*1
OPINION
Page 4
Friday, April 1, 1983
The Michigan Daity
What about solidarity with Nicaragua?
1
By George Minde
The following is the text of a speech prepared
earlier this week which I wanted to read at the
March 24 Latin American Solidarity Rally on
the Diag. The organizers of the rally, however,
would not let me read in front of the rally, so I
would like to air it now. The prepared text is as
follows:
We are gathered here today for a rally in
support of the people of El Salvador. Yet we
must also remember our debt of solidarity with
the people of Nicaragua.
NICARAGUA IS now in a particularly severe
state of crisis. Rebels siezed the towns of San
Ramon and Los Llanos near the capital of
Managua, just two weeks ago. The people have
less to eat than in 1978, the year before the San-
dinistas came to power. The government
declared over a year ago that it was in a state
of siege - a state of war.
What are the true conditions of the people of
Nicaragua? They have less food than under the
dictator Somoza; malnutrition is widespread.
Yet the Sandinistan junta has seen fit to pur-
chase over 50 tanks from the Soviet Union,
giving them the only two tank battalions in
Latin America. What threat is there from her
neighbors to justify such an expense? This,
while the people of Nicaragua are starving.
THE JUNTA is working to expand its
military airfields and has pilots training to fly
people are starving.
What improvements have there been in
human rights in Nicaragua since the overthrow
of the Somoza regime?
PRESS censorship remains. The editors of
La Prensa, who agitated so strongly for human
rights under Somoza, have been imprisoned for
calling for the same under the Sandinistas.
The Sandinistas are actively working to ex-
terminate all segments of the population who
don't support them. The Miskito Indians have
been the victims of repeated massacres at the
hands of Sandinistan troops, with over a
thousand having been murdered during the last
year; the junta has made no attempt to bring
the perpetrators of these crimes to justice.
Indeed, the junta has stepped up their tempo
by forcibly moving the Miskitos into "fortified
villages," supposedly to "protect" the Indians.
Actually, it makes repression easier and is
similar to South Vietnam's "strategic hamlet"
program and Vietnam's current "new
economic zones."
THE SANDINISTAS are detaining hundreds
of people each week; over two hundred a month
"disappear," in a level of bloodshed ap-
proaching that in El Salvador.
Roberto Guillen, former deputy chief of
counter-intelligence for the Sandinistan
military (one of several high officials who have
left Nicaragua since seeing the aims and
methods of the Nicaraguan junta), describes
how he was instructed to purge the government
of all who had doubts about the Sandiniston
program: "In the beginning we were instriio-
ted to work against terrorists and spies. But
then we were instructed to work againt
comrades within the Ministry of Defense ..
people who disagreed with the National Direc-
torate began to face trumped up charges of U
murder."
The Sandinistan junta has reverted to the
methods and aims of Stalinism; human rights,
the welfare of the people are all being ignoregl
in the pursuit of the interests of individual
members of the junta: The Sandinistas,
claiming to be marxists, have abandoned
Marx's call for a dictatorship of the proletariat,
and have simply settled for a dictatorship. yi
Marxism is dead in Latin America - if, iq-
deed, it ever existed. The repression practiced
by the governments of Cuba and Nicaragua hasO
proven that. The people under these dictato-
ships are no better off than they were under the
regimes of Batista and Somoza.
The current revolution in Nicaragua is a sign
of hope - hope that they may finally bring, a
government of peace, prosperity, and justice to
the people of Nicaragua - something that the
Sandinistas have shown themselves incapable
of doing.
Minde is a junior in LSA.
Nicaragua: Bringing Soviet-made tanks to Central America while its poor starve.
jets that the junta doesn't even own yet, but is
preparing to buy. This, while its people are
starving.
The junta has bought helicopters, guns, and
artillery from the Soviet Uniort; now, the junta
is talking with the Soviet Union about the
possibility of the Soviets deploying mobile IC-
BMs in Nicaragua; this, while Nicaragua's
Wasserman
&e I~tlchtgan atl
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Vol. XCIII, No. 143 '
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board
Defective bureaucracy
HE GRANTING of political asylum
is a fairly routine procedure in this
country. A potential defector makes an
.application, the State Department
gives a recommendation, and the Im-
migration and Naturalization Service
quickly grants final approval. It isn't a
long process, and if the State Depar-
tment gives a favorable recommen-
dation, the request is virtually always
approved.
The exception to that rule is Hu Na, a
Chinese tennis player who, though she
got a favorable recommendation from
the State Department in July, has not
yet been granted asylum. The problem
apparently stems from an internal
dispute in the immigration service's
offices. Unfortunately, this
bureaucratic squabble may cost Hu
her chance to stay in the United States.
