Enemy at the Door
Draimin, Tim
In the third week of May, a Literacy Crusade volunteer named Georgino Andrade was attacked in his small shack on the outskirts of San Francisco del Norte, a town near the Honduran border. The...
...Ibid., See also Intercontinental Press, April 28, 1980, p. 424...
...Barricada, March 23, 1980...
...The FAD is receiving support from the Guatemalan bourgeoisie and sectors of the 31 MaylJune 1980NACLA Report Army...
...But like its economic counterpart, the Central American Common Market (which did include Costa Rica), CONDECA was severely weakened by intense competitive antagonisms between the Salvadorean and Honduran ruling classes.8 To avoid a repetition of CONDECA's inability to respond to the Nicaraguan revolution, El Salvador and Honduras-under U.S...
...institutional ($25) Name...
...This includes $100 million in outright grants, and another $275 million in new loans.' 5 The average interest rate is less than 5%, and the average length of repayment is 35 years...
...interventionist moves in Central America by strengthening its ties with other Latin American countries...
...1980...
...As Tomas Borge made clear, "If they commit the adventure of intervening in El Salvador, we are going to consider it an aggression on our own soil...
...A second teacher, this time a member of the Sandinista Popular Army, was killed south of Managua in a barracks attack...
...At this moment, their attempts to create a new bourgeois order out of the ashes of the Somoza regime stop short of military means...
...Stay abreast of the rapidly changing situation in Central America with Central America Update, a monthly publication providing in-depth news and analysis of the popular struggles throughout the region, from Belize and Guatemala to Panama...
...See also Diario Las Americas, May 30, 1980...
...It is not Marxism, but the right-wing regimes that persecute the legitimate church...
...But the private banks are being more hardline about their $490 million claim...
...The Church and other religious organiza33 tions have participated actively in the revolution...
...2. Diario Las Americas, (Miami, Florida...
...They had no compunction about unleashing wholesale military force to prevent the victory in Nicaragua...
...The military high commands of these two countries have also met with their counterparts in Guatemala to coordinate counterinsurgency...
...While this aid will help the country through an extremely difficult year, the situation could be bleak again in 1981, when lenders begin to impose the harsh terms that characterize their relations with third world countries...
...And then of course, the Carters, the Robelos and others, choosing not to acknowledge their part in the play of events, will self-righteously scream about socialist "lack of democracy" and the "tragic end of pluralism...
...I Robelo had just made a tour of the northern region, speaking against the FSLN...
...Postal Code...
...regular ($8...
...We think that Marxism has made a tremendous impact on the world...
...The Nicaraguan government has moved to ward off U.S...
...Thus they have been facilitating the activities of the ex-National Guard units...
...It also passed a resolution against U.S...
...He declared that the OAS must continue to "reject any threats or attempts at intervention in the internal affairs of our countries...
...Miguel D'Escoto, a priest and Nicargua's Foreign Minister, explained the growing convergencL between Christianity and Marxism in his country: "We Nicaraguans don't have the United States' hang-ups on Marxism...
...8. NACLA, "El Salvador: Why Revolution...
...From their clandestine radio station, the somocistas broadcast support for the industrialist who resigned his position on the Junta of National Reconstruction in April...
...In early June, 42 people were detained in northern Nicaragua on suspicion of conspiring with the FAD, including nine prominent cattle ranchers- one of whom was an alternate delegate to the Council of State...
...They know their revolution must be defended from attack...
...On June 4th, Arturo Cruz, a member of the Nicaraguan Junta, attended a session of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, where he praised the organization for having rejected a U.S...
...2 Attacks by such groups intensified in the last week of May...
...16...
...It is in El Salvador- the country where prerevolutionary conditons are most advancedthat the United States is now focusing its efforts...
...But none compare to the dangers from those who want to sabotage the revolution...
...But even when their planes come, even when the tanks and mortars come, they cannot make our people take flight...
...they now have none about using whatever means they can to prevent the consolidation of that victory...
...interventionist moves in El Salvador...
...At a mass rally to honor the slain brigadista, Tomas Borge declared that, "It is no coincidence that the somocista groups, concentrated at the Honduran-Nicaraguan frontier, have substituted Alfonso Robelo for Anastasio Somoza as their leader...
