TV extravaganza pushes Contadora "peace" scam Contadora "peace" scam

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SOCIALIST ACTION JANUARY 1987 5 Girl's mother was murdered by the contras that are pouring out now, the plotting and the knavery. But the essence is clear.

"It goes back to the obsession with Nicaragua. When Congress forbade military aid to the contras, President Reagan did not accept that judgment. He signaled his administration to proceed by other means.

Incriminating facts

Lewis proceeds to sum up some of the incriminating facts that have come to light. He discloses how money for the contras was "browbeaten" from client governments around the world and funneled into the secret Swiss account set up for U.S. mercenaries.

His column centers on the "problem of arranging for delivery of weapons to the contras in the teeth of congressional prohibition."

He gives the example of a "private" enterprise called Stanford International Trading Group, Inc. The president of this outfit, which organized and transported arms to the contras, is "retired" Air Force Gen. Richard V. Secord.

Lewis lists a variety of "retired" and active U.S. Air Force and Army colonels in various key posts in charge of Central American operations and a "former" CIA agent in charge of hiring the pilots.

Noting that "Gen. Secord's fingerprints are all over the contra arms transfers," Lewis exposes the fake independence of Secord's operation:

"Flights to the contras went from Ilopango, a Salvadoran air base dominated Congress? Is it conceivable they didn't know what was going on?

Democratic Party Senator Ernest F. Hollings, in an interview aired on National Public Radio on Dec. 3, testified to congressional culpability in this affair. "Everyone knew," he said, "that [arms for the contras] were not coming from the thin air."

Hollings' implication was clear: Congress knew the contras were being covertly funded by the Reagan administration, but said and did nothing simply because they were in discreet accord.

Another Vietnam?

The worsening situation of American imperialism is underscored by a headline in a recent edition of The New York Times: "U.S. Aides Fear Crisis Will End Contras' Effort." Noting the, poor military performance of this mercenary gang and their absolute dependence on the U.S. government, the reporter concludes that it appears to have "seriously eroded alreadyweak congressional support."

It is clear that even before the Iran-arms affair, administration officials were re-evaluating the contras' prospects.

It has been reported that senior American officials tried to find out why the contras were not as effective as the leftist rebels in El Salvador. These officials have wondered out loud why the Salvadoran guerrillas don't need $100 million to keep fighting.

The Iran-contra exposure only brought the crisis of U.S. Nicaraguan policy to a head. Now the big question in ruling class circles is: If the Sandinistas don't "say uncle" (as Reagan so bluntly put it), then what?

On Dec. 14, I was one of an estimated 20 million TV viewers throughout North, Central, and South America who watched the Beyond War Award ceremony held in San Francisco.

This year, the presidents of the four Contadora nations-Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, and Panama-—were honored via TV satellite hookup for their role "in helping to promote a negotiated settlement to the conflicts in Central America."

As a supporter of the Nicaraguan Revolution, I could not help from cringing when listening to Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid talk about peace in Central America.

De la Madrid was certainly correct when he stated that the "tensions in the region must be resolved by Latin Americans without outside intervention." But the way the Mexican government wishes to resolve these "tensions" is by putting pressure on the Nicaraguan government to negotiate with the contras and to limit its military defense capacities.

In November, a high Mexican govern -ment official held a reception at the Mexican Embassy in Managua to which, for the first time, leaders of the major rightwing parties were invited alongside FSLN officials. The signal was unmistakable: Reconstitute a government coalition of national unity with displaced Somoza capitalists!

De la Madrid is no friend of the Nicaraguan Revolution. Mexico has suspended all oil exports to Nicaragua (which the revolution vitally needs), but has continued its shipments of oil to Honduras and Costa Rica, which are harboring the contras. Mexico has virtually broken off all commercial relations with Nicaragua.

If the Central American workers and peasants are, indeed, to go "beyond war," they will have to turn a deaf ear to people like De la Madrid, who talk peace while readily bending to the pressures of the U.S. war drive.

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sharply criticized the role of the SEIU