Word: sandinistas
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After the Sandinista regime took power in Nicaragua 27 months ago, two symbols showed that pluralism and democracy could somehow coexist with a leftist revolution. One was the fiercely independent newspaper La Prensa, which has become an increasingly vocal critic of the nine-man Sandinista directorate. The other was the Superior Council of Private Enterprise, known by its Spanish acronym COSEP, a politically powerful association representing the country's embattled private business sector. Earlier this month the Sandinista government threatened to close down La Prensa. Last week the Sandinistas moved against COSEP. After publicly accusing the government of egregious...
...were COSEP Directors Enrique Dreyfus, Benjamin Lanzas, Gilberto Cuadra and Enrique Bolanos. All had strongly supported the overthrow of Dictator Anastasio Somoza. They had also advocated a mixed economy of socialism and free enterprise to rebuild Nicaragua's war-torn economy. But from the beginning, according to a Sandinista document, the government had planned to give the capitalists free rein only until it was able to take over the economy. COSEP members saw their control whittled away by nationalizations of banks, some industry and agricultural holdings. The economy became dependent upon an estimated $450 million in foreign...
...declining economy, the ruling directorate declared a state of economic emergency in September, banning strikes, profiteering and the distribution of news or information deemed to be injurious to the economy. The regime was also worried about a possible counterinsurgency led by supporters of the deposed Somoza and other anti-Sandinista groups. Meanwhile, the government increased its attacks on COSEP. Junta Member Sergio Ramirez charged that the organization espoused "a systematic defense of the most primitive type of capitalism, which tries to paralyze the revolution, to resuscitate forces which hinder the revolutionary process...
...Washington, the State Department immediately said that it "deplored" the arrests, and asked the Sandinista government to "reassess the contributions these leaders have made and release them immediately." The four Nicaraguan businessmen, said a U.S. spokesmen, were part of "a longstanding tradition of opposing oppression in their country." The arrest of the COSEP leaders may raise questions about a measure, passed by the Senate but not by the House, to send $33.3 million in aid to Nicaragua...
...Sandinistas' response to this invocation of the martyred Chamorro-still a symbol of the revolution-was swift. Unless La Prensa stops criticizing the government, announced Sandinista Commandante Jaime Wheelock, the newspaper will be shut down permanently. La Prensa, said Wheelock, must "fit in with the revolution...