The Sandinistas I was happy to see NACLA give so much space to a debate over the 1993 crisis in Nicaragua (Roger Burbach's "Nicaragua: The Pot Boils Over" [January/February 1994], and subsequent letters [May/June 1994]). But I was disap- pointed that the participants didn't have more to say about what Bur- bach called the determination of "the Bush presidency, and now even the Clinton Administration, to remove all Sandinista influence within the [Nicaraguan] army and turn it into a force that will not dare to challenge U.S. interests or dic- tates." It is instructive to review what actually happened in the first few months of "even the Clinton Administration." On March 6, 1993, an unnamed Justice Department official tried to link the Sandinista National Libera- tion Front (FSLN) to the terrorist bombing of New York's World Trade Center less than two weeks earlier. Then, U.S. officials used the May 23 explosion of a clandes- tine arsenal in Managua to charge the FSLN with all sorts of terrorist acts and to demand the removal of army head Gen. Humberto Ortega. On July 29, liberal senators Christopher Dodd and Patrick Leahy formed a bloc with reac- tionary senator Jesse Helms to push for suspending U.S. aid to Nicaragua until the FSLN was cleared of accusations of terrorism. On August 19, a rearmed Contra group took nearly 40 Nicaraguan officials and others hostage to press demands for Humberto Ortega's removal. On September 2, President Vio- leta Chamorro finally announced a timetable for Ortega's retirement. Within a month, the recontra kid- nappings, the indignant editorials, the Congressional resolutions, and the supposed World Trade Center links had all but vanished. U.S. leftists have a tendency towards wishful thinking about the "pro- gressive aspects" of incoming Democratic administrations. This can lead to dangerous miscalcula- tions in political strategy. The Rea- gan-style disinformation policy "even the Clinton Administration" orchestrated last year should be a warning against these delusions, and a spur to developing realistic Left strategies. David L. Wilson Nicaragua Solidarity Network New York, NY Urgent Action Appeal Our article, "The Emergence of Cross-Border Labor Solidarity" [July/August, 1994], documented the firing of Mexican workers by General Electric and Honeywell for attempting to organize in the sub- sidiaries of those corporations. We now ask readers to write, demand- ing that the workers be offered reinstatement, that other labor-law violations be corrected, and that the corporations promise to respect the right of their workers to organize. Send letters to Frank Doyle, Execu- tive Vice-President, General Elec- tric Company, 3135 Easton Turnpike, Fairfield, CT 06431, and to Michael Bonsignore, Chairman, Honeywell, Inc., P.O. Box 524, Minneapolis, MN 55408. Also, please write to your Senators and Representatives requesting a Congressional investi- gation and hearings on labor-rights violations in Mexico. Please send copies of your letters to the UE/FAT at 2400 Oliver Bldg., 535 Smithfield St., Pittsburgh, PA 15222. Financial contributions can be sent to the UE/FAT Solidarity Fund at the above address. Robin Alexander Peter Gilmore United Electrical Workers (UE) Pittsburgh, PA
