Letters
The Sandinistas As a member of NACLA's editorial board, I wish to express in the most explicit way my deep disappointment with the publication of Roger Burbach's "Nicaragua: The Pot...
...Many are upset because Humberto has been able to hang in there and plans to retire with all the honors he deserves...
...Humberto probably suffered the deepest pain of all...
...I stand by my interpretations of these events...
...Many of us were confused and even demoralized by the tumultuous events in Nicaragua in mid and late 1993...
...They correctly asserted that we could not ignore these incidents and write an article that would have any legitimacy...
...And finally, Jean-Paul Genie's death was not accidental...
...It is in this context that I wrote the update article for NACLA...
...Some love him, some hate him, and some fear him...
...Enriquez and Kaufman can dispute my interpretation of events, but I take issue with their attempt to shut off discussion...
...NACLA REPORT ON THE AMERICAS When I think about the negative campaigning that took place in the United States during the last elections, I fail to understand what the big deal is around the public debate that has preceded this coming May's Extraordinary Congress, where the party will elect new leadership and agree upon a new political platform...
...If he had not obeyed the president's orders, he would have violated the same Constitution he helped to write, and in so doing, he would have blindly fallen into the hands of our enemies...
...Finally, I completely agree with Magda Enriquez' concluding remarks that "the FSLN is not perfect...
...Representative of the FSLN Chicago, Illinois W hy did NACLA Report on the Americas choose to squander its fine reputation by printing Roger Burbach's cynical indictment of Sandinismo...
...I'm also disappointed that the FSLN has not come up with the long-promised alternative to neoliberal economics...
...imperialism today, we have to be more sophisticated...
...The painful events of Esteli hurt all Sandinistas...
...Granted, Ortega is one Continued on page 42 Erratum Two copy-editing errors occurred in the Venezuela issue [March/April, 1994...
...The FSLN is, however, the only real alternative that we Nicaraguans have to ensure lasting social change with social justice...
...The last paragraph of Daniel Hellinger's arti- cle should begin: "Proven reserves are at historic highs...
...But neither Burbach nor I has ever been called upon to put his life on the line to overthrow a dictator, build a new society, and keep on working for justice after being rejected at the polls...
...NACLA's publication of this piece does not advance our understanding of the Nicaraguan conundrum...
...Burbach is perfectly free to write and publish whatever he wants, thinks, likes or hates...
...We on the Left appeared to have little to say, and seemingly stood discredited for having been "duped" by the Sandinistas...
...We cannot maintain our legitimacy and help develop a new democratic movement if we do not openly discuss Third World movements and try to learn from their mistakes as well as their advances...
...Those who know Nicaragua's political history understand that it is precisely that which makes the FSLN a "party of a new type...
...NACLA should also have asked for additional, more authoritative evidence with regard to Burbach's allegation of Sandinista complicity in the FMLN arms cache that exploded in Managua last May...
...Therefore, party candidates do not have "official" campaign periods...
...These events combined with new evidence of Sandinista involvement in the La Penca bombing enabled the detractors of Sandinismo in Washington and elsewhere to have a field day...
...But these are the facts: Humberto Ortega was the chief strategist for the defeat of Somoza's National Guard and the chief architect of the Sandinista Popular Army...
...If NACLA is going to publish a piece based on rumor and speculation, the author should-for the sake of fairness-have considered these other hypotheses...
...Humberto is the lightning rod, but the real issue is the United States' quota of power within the Nicaraguan army...
...Regarding Vilas' letter, I also turn to the readers to evaluate his absurd charge that my article is "more akin to police reports than to political analysis," as well as his assertion that it is so lacking in "objectivity" that the NACLA editors should have quashed it...
...If he obeyed the orders, as he did, he ran the risk of being condemned, as he was...
...Burbach unfairly characterizes Humberto Ortega as Machiavellian and more interested in amassing personal power than in social-justice issues...
...and the Sandinista army he heads was born during a liberation struggle and not in the School of the Americas...
...I believe that this is the context within which we should continue our discussion of Sandinismo and its critical contribution to contemporary revolutionary history...
...And Humberto Ortega, Burbach claims, tried to cover up the "accidental" slaying of young Jean-Paul Genie...
...I will argue, instead, with the editors' decision to publish it in NACLA Report on the Americas...
...Chuck Kaufman National Coordinator Nicaragua Network Roger Burbach responds: U nderlying the responses of Carlos Vilas, Magda Enriquez and Chuck Kaufman is the question of what role we as leftists and solidarity activists should play in the 1990s in relation to Third World liberation movements...
...But then, neither has the Left anywhere else in the world...
...Certainly the U.S...
...government has not abandoned its efforts to undermine or even destroy the liberation movements, including the Sandinistas in Nicaragua...
...I will not argue with Burbach's piece, since he does not offer any evidence to back up his insinuations...
...It never pretended to be...
...The army's role in Bermtidez' assassination is contradicted by Scotland Yard's investigation in February which revealed that the FBI had interviewed, and then kept secret, a participant who accused a former Bermddez bodyguard of the killing...
...Burbach has fallen into the trap of repeating Jesse Helms' bombast without understanding the implications...
