<http://207.44.245.159/article7360.htm>http://207.44.245.159/article7360.htm Rumsfeld in Nicaragua : The reason?: Fallujah and SAM-7s. by Toni Solo
11/20/04 "ICH" -- Donald Rumsfeld visited Nicaragua last week. The apparent reason why seemed to be to offer moral support to President Enrique Bolaños after his disastrous showing in Nicaragua's recent municipal elections. Like US cats-paws President Gutierrez of Ecuador and President Toledo of Peru, Bolaños, with less than 10% of last week's vote, is clearly rejected by more than 90% of his people.
It is important to note that the Sandinista party led by Daniel Ortega, the FSLN, won around 45% of the vote on a turnout very similar to that of the US elections in 2000. That's pretty much the same turnout that saw supporters of President Chavez of Venezuela returned overwhelmingly to power in Venezuela's local elections at the end of October. The Sandinistas now administer over 80 municipalities in Nicaragua including almost all the main cities. The Liberal Party controls around 55 municipalities.
The party supporting Bolaños, APRE, won just 10 municipalities, with one major city, traditionally Conservative Granada, in dispute. So Nicaragua has delivered another blow to United States' attempts to railroad Latin Americans into an ever tighter neo-liberal "free trade" straitjacket, with ever greater inequality in the distribution of their countries' wealth. But encouragement for Enrique Bolaños was not the main purpose of Rumsfeld's visit.
Control of Latin American resources is vital for the economies of North America, Europe and Australia. That is why Paul Martin of Canada and President Chirac of France supported the US coup in Haiti. That is why Britain and Australia are the main supporters of the US occupation of Iraq.
-- Marta Russell Los Angeles, CA http://www.martarussell.com/