[SOCIALIST ACTION OCTOBER 1989 11 S.A.: In an…]

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SOCIALIST ACTION OCTOBER 1989 11 S.A.: In an issue of Barricada Internacional not too long ago, Commander Omar Cabezas, who had just been selected to head up the CDSs, acknowledged the vertical structures which he said obstructed the proper functioning of the CDSs. He pledged to reinvigorate the CDSs and make them fully open, independent, autonomous, and democratic.

Hassan: Well, if this is what Omar said it FSLN was simply a recognition of what everyone in Nicaragua is aware of-that is, the CDSs are non-functional. But whatever his intentions, nothing has been done to change the functioning of the CDSs. They are empty shells. The people do not participate in these committees. They do not see them as their own.

The become William Frank Gentile FSLN party activists in the neighborhoods, with little or no support among the population. If the CDSs are to once again become truly mass neighborhood organizations, it will be necessary for the FSLN to break with its sectarian and bureaucratic methods of functioning. Unfortunately, I don't see this (continued on page 12, in “Essential reading!”)

Managua, Aug. 25, 1989 National Directorate Sandinista National Liberation Front Dear compañeros, At the first national conference of the Movement for Revolutionary Unity (MUR), we voted to contact all political forces in Nicaragua interested in the defense of the conquests of the revolution. The National Executive Committee of the MUR is therefore addressing you to propose the following:

1. Given your role as government leaders who are responsible for the gains attained during the 10 years of revolution in Nicaragua, we believe it is vital to set up a meeting with the purpose of discussing the tactics needed to preserve the conquests of the revolution.

2. The Movement for Revolutionary Unity believes that imperialism and its local allies, organized today in the National Opposition Union (UNO), are organizing themselves in the political arena to confront the government which you lead. Their purpose is to destroy the gains obtained during the past 10 years of revolution.

3. The program of the UNO is the program of U.S. imperialism. It is a program that seeks to destroy the revolutionary process in Nicaragua and all of Central America.

4. Since our formation as a legal party, we (continued on page 12, in “Essential reading!”)

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... candidate calls for preserving gains (continued from page 9: “SPECIAL: ELECTIONS IN NICARAGUA Former Sandinista leader to run for president: Moisés Hassan calls for workers, peasants to preserve and extend gains of revolution”) into the the right-wing UNO coalition."

MUR leader Rodrigo Ibarra responded to the pro-Sandinista critics:

"There's no basis to the charges against the MUR and Hassan. We contacted the FSLN leadership in late July to propose a joint election campaign on the basis of a program to defend the revolution. We got no answer from the FSLN leadership. Instead what we saw was the FSLN commanders continuing to make concessions to the contras and their internal allies prior to the Tela [Honduras] summit of the five Central American presidents.

"The FSLN leadership is rapidly moving in a rightward direction. Its International Monetary Fund-style austerity measures and layoffs, its increased concessions to the agro-export capitalists, and its decision to reverse the agrarian reform program, to mention only some of its dead-end policies, only undermine support for the revolution,"

[In June, the FSLN government, responding to the pressure of the right-wing opposiista unionists and mass leaders have told us privately that they agree with our platform. Now that Moisés [Hassan] has decided to run for president, we are hoping that some of these people will endorse our ticket. At any rate, since the announcement of our presidential ticket, we have already recruited dozens of ex-Sandinista members. These are people who had left the Front-usually largely demoralized. Our campaign has re-energized them. It's an exciting process to observe."

In his interview with Socialist Action, Moisés Hassan also answers the critics of his election bid, stating that the large bulk of the votes for the MUR will come from the hundreds of thousands of voters he believes would simply abstain in the 1990 elections if presented with only the Ortega vs. Chamorro option. [See accompanying interview with Moisés Hassan.] A ticket worthy of support The Hassan-Samper ticket deserves the support of the workers and peasants of Nicaragua, as well as of all the international supporters of the Nicaraguan Revolution.

In his article, Cooper points out how the Sandinistas are employing "fairly traditional capitalist techniques" of cutbacks in state spending and massive layoffs to respond to the mounting economic crisis. He takes note of the gigantic government handouts (65 percent of the national budget in 1989) offered to the Nicaraguan capitalists as "production incentives." He then goes on to describe how this money is being squandered (most of it is illegally funneled to private accounts in Miami) given the unwillingness of the capitalists to invest productively so long as the FSLN government is not overthrown.

The response to these measures among the population, Cooper notes, ranges from "cool resignation to bitterness to a sense of betrayal." Cooper quotes many ordinary Nicaraguan citizens to make his point. For example, a professional state employee tells Cooper:

"Ât the beginning of the revolution, the FSLN said it had formed a tactical alliance with the private sector. Now it's gone and married it.... That's a mistake.... The Sandinistas don't yet understand that no matter what they do or say, the private sector doesn't want to work with them, it wants to get rid of them.

"The FSLN wants to have people pull together to improve the economy? Fine. But you don't do that by letting the private sector piss all over you. You do it by kicking the rich in the ass. People risk no longer knowing what they are fighting for, or no longer caring about the revolution, but instead just struggling to eat. The enemy of the revolution now is apathy."

Cooper also quotes an ex-Sandinista member, Danilo, who was publicly expelled from the FSLN for criticizing its lack of internal party democracy. Danilo states: "It hurts me to say it, but I no longer think this is the revolution we fought for. I think the FSLN is headed toward something like Mexico.... That's what's sad for me."

In other similar stories, solidarity activists returning from Nicaragua have been compelled to report the simple truth about the current situation in Nicaragua; that is, the policies of the FSLN leadership are threatening the revolution.

But for the Danilos and the hundreds of thousands of revolutionary-minded workers, peasants, and youth there is now an alternative in the upcoming elections which expresses their desire to preserve and improve the revolution they have fought so arduously to defend over the past decade.

Anyone interested in receiving the newspaper of the MUR or finding out more about the MUR's election campaign can contact them at: Apartado MJ 15, Managua Nicaragua.