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Castro and Carter: Undoing Democracy in Central America
| Article
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10036 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
4 / 1986 |
2,871 Words |
| Author
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Sheila Louise Rees
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As the year began, there was an optimistic feeling among many sectors of Central American society that the democratic process in their region was alive and well. There were even indications of some enthusiasm for a collective move by the Central American governments to alter the course of the Nicaraguan dictatorship. But as the year has progressed, the democratic forces have been losing ground to the machinations of Cuba and the communist forces.
As the final round of presidential elections was completed and elected presidents took office in Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras, they joined with President Jose Napoleon Duarte of El Salvador to provide a more liberal and democratic cast to the area's governments. But the greatest regional problem remained the lack of economic development due to the export of revolution by the Cubans and their Sandinista allies.
In recent meetings, Communist party members and the Castroite Left from the Caribbean and Latin America drafted a plan for an escalation of revolutionary activity in the region. From the proceedings, it is apparent that the U.S. government's policy of talking tough while walking soft has convinced Havana and Moscow that they can win a prolonged "war of attrition" against the democratic governments because the United States will not provide the hardware, training, and investment to crush the insurgents militarily and build a thriving economy.
Ubiquitous Castro-speak
The Third Party Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) droned to a close this past February, as it had begun, with the
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