...Readers will have to weigh what I write against the counter-claims of Enriquez and Kaufman, and arrive at their own conclusions...
...I'm disappointed that the FSLN has been unable to discipline those few of its militants who enriched themselves during the change in government...
...It's sad to say, but the kid signed his own death warrant when he chose to try to pass, at a high rate of speed, a military convoy, possibly carrying a highranking officer or member of government...
...This division within the national leadership of the FSLN must be understood in light of the fact that we do not have primaries in Nicaragua...
...Their charges that I engage in "innuendoes and "half truths" center on my interpretation of the assassinations or assassination attempts that I discussed in my article...
...I for one would argue that the end of the Cold War, combined with the general crisis of socialism and the national liberation movements, compels us to take a more critical approach than we have in the past...
...of the most controversial figures in Nicaraguan politics today...
...I think those who have made that sacrifice and commitment deserve our respect and assistance...
...Others had to follow orders that they did not understand...
...I'm not one of those people who believes we should never voice our criticisms of the Sandinistas because that would strengthen their enemies...
...It never pretended to be...
...The Sandinistas As a member of NACLA's editorial board, I wish to express in the most explicit way my deep disappointment with the publication of Roger Burbach's "Nicaragua: The Pot Boils Over" [January/February 1994...
...Some of us saw our compafieros dead without understanding why they had to die...
...Neither is NACLA forced to publish pieces which consist of a set of ambiguities, "might be's," half truths-consequently, half lies-and statements more akin to police reports than to political analysis...
...Not a single one of these claims are facts, and some of them have been disproved...
...I'm also upset that at times the army and police have strayed from that very narrow path they must walk between their constitutional responsibility to establish peace and order, and their revolutionary responsibility to protect the interests of the poor majority...
...NACLA's decision to publish this piece shows unprecedented lack of seriousness...
...Any covert Sandinista role in the creation of the Punitive Army of the Left and the killing of Arges Sequeira is pure speculation...
...Of course, these versions are just as unsubstantiated, but they are as convincing or unconvincing as the ones that Burbach presents as definitive truths...
...I have no intention of getting into an openended debate in which we trade sources or reveal names...
...On the contrary, this article makes it significantly more difficult to understand...
...It is not our fault that we were romanticized by many...
...Burbach's standards of evidence are matched only by those of Senator Jesse Helms...
...if he wishes, he may also self-destroy his credentials as an attentive observer of Central American affairs...
...In short, NACLA is not forced to undo its own prestigious 27-year history as an independent, critical, progressively oriented, far-reaching magazine...
...Humberto Ortega is a symbol of the history of the Sandinista army...
...My interpretations of the assassinations are based on the reports of Martha Honey and Tony Avirgan, my experiences in Nicaragua over the years, and on conversations with a wide array of Sandinistas who held different political and governmental posts...
...On p. 22, the size of Venezuela's fiscal deficit should read "about US$33 billion...
...Thus when NACLA's editors and others asked me to write an article describing what was happening in Nicaragua, I agreed to do so...
...If Humberto goes, the nature of the army would no doubt change...
...At least NACLA could have labeled as opinion Burbach's bizarre charges and innuendoes...
...Burbach also dwells upon the divisions within the FSLN between those who support grassroots mobilization and confrontational strategies, and those who have chosen to collaborate with the Chamorro government...
...Neither Enriquez nor Kaufman has brought forward any information that I was unaware of...
...Genie with rumors and gossip about Sandinista involvement in the cases of Bermfidez and Sequeira...
...Reporting on assassinations is always a tricky business, and I only reluctantly brought up these events when the NACLA editors said that it was necessary to do so because they had caused such a stir in the press and in Washington...
...Burbach ends up mixing the verified involvement of Humberto Ortega's bodyguards in the apparently unintentional killing of young J.P...
...Magda Enriquez Callejas-Beitler U.S...
...The new information supposedly revealed about the La Penca attempt on Ed6n Pastora's life was a mess, and certainly not convincing to me...
...But NACLA is not forced to publish articles lacking a minimum level of objectivity as well as basic journalistic and academic standards...
...The FSLN is not perfect...
...The assertion that NACLA should not run such articles is, of course, nonsense...
...It is not our fault that we were romanticized by many...
...Not only does Burbach not provide any evidence to support his serious accusations against the Sandinistas, but he also silences versions of events that point to the internal struggles of the former Contras as the explanation for the killings of both Contra leader Enrique Bermiidez and Arges Sequeira, the head of the Association of Confiscated Property Owners...
...Let's see now, according to Burbach, the FSLN assassinated Somoza, Bermdidez and Sequeira, failed in an attempt on the life of Ed6n Pastora, and were actively involved in an arms cache that exploded in Managua...
...The end result is a propaganda piece that fits perfectly into the agenda of the enemies of the Sandinista revolution...
...But to carry on an effective battle against U.S...
...Carlos M. Vilas Mexico City, Mexico Roger Burbach's "Nicaragua: The Pot Boils Over" constitutes the most perfect collage of truths, half truths, unsubstantiated evidence, and the arrogance of a know-it-all...
...It would be fine with me if the FSLN had a role in Somoza's assassination, but Burbach's saying so doesn't make it true...
Vol. 27 • May 1994 • No. 6
