U.S. sets stage for invasion

Socialist Action, Vol. 2, No. 12, December 1984 · scan p. 1 · Larry Cooperman · about 318 words

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CONN Socialist Action/May May Gong Less than one week after charges that Nicaragua was receiving MiG-21 fighter jets were conclusively refuted, new charges of a Nicaraguan arms buildup were being raised by the Reagan administration.

The administration charges followed a recent escalation in the pressures being applied against the FSLN government in the aftermath of its landslide victory in the Nicaraguan elections. On Nov. 6, an anonymous "re-election campaign adviser" leaked the story that a Soviet freighter, coming from a Black Sea port, was carrying crates that could contain MiG-21s.

On Nov. 7, and again the following day, State Department spokespersons issued warnings that the United States considered the delivery of "offensive weapons" to Nicaragua to be "unacceptable."

At a California news conference, President Reagan refused to rule out the use of force.

Over the next few days, U.S. military preparations gathered steam. Naval exercises were conducted by 25 warships off the coast of Puerto Rico. The forces involved in the maneuvers included the 82nd Airborne Division, which was the principal force involved in the invasion of Grenada last year.

SR-71 spyflights began to cross into Nicaraguan airspace, deliberately causing sonic booms over Managua to create a climate of terror among the Nicaraguan population. One U.S. warship was stationed off the port of Corinto and repeatedly violated Nicaraguan waters.

The Nicaraguan government, in the face of this new emergency, was forced to cancel plans for 50,000 students to help pick the vitally needed coffee crop and instead sent them to help with the defense of Managua. Defense Minister Humberto Ortega underscored the right of the Nicaraguans to receive arms to defend their revolution. "We are obligated to take all means necessary to protect ourselves.... If the Marines invade, they will see what the tanks are for,' he said.

But reality, the Soviet Union is (continued on page 13, in “Mexican workers lose on both sides of border BER”)

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