Thursday, March 15, 2007
One Decent Thing We Can Do
That's just what Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega - whom the Contras once sought to overthrow - is suggesting:
Ortega's right - and it's also smart politics for him, and good for Nicaragua. He's already shown a willingness to reform, and now he's looking for resources to help his former antagonists. If Nicaragua is to begin to pull out of its crushing poverty, some degree of national reconciliation is going to be necessary. And the US is morally obligated to help with that if we can - especially if it's a question of providing a little aid to those we once used as pawns on the cold war chessboard.
Now that Bush is back from tooling around Latin American promising to help the poor, here's a concrete suggestion about some poor Latin American people for whom he could actually do something: America's former proxy soldiers, the Contras of Nicaragua.
That's just what Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega - whom the Contras once sought to overthrow - is suggesting:
Ortega, a Cold War foe of the United States who now heads his second government after winning last year's election, said U.S. President George W. Bush's administration should assume some responsibility for the welfare of the ex-Contras.Reagan's support for the Contras was illegal, but it was done in our name nonetheless. Considering all the havoc the US helped wreak in Nicaragua, don't we at least have the moral resonsibility to help that country look after the people we once paid to wreak it?
The former rebels are demanding housing, land and farm credits promised to them at the end of Nicaragua's civil war that pitted the U.S.-financed fighters against the Sandinista revolutionary government.
"I would like the U.S. government, President Bush ... to take into account the United States' responsibility in this war during the government of President Reagan," Ortega said.
"It would be good if the United States contributed at least $300 million to this fund, permitting the construction of housing for these families, that will allow us to give them credits to work the land or set up small businesses," he told reporters.
Ortega's right - and it's also smart politics for him, and good for Nicaragua. He's already shown a willingness to reform, and now he's looking for resources to help his former antagonists. If Nicaragua is to begin to pull out of its crushing poverty, some degree of national reconciliation is going to be necessary. And the US is morally obligated to help with that if we can - especially if it's a question of providing a little aid to those we once used as pawns on the cold war chessboard.
Labels: Foreign Policy, Nicaragua
¶ Posted by Paul Curtis 12:53 PM 
