Coverup: Behind the Iran-Contra Affair, a film produced by Barbara Trent, Gary Meyer and David Kasper. The Empowerment Project (1653 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA), 1988, 75 mins., $39.95 for individu- als/$99.95 for institutions. Congress’ refusal to look at more than the particular arms deals with Iran after 1983 effectively turned the hearings into a coverup of broader illegalities in covert foreign policy. This video examines those issues-allegations of CIA drug traf- ficking, the history of the “secret team” since the 1960s, the possibility that the Reagan campaign cut a deal with the Ayatollah in 1980-using vivid scenes from the Congressional hearings, historical footage and inter- views with analysts and participants. “Coverup” includes the participation of celebrities, among them musicians Lou Reed, Pink Floyd, Rub6n Blades and narration by actress Elizabeth Montgomery. The Empowerment Project has created an excellent teaching and organizing tool. Naming the Idols: Biblical Alterna- tives for U.S. Foreign Policy by Richard Shaull. Meyer Stone Books, 1988, 155 pp., $9.95 (paper). A prominent liberation theologian and former Presbyterian missionary, Richard Shaull argues that radical structural changes in the Third World are consistent with Biblical teaching and are in the interests of the United States as well. Shaull is optimistic that U.S. Christians can be influenced by the experience of Latin Americans who not only suffer at the hands of U.S. policy, but who have developed their own Biblically-derived strate- gies to improve their lives. Using Biblical references and analogies, Shaull argues that U.S. foreign policy has deteriorated into an idolatrous defense of narrow interests that serve only the powerful. Flights of Victory by Ernesto Carde- nal. Curbstone Press, 1988, 123 pp., $9.95 (paper). The verse of Nicaragua’s former Minister of Culture often seems like “story-poetry,” relating events, im- pressions and emotions that are deeply rooted in material history. His retelling of the tortures experienced under Somoza, of the repression of the young, and of individual poor Nicaraguans choosing to fight the dictatorship, provide the most memo- rable poems. For Cardenal there is no distinction between the personal and political. Some of these poems are thoughts written down when Carde- nal attended public functions as Min- ister of Culture, as in “Cabinet Meet- ing,” “Mass Rally in St. George” and “Founding of the Latin American Human Rights Association.” A com- mon thread running through the poems is Cardenal’s fierce love and pride for his country’s struggle, as in “Ecumenical Mass in Dusseldorf,” wherein he prays “Lord, let all that is dreamed in Nicaragua be realized. Let there be many Nicaraguas in the world.” Report on the Chilean Electoral Process by International Human Rights Law Group, 1987, 77 pp., $5 (paper). First of a series of reports on the Chilean electoral process. Written before the plebiscite, it nevertheless provides useful and comprehensive data regarding impediments to voter registration, restrictions on political parties, access to the media, appoint- ment of polling officials and voting observers, and the structure of the plebiscite itself. Among the many undemocratic features the authors identify the lack of options for voters, late selection of the date of the plebi- scite and brevity of the campaign pe- riod. A response from the Chilean Ambassador appears at the back, in which he accuses the authors of “seri- ous errors of fact” and “capricious and biased interpretations.” Aid That Counts: The Western Contribution to Development and Survival in Nicaragua by the Transnational Institute and the Coor- dinadora Regional de Investigaciones Econ6micas y Sociais, 1988, 157 pp., $5.95 (paper). A helpful overview of financial assistance to Nicaragua since 1979. Focusing primarily on Western Eu- rope and Canada, the book analyzes how the nature of contributions from these countries have changed as Nica- ragua’s priorities have shifted “from an initial emphasis on reconstruction after the revolution, to long-term de- velopment investment, and now a ‘survival economy’ in the face of mounting economic and military pressure.” Over the first seven years of the revolution, assistance from these countries averaged $600 mil- lion per year but in late 1986, due to U.S. pressure and their own budget- ary constraints, several Western Eu- ropean governments began to sharply reduce their contributions. While the aid enabled Nicaragua to build social welfare programs and restore produc- tion and infrastructure, it also in- creased Nicaragua’s foreign debt to over $5 billion by 1986. Venezuela’s Movimiento al Social- ismo: From Guerrilla Defeat to Innovative Politics by Steve Ellner. Duke University Press, 1988, 262 pp., $43.50 (paper). A comprehensive study of Vene- zuela’s third largest party and a unique leftist institution in Latin America. The MAS (Movement To- ward Socialism) is often grouped with others who broke with the old Left to pursue reformist Eurocom- munism. Despite similarities, Ellner argues that the MAS’ ideology and philosophical outlook is fundamen- tally different. Especially interesting for Ellner is MAS’ “participative zeal” which, while sometimes a hin- drance, sets it apart from other Left parties that prize obedience to the leadership. The cadres’ “readiness to put forward personal viewpoints…” is, for Ellner, “its most attractive characteristic, and perhaps its out- standing feature.” Ellner traces the MAS’ factional struggles and politi- cal swings from its early days when it rejected alliances with Left parties not explicitly socialist to its later re- fusal to ally with socialist parties it considered undemocratic, such as the Communist Party. Ellner discusses these changing positions from a com- parative perspective, citing the expe- rience of other Left parties in other historical and national contexts.
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