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> Mark Berger <mt.berger@unsw.edu.au> wrote: > >>"I simply meant 'electoral overthrow' as opposed to military overthrow. I can confirm for Dr. Safranski that I was not challenging the legitimacy of the 1990 elections I was simply reaching for an expression which indicated that the end of Sandinista rule had been long sought via various 'non-electoral' means and was finally achieved via the ballot box. I am puzzled, however, by his effort to see my term as sinister and then to deploy his own demonizing language to the FSLN..."<< I am satisfied with Dr. Berger's reply on the use of the term " Electoral overthrow " as it relates to the Nicaragua thread. As to my " demonization " of the Sandinistas I think I was both accurate and fair. They did make use of block committees, suppressed dissent ( beginning prior to the existence of the contras ) and were generally Marxist-Leninist authoritarian revolutinaries in governance if not purists in communist ideology. They agreed to free elections only after years of intense U.S. pressure, contra warfare and a severe drop in East bloc support. At no time did I draw historical comparisons with far worse regimes or even mention Sandinista atrocities. Nor were the Sandinistas totally booted out of power after they lost the election either, since Chamorro kept Humberto Ortega, if I recall correctly, as defense minister and only slowly demobilized the huge ( by C.A. standards ) Sandinista army. For the record, I think both sides in this debate have points to make. The Contras were a U.S. creation that picked up popular support over time due to real dissatisfaction with Sandinista rule and they engaged in the usual vicious brutalities of guerilla movements ( like FARC or the ELN or the Tamil Tigers or Hamas etc. of today ). For their part, the Sandinistas were a pro-Soviet regime from their inception and accepted massive military and security service aid from Cuba, the USSR and the East bloc. The Sandinistas also aided El Salvador's Marxist guerilla movement in their war to overthrow the government of that nation (preceding the creation of the Contras ). No side of the conflict had clean hands by any objective yardstick that we could employ. Mark Safranski
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