Word: sandinistas
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TIME's continuing concern about events in Nicaragua is reflected once again in this week's cover stories on the controversy over U.S. aid to the contra rebels fighting the Marxist-leaning Sandinista regime. That interest prompted the magazine to station a full-time correspondent in Managua, Nicaragua's capital, more than half a year ago to maintain a firsthand perspective on the country's policies and problems...
...Capitol Hill, however, House Speaker Thomas P. O'Neill Jr. (D-Mass.) said calls and telegrams to his office were showing public resistance to Reagan's request to send money to the Contras fighting the Sandinista government in Managua...
...Administration's opponents argue that aiding the contras would make it more rather than less likely that the U.S. might become further involved militarily. Even with increased aid, the hard-pressed contras cannot possibly force the Sandinistas to relinquish their tight hold on the country (see box). The more the U.S. becomes committed to the goal of changing the fundamental nature of the Sandinista regime, the more likely it is that American forces will seem necessary...
...year ago, some 15,000 contras operated across almost a third of Nicaragua, their campaign underwritten by U.S. aid. Today, crippled in part by Congress's < fickle approach to supplying aid, only some 4,000 remain in Nicaragua; the rest have been forced by a vigorous Sandinista counteroffensive to retreat across the border. Nicaraguan Defense Minister Humberto Ortega Saavedra has said that the contras have "totally lost the initiative." For once, the American military seems to agree with the Sandinistas. Admits General John Galvin, commander of the U.S. Southern Command: "They need training, they need advice in terms of strategy...
...Sandinista troops, on the other hand, are bolder and better equipped than ever. The combination of Soviet-built Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopters with heavy artillery has overwhelmed the rebels. Cuban advisers have tightened up the Sandinistas' communications and coordination...