U.S. Relations With Nicaragua

On a recent weekend I was in a city park watching friends play baseball. The usual assortment of local kids and friendly strangers, stray dogs and ice cream vendors wandered in and out mingling with our group. A great Saturday, typical of summer afternoons. The only differences were the friendly strangers spoke to us in Spanish, the park was in the city of Matagalpa, Nicaragua, and my friends and I were a brigade of Los Angeles and San Diego teachers building a school in this town.

When a sudden downpour sent the whole melee scrambling indiscriminately for shelter, I found myself in our brigade truck with a Nicaraguan, some fellow workers and a few small, muddy boys. As the rain continued to fall, the talk outgrew the ordinary polite banalities and came to the issue that is forever present when an American sits down with a Nicaraguan--the war--ours against him.

I wish I could put down word for word what was said but it rained a long time. The part that refused to leave me alone I will recount:

“What right does the United States have to pay the Contras to destroy my people?” he asked. “There is no right,” he answered his own question. Few Nicaraguans have not lost someone to the Contras; I did not pry.

In Matagalpa I live in the home of a baker. He is middle class. He has no use for politics. “If it’s for the people, I’m for it,” he likes to tell me. He wants to feed his three boys, send them to school. He’s not particularly Sandinista, he’ll tell you what they’ve done wrong as fast as he’ll tell what they have accomplished. He figures one regime is as good as another until you mention the Contras to him. His face clouds over, he is old enough to remember well dictator Anastasio Somoza. He’ll tell you he’d rather die first.

Nicaragua is not our enemy--let these people live!

ADELE LORD

Campo