X & DP

[Dennis Perrin/Nancy Bauer]

>Lenin, too, tried to persuade his central committee not to ban the death
>penalty, and the failure of the Hungarian revolutionaries to execute the
>reactionaries was one they paid for with their lives.
>
>Up against the wall with them, I say
>-- 
>James Heartfield

Well, this is what some say doomed the Nicaraguan revolution -- no bloodbath
after the victory. Indeed, the Sandinistas allowed counterrevolutionaries
like Jeane Kirkpatrick (arm-in-arm with Violeta Chamorro) to call for an
overthrow of their government in downtown Managua. Can't say that Castro
would have allowed that. The Western-educated Sandinistas clearly were going
for style points with the American media, and for the most part, it didn't
matter. Even though the Salvadoran regime was far bloodier and repressive,
the Sandinistas were painted as Stalinist goons, regardless of their record.
But then if they wiped out UNO, the US may have openly invaded. They were
fucked no matter what their approach.

DP