Claim against the employers: Nicaraguan ex-contras want compensation from the U.S.

["Nestor Gorojovsky" <nestorgoro@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>(by way of Mike Friedman) (by way of Mike Friedman <mikedf@xxxxxxxx>)]

Nestor asked me to translate and forward this article last week -- Sorry,
Nestor, I just now had the time to do it. The issue is important in
Nicaragua for two interrelated reasons. First, the contras originated as a
U.S. mercenary force organized around the remains of the Somocista National
Guard, but by the mid 1980s had become a peasant army with a substantial
base of support in the countryside, largely as the result of errors made by
the Sandinistas in the countryside (which, to do them some justice, they
partially rectified by 1988, laying the basis for the military defeat of
the contras and the 1989 contadora accords). Tens of thousands of
campesinos who served as combatants in both sides in the conflict are today
without land or work, largely because they were never reincorporated into
society following the war. This of course is in the context of the hundreds
of thousands of campesinos who are today without land or work as the result
of the neo-liberal economic policies of the Chamorro, Aleman and,
currently, Bolanos administrations in Nicaragua. For these former U.S.
soldiers, it is elementary justice that they should receive some sort of
vetrerans benefits. Which brings us to the second issue, expressed clearly
by former contra leader, Oscar Sovalbarro, and other wealthy ex-contra
businessmen, who don't wish to bite the hand of their mentors and business
partners, and hope to hide their own genocidal past. What's the Argentine
word for these sorts, Nestor? For them, the starvation of their former
contra comrades is unimportant. What is important for them is the claim
that their struggle had "indigenous roots," was a legitimate national
struggle, and that the U.S. (generously) helped out their patriotic
struggle. Don't be fooled by Talavera's words about U.S. "allies." That's
just rhetoric. The issue is class and self-determination (reparations?),
and is seen as such by Nicaraguan working people.

Mike
---------------------------

MANAGUA, 7(PSI).- Claim against the employers: Nicaraguan ex-contras want
compensation from the U.S.

The Nicaraguan Resistance said it is firm in its intention to demand
compensation from the United States for more than 30,000 contra guerrillas
who fought against the Sandinista regime in the 1980s. Salvador Talavera,
the president of what is now the contras' political party, known as the
National Resistance Party (PRN), told PSI on Monday that a team of
specialists is working on putting a monetary value to the claim. He added
that, contrary to the U.S. policy of compensating the Vietnamese soldiers
that fought on its side to the tune of $400 million dollars, in Nicaragua
they only paid $14 million toward the contras' demobilization. Talavera
added that the U.S. even gave more for the peace plan in El Salvador. "We
have been, and are, allies and we will continue being allies of the United
States," he said. The contras were financed by the United States during the
1980s in order to combat the FSLN's regime. In statements to the local
media the week before, Talavera declared that the goal was "compensation
based on the fact that we were trained, financed and created as part of
U.S. foreign policy during the war" against the Sandinistas.The ex-contra
commander told PSI that 85% of the commanders and task force leaders of the
former contras will meet in Managua on Tuesday to finalize the claim. He
added that they would also propose to the legislature the assignation of 1%
of the national budget for aid programs for the former contras and
Sandinista soldiers who battled during the 1980s. He said that some 7,000
former contra soldiers live in subhuman conditions because they receive
pensions that range between $1.66 and $13.30 a month, and lack adequate
medical attention. Talavera dismissed the opposition to the claim by what
he called a "tiny minority of ex-contra commanders," who were "favored with
large farms," when the contras were demobilized at the end of 1989. Last
week, Oscar Sovalbarro, "Commander Ruben," expressed opposition to the
claim, because the contra war "was legitimate," initiated by the contras
and subsequently supported by the United States. The PRN currently has a
representative in the National Assembly and another in the Central American
Parliament (PARLACEN).


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