At Least They’re Our Skunks
Admittedly, the Shah, Somoza and
a few others with whom we have had
good relations, have been less than
desirable fellows. Actually they may
have been skunks. But if we must do
business with skunks-and sometimes
we must-we should always prefer
those who are spraying in the other di-
rection. Back in the hills of Virginia,
we call that common sense.
Jerry Falwell
February 5, 1985
Living in an Ideal World
WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 (UPI)-
American news organizations are
“trying to tear down America” be-
cause the press is made up of people
from “a narrow fringe element on the
far left of our society,” the White
House science adviser says.[…. ]
“This country is looking toward
things like investment in the future,
education, respecting people who
work hard and well,” [George A.
Keyworth 2nd] continued. “We have
a pragmatic view of the world’s com-
petitiveness, not some artificial, ideal
world where, for example, foreign
policy is dominated by human rights.
The American press as a whole is in-
consistent with these trends.”
The New York Times
February 23, 1985
In No Uncertain Terms
United Press International
A Nicaraan gornmft vmmission
says it is ready to negotiate lim-
peduutonomy forrndians on the coun-
try’s isolat datlantic cout, but rules out
demands for independence. As the
commision’s 10-point plan was an-
munced Mondq in Managua, battle
between troops and rebels trying to
overthrow the Sandinista government
jgedin the north. he Defense mcistry
said 15 rebels and six troops were
killed.
Te threelembj Ncaraguan ovecment
commission announced a plan that en-
vsions preserving he languages, relir-
gionsandcultures of different Indian
groups livng on he country’s Alanpc
coast.
he plan includes futuj talks
onutonomy, hiv would allow for In-
diansto choose thur leaders and devel-
op their and, the commission said, but
added utonomy “dos not meanseqra-
tion nor independence
from Nicaragua.”
The annokcement came amidu
deadlockmver autonomy cpeace tas
between the gvernment and 9ne of
two Indian rebel leaders, brooklyn
Rivera of the Costa Rica-
basedrMisurasata group.
The governxnthas been widely
criticized for 8ts treatment of ndian-
groups that ere largely left agne until
the vegvow of dictatocnastasv omba
in 197. ReAN Adminiyration offiials
have cwled the treatznt “genocide.’
The Sandinistas’ forced relocation
of Inkansaway from mrtheastern
zones under attackrby U.S.-backed
rbels prompted housanstoflee ctoneiv-
boring onduras and others to join the
Indian rebelvrps.
The Jersey Journal
December 18, 1984
An “Omelette” in Every Hamlet
The army’s old habit of massacring
villagers has been largely abandoned
during the past two years. Two major
programmes were initiated: the guns-
and-beans campaign (fusiles y fri-
joles), which offered food to war-
shattered areas and organised the In-
dians into a million-strong “civil de-
fence force” whose members put in a
day or so of patrolling each week; and
the omelettes-and-work campaign
(tortillas y trabajo) which offered the
Indians pay in exchange for helping to
rebuild their villages.
The Economist
London
February 2, 1985
Kissinger Report Bombs?
Asked what she and the Adminis-
tration had failed so far to achieve in
its foreign policy goals, Dr. [Jeane]
Kirkpatrick replied, “Lots!”
For one thing, she said, the Admin-
istration has hardly responded to the
recommendations made last year by
the Commission on Central America,
headed by former Secretary of State
Henry A. Kissinger. The report called
for an $8.4 billion economic aid pro-
gram to the region and “significantly
Continued on page 12
Continued from page 2
increased” military assistance.
“Kissinger said at Norman Pod-
horetz’s party the other night that the
unused copies of the report should be
dropped on Nicaragua,” she said with
a laugh.
The New York Times
February 1, 1985
By Cook County Standards. . . .
The opposition is widely thought to
be readying its excuses in case it loses
[in the Belizean elections on] Friday.
Party leaders continue to charge that
the Prime Minister stole the election
in 1979, in which eight races were de-
cided by less than 5 percent of the
vote.
But U.S. Ambassador Barneby is
skeptical that any vote tampering
could have gone undetected in 1979,
or will on Friday. “By Cook County
standards,” he said with a laugh,
“this is going to be a clean election.”
The New York Times
December 14, 1984
Lying Low
“We’ve got two options,” Mr.
Durenberger said in an interview this
week. “We can do it openly or do it
covertly. The only difference is that
when we do it covertly, we lie a lot.”
(Senator David Durenberger, R-
Minn., chairman of the Senate Select
Committee on Intelligence, comment-
ing on aid to the Nicaraguan contras.)
The New York Times
February 2, 1985
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