Word: cruz
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...Sandino Airport last week left little doubt about their opinion of the Marxist-led Sandinista government. "Democracy, yes! Communism, no!" they chanted. "With Arturo in the seat there'll be plenty to eat. Arturo is the future." The small but vocal crowd had turned out to welcome Arturo Cruz, 60, a former junta member and Ambassador to Washington, who was back home from self-imposed exile in the U.S. to run as an opposition candidate in the Nicaraguan elections scheduled for Nov. 4. But the jubilation was short-lived. No sooner had Cruz tossed his hat into the ring...
First the widely respected Cruz was named presidential candidate of the Coordinadora, an anti-Sandinista umbrella group composed of three political parties, a business organization and two independent trade unions. Then, five days later, he announced that he would not participate in the elections. "I cannot run for President if there are not sufficient guarantees for free and open elections," Cruz explained. "We are not playing a trick on the Sandinistas. But we do not want a trick to be played on the Nicaraguan people...
...Cruz had apparently hoped that by returning home to challenge Junta Coordinator Daniel Ortega Saavedra for the presidency, he might be able to pressure the Sandinistas into making concessions, such as a general amnesty and opening talks with U.S.-backed anti-Communist contra guerrillas. But that tactic only drew scorn from the Managua regime. The Sandinista newspaper, Barricada, charged that Cruz had presented his candidacy "like an intermediary of the mercenaries, financed by President Reagan and the CIA." Said Sandinista Directorate Member Bayardo Arce: "Why should we talk to the clowns when we can talk to the circus owners...
...before Cruz withdrew from the presidential race, two of the largest contra factions concluded a unity pact in Panama City, joining their political and military organizations on the northern and southern Nicaraguan fronts under a single directorate. The document, signed by representatives of the Nicaraguan Democratic Front (F.D.N.) and the Democratic Revolutionary Alliance (ARDE), called for the establishment of a pluralistic democracy in Nicaragua and urged "all lovers of liberty to unite so that tyranny can be eradicated and Soviet expansion in the hemisphere blocked." Contra leaders said they would support Cruz...
...coalition of opposition parties said at week's end that it had nominated former Junta Member Arturo Cruz, who is expected to return this week from voluntary exile in the U.S., as its presidential candidate. The opposition insists, however, that it will not enter the race until the Sandinistas lift the state of emergency and relax other controls over the country. Reacting to the Sandinistas' announcement, President Reagan declared that "no person committed to democracy will be taken in by a Soviet-style sham election...