No. 8
voters have turned down Prison Bond
levies,” Hertzmark added.
She does not expect the measure io
impact criminal but everyday citi
zens " W e want to see victims have a
greater role within the criminal justice
system. And there are aspects in Bal
lot No. 8 already available under ex
isting laws."
Hertzmark said only one provi
sion o f this measure lhat enfranchises
victim’s rights. "Requiring the Parole
Board to notify victims and prosecu
tors o f upcoming parole hearings is
(Continued from Paga 1 Col. BI
232 9751
A Public S w v ic . ot t h .
P o rtla n d C M o t n t r
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IE N O W S
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