Chuck Grimes wrote:
>And then argue history over how the US Left Nicaragua resistance
>flourished under Reagan--as if it wouldn't have done even better under
>Carter and Mondale. For example, there would have been left support
>for the Sandanistas, including community project participation from
>here, and without the same executive branch underground war against
>them. The result might have been a lot fewer dead people at the very
>least.
Are you serious? Carter was the one who set the table for Reagan in Salvador, arming the security forces there despite the pleas of Archbishop Romero, who directly told Carter that thousands would die if the money flowed. Carter ignored Romero, the money and arms flowed, and Romero was assassinated. Mondale campaigned to the right of Reagan on Nicaragua -- indeed, he called for a quarantine of the country! Dukakis in his campaign said that if the Sandinistas ever acquired Soviet MiGs to defend themselves, then he as president would invade.
Again, it began with Carter, who held onto Somoza for as long as he could, then oversaw the rearming of the National Guard in Honduras, who were initially trained by Argentine officers.
Any left support for the Sandinistas came from the grassroots, not from the top of the Dem party.
DP