Kerry and the Nicaraguan connection

Mark Dias

Many of us were surprised to see Michael Moore sitting in a position of prominence at the Democratic convention, but it was not surprising to me. Since the Vietnam War, the Democratic Party has been the party of Michael Moore. What we see today with Senator Kerry and Howard Dean is not an anomaly. It is the party of the left, and as such, has continuously embraced regimes that support and foment the ideologies of communism and Marxism-Leninism. It was these people whom Lenin referred to as “useful idiots”. It is no wonder Bill Clinton embraced Yasser Arafat, a terrorist responsible for the blood of hundreds if not thousands of innocent lives, as a legitimate head of state.

Nicaragua represented one of the last remnants of the cold war. In 1972, a devastating earthquake leveled the Capital of Nicaragua, Managua. This marked the beginning of the end of the Somoza regime in the country. A growing discontent among the Nicaraguan people prompted the then fragmented anti-Somoza factions to coalesce, and the Sandinistas, (FSLN) led by Daniel Ortega gained strength and began an active rebellion against the Somoza regime. These revolutionaries advocated the philosophy of Marxism-Leninism and began teaching to millions of uneducated peasants a perverted form of Catholicism called “Liberation Theology”. The Sandinistas gained power as a direct result of the Carter administration’s funding of the Sandinistas. In 1979, the Sandinistas entered Managua, and Somoza fled the country. Nicaragua, a former ally of the United States, quickly aligned itself with Castro’s Cuba and Communist Russia. A former friend of the United States was now a bitter enemy. The stanza in the Sandinista hymn, says it all, “luchamos contra el yanqui el enemigo de la humanidad”, “We fight against the Yankee the enemy of humanity”. Daniel Ortega, still plays a formidable role in Nicaraguan politics, but he has lost every election since 1990. The Sandinista regime destroyed the economy of Nicaragua, and the country has yet to recover.

Kerry in his misguided view of the world was a major reason for the Sandinistas holding on to power. In April 1985, Kerry embarked on a trip to Nicaragua to meet with President Daniel Ortega. President Reagan was aiding the freedom fighters of Nicaragua called “the Contras”. The Contras were former Somoza soldiers and other disenfranchised Nicaraguans who wanted to return Nicaragua to a Democratic free state. Kerry had been in office only a few months and with no consultation with the administration or the State Department, decided to negotiate with Ortega. Ortega was an avowed enemy of the United States, and a bitter rival of President Reagan.

With Reagan’s vision of destroying communism, Reagan also wanted to depose Ortega and eradicate his regime. Kerry and Harkin walked away from Nicaragua with an agreement for direct talks with Washington. President Reagan flatly rejected it. This if it was not treason, it was bordering on treason. Kerry in his naiveté stated “They just want peace. They don't want their daughter getting blown away on the way to teach! Or their sons disappearing. It's just terrible. I see the same sense of great victimization. The little kids staring wide-eyed and scared. It really hits home the same way as Vietnam. Sending our own troops. I just don't think Congress or the people will allow it. If we haven't learned something by now about talking rather than fighting."

In their histrionic zeal, Kerry and Harkin stopped a plan to aid the contras in their fight against the Junta of Daniel Ortega. Kerry was wrong in his assessment of what was happening in Nicaragua. Reagan stuck to his policy of supporting the resistance of the Sandinista government. Elections were eventually held, and the Sandinistas eventually lost their grip on Nicaragua. Currently, Nicaragua is part of our coalition, of “the coerced and bribed” at least according to Kerry.

Cristiana Chamorro Barrios Cristiana@laprensa.com.ni, in La Prensa of Nicaragua http://www.laprensa.com.ni/cgi-bin/print.pl?id=opinion-20041001-04 stated the following:

The presidential elections in Washington and municipalities in Nicaragua will be held the 2nd and 7th of November respectively, the polls show, the FSLN is going to increase its number of seats, and the Sandinistas could regain control over Managua. There is no doubt that a victory of this magnitude will go to Daniel Ortega’s head and with this triumph, Ortega will once again launch his fourth candidacy for the presidency of Nicaragua. Only the continuation of George W. Bush in the White House will be able to stop Ortega of being nominated as the party’s candidate and condemning Nicaragua to a suicidal confrontation against the United States, a conflict that would be inevitable if Ortega and Bush serve at the same time.

Only with the reelection of Bush in the beginning of November will Ortega be able to restrain his obsession of the presidency
…
A triumph of Kerry on the other hand will most likely mean a return to the politics of 1993 with respect to Nicaragua when the government of Bill Clinton said “The problems between Nicaragua will be resolved among the Nicaraguans”. Ortega would not think twice with a Kerry election and his delusions of winning the Presidency would be enhanced and he would believe he would enjoy, as President of Nicaragua, a relationship that would be less tense with the United States.

Nothing has changed. Ortega has tried to redefine himself, and so has Senator Kerry, but their ideologies remain the same. The Sandinistas are again increasing their power in Nicaragua. 60% of Nicaragua is under the age of 17. The country is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere and its land mass is comprised of mostly jungle. If Ortega becomes president of Nicaragua, his former allies Russia and Cuba are no longer viable options because the cold war has ended. Nicaragua will become another Philippines, a haven for terrorists; the difference is Nicaragua is much closer to our borders. With this in mind, can we afford a Kerry presidency?