Word: sandinistas
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When guerrillas of the Sandinista National Liberation Front swept to power in July 1979, hopes were high that the forces that had united to overthrow hated Dictator Anastasio Somoza would join together to rebuild the war-shattered country. That did not happen. The nine-member Sandinista directorate, which is the real political power behind the country's five-man governing junta, has angered Nicaragua's nonradical friends abroad by adopting a strongly pro-Cuban and pro-Soviet foreign policy. The Sandinistas have also alienated nearly all their onetime anti-Somoza allies at home by trying to impose...
...hostility is mutual. Though COSEP Director Enrique Dreyfus insists that his organization "is not a political party," the Sandinistas regard the business community as a distinct political threat. "COSEP is not a group of businessmen," but a group of politicians , " says Interior Minister Tomás Borge, a member of the Sandinista directorate. "They question the revolution. We're not refusing to talk to them. But what we will discuss is what role they can play within the revolution...
Since 60% of U.S. assistance to Nicaragua supports the private sector, an aid cutoff might well undermine the moderate, pro-democratic groups that the U.S. wants to encourage. It would also cost the U.S. its remaining leverage with the Nicaraguan regime and could give Sandinista hard-liners an excuse to end any pretense at political pluralism and turn even more openly to the Soviet Union and its allies for support. An American diplomat in Managua, fearing the results of an aid cut off, cited an ominous parallel: "Twenty years ago in Cuba, we left no doors open. Here, there...
...with the civilian democratic opposition. It favors friendly relations with the Nicaraguan government and with the FSLN. It wants no Honduran involvement in El Salvador. It considers that open conflict with Nicaragua could prove dangerously destabilizing for Honduras and is not convinced of the possibility of defeating the new Sandinista army and militias...
...Other political and diplomatic factors also deserve our attention. The FSLN and, in general, the Nicaraguan process continue to enjoy broad international support. During their first year in government the Sandinista government has gained influence and legitimacy in international forums notably in the OAS, the UN and the non-aligned movement. The Nicaraguan government and the FSLN have opened diplomatic and party relations in most Soviet bloc countries...