Don’t Let The Sandinistas Steal Victory From The Jaws Of Defeat

The Center for Security Policy today called for a vigorous U.S. effort to ensure that the will of the people of Nicaragua for an end to Sandinista oppression — so vociferously expressed in last weekend’s election — is fully realized. In a newly released report, entitled Now It’s Time to Ensure that Democracy Actually Prevails in Nicaragua, the Center warned that Sandinista efforts to retain control did not end with the sustained, but ultimately insufficient, attempt to rig the election outcome.

Particularly troubling in this regard are the Sandinistas’ demands to retain control over the armed forces and their insistence that the Nicaraguan resistance be immediately disarmed. Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., the Center’s director, observed, "The Sandinistas’ current attempt to stipulate terms for their transfer of power to the victorious opposition must be seen for what it is: Evidence that the communists in Nicaragua are prepared to defy the democratic principles to which they have ostensibly converted in recent days."

The Center believes that the United States must not accede to such anti-democratic extortion. In particular, it believes the Nicaraguan resistance should not be forced to disband unless and until the full transfer authority and power to the Chamorro government has been achieved. The contras remain the single most effective lever to ensure that the Sandinistas respect the will of the people of Nicaragua. Should the resistance cease to exist as an effective fighting force in accordance with Ortega’s demands, the prospects that the Sandinistas will actually relinquish power can only become more remote.

Now It’s Time to Ensure that Democracy Actually Prevails in Nicaragua identifies specific measures for judging whether the necessary transfer of power is being effected — or sabotaged — by the Sandinistas. This paper also prescribes steps the United States should take to help secure and foster the democratic institutions clearly sought by the Nicarauguan people.

As a member of the Center’s Board of Advisors, Elliot Abrams, observed, "For ten years Ronald Reagan said the people of Nicaragua hated the Sandinistas and wanted them out of power. He was right. Hostility to the Sandinistas was and remains the correct policy for the United States and for democracy in Central America."

Copies of the Center’s papers on this subject or further information may be obtained by contacting the Center.