Word: nicaragua
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...overheated charges and countercharges threaten to obscure the real stakes, which are unquestionably high. Supporting the overthrow of a foreign government, even a detestable one, is a radical act that has brought the U.S. to grief before. In the case of Nicaragua, it risks prolonging civil war, justifying further internal repression by the regime and heightening tensions all through the region. Yet Western countries have felt compelled in the past to protect their national interests by interfering with foreign governments. Communist regimes do it almost by definition. Unquestionably, the Sandinistas in pursuit of Soviet-style Marxism pose a genuine threat...
...deep uncertainty in Congress and the nation makes the debate over what should be done about the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua all the more important. The argument so far has been waged with rhetoric that is more emotional than enlightening. Before the vote, Administration spokesmen warned that anyone opposing aid to the contras would be regarded as "soft on Communism." Wagging a finger toward the Democratic side of the aisle, G.O.P. Congressman Henry Hyde of Illinois charged that "history is going to assign to you folks the role of pallbearers to democracy in Central America." Such attacks predictably backfired among...
...outcome and the close vote (222 to 210) reflected the public's own confusion and wariness over the Administration's policy in Central America. For Reagan, accustomed to winning the big ones that he cares about and works for, it was a significant political setback. Nonetheless, the debate over Nicaragua is in fact just heating up. Under intense lobbying from the White House, the Republican-controlled Senate is expected to pass the contra aid package this week. Within three weeks the matter will be right back on the House floor...
...White House Communications Director Patrick Buchanan. "We will never give up," vowed the President as he posed for photographers with three contra leaders who had flown to Washington to plead with legislators on Capitol Hill. He held up a button that read IF YOU LIKE CUBA, YOU'LL LOVE NICARAGUA...
...President is not guilty of posturing about the Nicaraguan threat. He truly believes. To him, Nicaragua's Ortega, in his Castro-style fatigues, is not merely a Third World revolutionary who delights in tweaking Uncle Sam, but an agent of the Kremlin, bent on spreading Communism through the hemisphere. When the question of what to do about the Sandinistas comes up at National Security Council meetings, Reagan assumes what one aide calls his "Churchillian mode." The normally amiable and relaxed President sits up straight in his chair; his eyes flash, his lips tighten, and his hands ball up into fists...