Word: nicaragua
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...long years, we've had this senseless policy of sending our tax dollars to soldiers in Nicaragua," Gephardt said. "Last Wednesday night we decided in the House of Representatives that we couldn't wait untilNovember to change America...
...month-long cease-fire, confines armed contras to three zones, prohibits delivery of military aid and requires the rebels to lay down their arms at the end of the month. The contra plan was far more audacious. It demands that the Sandinistas share power with the contras and Nicaragua's internal opposition. The contras said they were not even willing ! to consider a cease-fire until the Sandinistas make extensive changes in the constitution. Though the two sides agreed to meet again next week, they seemed no closer to a settlement...
...even this moderate, judicious plan is already in jeopardy. Republican leaders in the House, miffed at losing the vote for military aid, have already sworn to sink the package. Meanwhile, Ortega pledged in a speech the day after the vote that Nicaragua would oppose any form of nonmilitary aid to the contras and made the outrageous claim that "we now have full democracy and full freedom of expression in this country." Tell that to the 9 000 political prisoners in Nicaragua and the still heavily-censored editors of La Prensa, the Nicaraguan opposition newspaper...
...which underscores the incredibly ambitious task facing the Arias Peace Plan. Despite all the lofty rhetoric that prevailed in the House chamber this week, the chances of bringing peace and democracy to Nicaragua, a country that has never known either, remain slim. Forty years of Somoza rule and another eight of a communist regime have left the country with precious little democratic institutions and heritage...
...only way the United States can possibly hope to achieve peace in Central America and to bring about the stirrings of democracy in Nicaragua is through military, diplomatic, and economic pressure on the Sandinista regime--while still honoring the Arias Plan. This does not demand a continuation of the contra war, but a recognition that some military pressure exist to prod the Sandinistas into opening up their political system. While it is naive to expect the Sandinistas to agree to a coalition government including the rebels, it is certainly not unjustified to let the Nicaraguan people decide on its government...