How Democratic Is the Sandinista Government?

Stabilizing democracy in Latin America is a goal shared by Latin governments as well as the United States. But definitions of democracy, and ways to achieve it, provoke deep differences of opinion. The flashpoint of the discussion is Nicaragua—a country whose leaders claim to be consolidating a system of government freely chosen by its people. Critics say the Nicaraguan government is betraying the 1979 revolution that toppled dictator Anastasio Somoza, charging that the Sandinista leaders are Marxists.

At an Atlanta consultation sponsored by the Carter Presidential Center of Emory University, Nicaraguan vice-president Sergio Ramirez faced off with critics from at home and abroad. He sharply criticized President Reagan’s support for anti-Sandinista counterrevolutionaries, known as contras. “The U. S. simply imposed a military dictatorship [on Nicaragua] for over half a century,” Ramirez said. “Now the U. S. government, in perhaps the greatest conspiracy against democracy we’ve known in the western hemisphere, is trying to put the reins of power back in the hands of the henchmen of the Somoza regime.”

Ramirez called democracy a “tool for economic change out of backwardness” and said it can prosper in Latin America only “without outside interference.” He pointed to this month’s scheduled ratification of a new Nicaraguan constitution as a sign of the Sandinistas’ good faith.

Issuing A Challenge

He was challenged, however, by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, U.S. House Majority Leader James Wright (D-Tex.; now House speaker), and two Nicaraguans attending the consultation. Carter noted his personal opposition to Reagan’s support for the contras, but also pointed out his deep disappointment in the Sandinista regime. After Somoza left the country in 1979, Carter tried to influence the selection of new political leaders to ensure a democratic order. But, he said, “most of those have left Nicaragua and some have joined the contras, creating deep concern in this hemisphere about trends [toward a one-party political system] in Nicaragua.”

Carter said human-rights abuses under the Sandinistas have equalled or exceeded Somoza’s, and added, “Nicaragua still has to prove itself as far as establishing free and fair elections with strict adherence to human rights [and] a free press.”

Wright scolded Ramirez about a change in emphasis from the early days of the revolution. When the House majority leader visited Nicaragua soon after Somoza was overthrown, he saw huge billboards proclaiming “Literacy is liberty.” He said when he returned in 1982, the billboards had been replaced by ones with the message “Triumph over imperialist Yankees.” Wright concluded that “the great goal of literacy was sublimated to fighting the enemy of imperialism rather than ignorance.”

Ramirez’s toughest challenge, however, came from two fellow Nicaraguans who expressed frustration at the Sandinistas’ apparent unwillingness to tolerate political opposition. Antonio Ybarra-Rojas, a Nicaraguan sociologist teaching in Dubuque, Iowa, said he is concerned about Nicaraguan refugees crowding the borders of neighboring countries. “The issue is simple,” he said in an interview. “Nicaraguans don’t want to live under the Sandinistas and don’t want a military solution. One hundred fifty thousand refugees are in Honduras, and 150,000 in Costa Rica. The resources of Catholic Charities and the United Nations are overwhelmed. The Sandinistas ignore the refugees because they are bad press. And the contras try to get them to take up guns and fight.”

Daniel Oduber, president of Costa Rica from 1974 to 1978, agreed that the concern over refugee flight is valid. “We can’t keep receiving refugees in direct proportion to the amount of aid dollars sent to contras from the United States,” he said. “If the war continues, the northern border of Costa Rica will be Lebanonized with armed refugees. This is the biggest threat to Costa Rican democracy.”

Finally, Alfredo Cesar, a Nicaraguan opposition leader who formerly served with the Sandinistas, said Nicaraguans do not accept a “double standard” of ties to the Soviet Union but not to the United States. “We do not want military victories, because they are not solutions,” he said. “We want dialogue and negotiations between Nicaraguans.”

Both at home and abroad, a stalemate continues for the Sandinistas. Ramirez confirmed his government’s stated intention to lift its emergency laws only after getting a guarantee of nonaggression from the United States. But Carter pointed out that dialogue with the United States is out of the question until the emergency measures are lifted. Carter urged both sides to search for alternatives, and encouraged the Sandinistas to adopt without equivocation the proposed Contadora principles for a negotiated settlement. At that point, he suggested, contra aid from the United States could be terminated and the Sandinistas could be persuaded to lift their state of emergency. Said Carter: “I think this would break the deadlock.”

By Beth Spring in Atlanta.

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