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The Central American Quagmire
| Article
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16447 |
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Section : |
EDITORIAL
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| Issue
Date : |
5 / 1989 |
1,058 Words |
| Author
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Morton A. Kaplan
Editor and Publisher |
On February 14, the Central American presidents agreed on a program that would, they said, bring democracy to Nicaragua. This subject is discussed in "The Contras: RIP?" in Currrent Issues this month.
Has the Arias peace plan really succeeded, or is the Contra issue merely being swept under the rug? If the Arias plan has really succeeded, were the opponents of the Contras correct at the outset? Even if Nicaraguan President Ortega was sincere in his conciliatory statements at the meeting of the presidents, it does not necessarily follow that the opponents of the Contras were correct to trust that the Sandinistas would institute reforms if given the opportunity. The Contra war may have been among the factors leading to Ortega's apparent shift in position. Moreover, American policy may play an important role in determining whether a democratic regime emerges in Nicaragua.
Ortega certainly made all the right noises at the meeting of the Central American presidents. However, I do not think that he has suddenly become a convert to democracy, and I believe that he still hates the United States. When he recently told Flora Lewis of the New York Times that his earlier statements that the Sandinistas would never surrender the revolution meant only that they would not permit a return to a Somocista regime, that contradicted the Sandinista regime's conduct of politics in Nicaragua.
On the other hand, Ortega did agree to release Contra prisoners, to permit political parties to organize and campaign, to make legislative reforms, and to accept new elections.
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