...34 NACLA Report About our Contributing Author Tim Draimin works for Central America Update and is a member of Latin American Working Group of Canada...
...In Nicaragua, as we have discussed, some bourgeois sectors have thus far decided to stay...
...Latin America Press, (Lima, Peru), May 22, 1980...
...pressure-are patching up their differences and coordinating their military operations against the Salvadorean guerrilla units operating near their common border...
...3. Ibid., May 28 & 29...
...Humberto Ortega, Commander of the Sandinista Popular Army, reflected the views of the Nicaraguan people 32MaylJune 1980 when he proclaimed moral support for those "in Latin America who engage in armed struggle to end oppression . .. and especially those in El Salvador who give their blood generously in search of liberty...
...He lived in Central America for several years...
...They are searching for ways to assassinate us, destabilize us, harass us, to try to extinguish this revolution...
...6 Most of the armed attacks so far have emanated from Honduras...
...Such an axis was already attempted in the early 1960s when the United States helped found the Central American Defense Council (CONDECA), which included military officers from all the Central American countries except Costa Rica...
...sustaining ($15...
...0 In the broader international arena, the Nicaraguan revolution has the support of the Second International, the worldwide organization of Social Democratic parties, some of which hold power in Western European and Latin American countries...
...2 (March-April 1980), p. 12...
...According to Interior Minister Tomas Borge, there are at least 30 more such camps in Honduras, harboring members of the old National Guard...
...Tomas Borge told the Second International, "We are not Social Democrats, but the Social Democrats have demonstrated a spirit of solidarity with us...
...A common refrain at Nicaraguan demonstrations is, "Si Nicaragua vencio, El Salvador venceral" (If Nicaragua triumphed, so will El Salvadorl) The intransigent Bankers International support for the Sandinistas has not deterred the private international banks from harassing the new regime...
...6. La Tribuna, (Tegucigalpa, Honduras), May 19, 1980...
...May 28, June 6, 1980...
...According to a Honduran newspaper, La Tribuna, other Guardsmen are training on Honduran haciendas provided by wealthy landowners to "carry out sabotage and other acts [in Nicaragua] in an attempt to destabilize the Sandinista government...
...But many historic examples, notably Chile, have shown that the bourgeoisie is never averse to using arms when appropriate...
...In this Report we have already discussed some of the problems the revolution confronts- economic underdevelopment, the need to develop more skilled cadre, the race against time to build dynamic, powerful mass organizations, etc...
...Mensaje de la Junta de Gobierno de Reconstrucion Nacional al Pueblo de Nicaragua leido por el CompaneroSergio Ramirez Mercado en ocasion de la instalacion del Consejo del Estado el 4 de Mayo, 1980...
...The young teacher was tortured and finally killed by a pro-Somoza band from a military training camp in Honduras...
...WHAT NEXT IN CENTRAL AMERICA...
...And finally there is the United States, which on more than 75 different occasions in the last century and a half, has directly intervened in Mexico, Central America or the Caribbean to protect its own interests...
...Some of the officers have now joined the military forces of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, while others lay plans for returning with their troops to overthrow the new Nicaraguan government...
...request in June 1979, to send a "peace-keeping force" to Nicaragua when the Sandinistas were on the brink of victory...
...They fear both the current moral and potential material support that Nicaragua represents for revolutionary forces in their own countries...
...We know our enemies are concentrating troops and transporting arms," said Daniel Ortega...
...At the same time, the Salvadorean regime is providing the propagandistic pretext for the three northern countries to harbor counterrevolutionary elements...
...associate ($25...
...4. Ibid., May 23, 1980...
...Please add $3 for overseas postage...
...Ibid...
...The FAD has already directed several forays into Nicaragua, and has reportedly offered $2,500 for the assassination of any members of the Nicaraguan Junta or the Sandinista National Directorate...
...Meanwhile Nicaragua maintains a strong anti-imperialist stance...
...June 6, 1980...
...ENEMY AT THE DOOR 1. Barricada (Managua, Nicaragua), May 24, 1980...
...At their last conference, held in the Dominican Republic in March, the organization gave its unconditional support to the FSLN and the Nicaraguan government...
...See also Diario Las Americas, March 14, 1980...
...to cover gift subs (only $7 each) for the people whose addresses are attached...
...But the Nicaraguan people who are experiencing true popular democracy for the first time in their lives, will not be fooled...
...When Somoza's National Guard collapsed, well over 6,000 soldiers fled to Honduras...
...Diario Las Americas, May 2, 1980...
...I am enclosing a cheque or money order made out to "Central America" for...
...So far, Nicaragua has been very successful in obtaining economic assistance from nonprivate sources, i.e...
...Tomas Borge offered to let the Salvadorean officers making these charges come to Nicaragua to point out where the supposed invasion force is being trained...
...The main enemy of the Nicaraguan revolution remains the United States...
...Socialism Under Siege Thus far, this revolution has been open and generous...
...International support: "The Social Democrats have demonstrated a spirit of solidarity with us...
...4 The Counterrevolutionary Axis The dictatorial forces of neighboring El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala are today seeing regional control slip rapidly out of their hands...
...ambassador to El Salvador, Robert White, has told Salvadoreans privately that , "The United States will intervene militarily to prevent the Left from achieving a military victory...
...All those like Robelo, Borge continued, who raise the banner of anti-communism and counterrevolution, "are the assassins of Georgino Andrade...
...7 In pursuit of their common goals, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala are forging a counterrevolutionary axis to halt the revolutionary movement in Central America...
...XIV, No...
...5. NACLA Interviews in Guatemala...
...Address...
...Jaime Abdul Gutierrez, Commander of the Salvadorean Army, declared that Nicaragua had sent 1,500 Sandinistas to fight with the guerrillas in El Salvador, while another Salvadorean Army officer claimed that 3,000 more were being trained to invade El Salvador...
...4 Six months of negotiations have not led to a solution, as the banks continue to insist that the debt be refinanced at an interest rate of close to 20...
...Like so many revolutions before it, Nicaragua may become a society under siege, taking strong political, economic and social measures to contain the forces of counterrevolution...
...It is the most adequate instrument of analysis of the realities and contradictions of the economic system...
...The counterrevolutionaries: "They are searching for ways to extinguish this revolution...
...The U.S...
...Marxism has been a great blessing for the church, a divine whip to bring It back to its true function...
...Somocistas in exile have already moved to that stage...
...It is a member of the non-aligned movement and, along with Cuba and Grenada, has condemned the existence of U.S...
...Diario Las Americas, June 5, 1980...
...Its challenge will come in dramatic form if, in conjunction with right-wing groups in Central America, the United States uses military force to try to destroy the revolutionary forces in El Salvador and the rest of Central America...
...To that, Miguel D'Escoto added, "The result would be the Vietnamization of Central America...
...military bases in the Caribbean and Central America...
...Barricada, March 28, 1980...
...NACLA Report on the Americas, Vol...
...Nicaragua has rejected these conditions, but unless a settlement is reached, the private banks may use their clout to unleash an international campaign against the country, impounding its exports and pressuring governments to cut off bilateral credits...
...One soldier was killed and another wounded during another assault in the north...
...1" If these freedoms and this broad support afe abused by the Robelos, the reactionary sectors of the bourgeoisie, by the remaining somocistas, by the Central American dictatorships and by the United States, it will force the Sandinista leadership to take greater precautions in defense of the revolutionary process...
...as payment for the following six-issue subscriptions...
...7. Barricada, May 24, 1980...
...founding ($100...
...Gift subscriptions: I am also enclosing...
...Central America Update Box 2207, Station P Toronto, Ontario Canada M5S 2T2 Six issue subscriptions sent first class cost $8 (individuals), $25 (institutions...
...9. NACLA Interview in San Salvador, El Salvador...
...There is no death penalty, political forces that are patently counterrevolutionary are allowed to function, and government leaders spend much of their time out talking to workers in the fields and factories to hear their complaints and work out feasible solutions...
...Four priests hold high ministerial positions in the government, while many others are active as leaders and members of the mass organizations...
...governments and multilateral lending agencies...
...In Guatemala, the so-called Armed Democratic Forces (FAD) was recently founded, under the leadership of political and military figures of the Somoza regime...
...Over $1 billion of the $1.6 billion foreign debt inherited from Somoza has been renegotiated with governments and multilateral lending institutions on fairly lenient terms...
...The FSLN responded by calling the charges "absurd" and "dangerously irresponsible...
Vol. 14 • May 1980 • No. 3