Immigration officials, who are under
the jurisdiction of the Justice Depar-
tment, aren't saying why Hu's request
has not been acted upon, except that
they are afraid of "setting a
precedent" by allowing her to stay
What kind of precedent are they
afraid of setting isn't at all clear. More
than 1,000 Chinese citizens now in this
country have applied for asylum; less
than a dozen applications have been
approved. Hu, though, meets the legal
requirement that she have a "well-
founded fear of persecution" if she
were to return to China. She also met
the informal requirement that she
have the State Department's approval.
Though officials in Peking
naturally are against granting Hu
asylum, if the United States were to do
so, it certainly would not cause any
great harm to U.S.-Chinese relations.
There simply aren't any good reasons
not to allow Hu to stay in this country.
you CUT lMy
JO NF TREr
RaTfE COST MNE
MY JO?'
To C-t'f OUR
tEMDENS(Y ON
THE GiOVERNM~ENT
IOU AXED2
SAFETY
.j
To I KA'Rye YOUR~.
P'RODUCTV IT
To 5NVc- YOU
R~A&ANoNM CS I5
WEV~t% HAVING
To -,;Y You'RS
5ORFRy
l L
/
I
I r4
i
V1
4:
z
4a;
LETTERS TO THE DAILY:
Frat shows more' class than Daily
"NOW, AS YOU CAN SEE ON THIS CHART..,
;
1 ' l 1B~ PM
RAPIDi~
° ZoneSF?~O
"MP~~SItT
IRA Q PL
S.rISSILS
/ I ~,
To the Daily:
The response of Sigma Alpha
Mu fraternity to the sen-
sationalized "Frat Party Draws
Accusations of Racism,'' (Daily,
March 22) shows that Sammies
has a heck of a lot more class
than most other campus
organizations, especially the
Daily. As a non-Greek, I often
looked down upon frats as being
crude and self-centered. Sam-
mies response has completely
changed my attitude.
Unlike the Daily, which refused
to print even a one line apology
for its irresponsible "Japs: Fact
or Fiction" article, because, as
editor Barry Witt said he wasn't
Critique of
To the Daily:
I found Ellen Lindquist's
review of the Reader's Theater
Guild production of As I Lay
Dying a little disturbing. I am
surprised to hear a professed
theatre critic rail on a production
for the lack of sets. A set is not
what makes a play a play. A set
serves to enhance the image
presented in the play by the ac-
tions and words of the charac-
ters, as do makeup and costumes.
But these traditional theatrical
tnnic are nnthing ht tonl For
convinced that it was a mistake
to print the article, the members
of Sigma Alpha Mu realized that
they had the responsibility to
apologize if their actions offended
even one member of the campus
community.
The Daily has shown callous
disregard for the feelings of the
community time and again this
year. Almost every day, a letter
to the editor is printed, com-
plaining about a particular ar-
ticle. Of course, we all realize
that the Daily is free to print
whatever it chooses, but this does
not excuse it from the guidelines
of responsible journalism. Barry
Witt and the Daily's editorial
f a critic
gap oy creating scenery in the
audience's minds to replace that
which could be made from wood
and muslin and stage paint. If
done skillfully, the set-less play
can surpass a play with full
scenery. This production of As I
Lay Dying may indeed have left
the audience, "dying to leave,"
but it doesn't sound to me as
though painted backdrops and a
horse and cart on stage would
have fixed the problem. The fault
lies with the actors and the direc-
tnr a V.n dd a n-in
board must reexamine their
policies and principles if they
hope to stop other people and
organizations from joining
Hillel's boycott of the Daily.
Winning isn 't
To the Daily
Ann Arbor bids farewell to
women's basketball team for-
ward, Peg Harte ("Peg Harte
quits hoopsters," Daily, March
29). It's unfortunate that the rest
of the Vince Lombardi school
("Winning isn't everything, it's
the only thing") doesn't pack up
and go with her. Hey Peg, is there
room on the bus for Don
Canham? Who knows, if you
make a winning team out of
Aquinas maybe they'd let Don
narrow the field house seats and
double the ticket prices.
When asked her reasons for
leaving Michigan, Ms. Harte
unashamedly announced that she
"didn't like constantly losing. ..it
would be different if we were
winning the Big Ten (champion-
ship). " That's the bottom line, I
guess: nobody likes a loser. It's
bad enough when women lose
(who cares about women's sports.
anyway, eh?) but what if (gasp!)
the Michigan men's football team
should have a few bad seasons?
171_ r- ._-_1 9_ __ - . . - .-- -
Once more, I would like to
commend the members of Sigma
Alpha Mu for their understanding
and class.
- Sara Jaffe
March 26
f everything
Harte gave another reason for
leaving: the "difference in
coaching philosophy" between
Harte and coach Gloria Soluk:
"She (Soluk) thinks that
players are old enough that they
shouldn't have to be yelled at...I
didn't feel comfortable with
having her as a friend and 'a
coach."
God bless humiliation, subor-
dination, "yelling" - all the
things that make a man feel like a
man, a woman feel like a girl,
and make America great. Shoot,
what fun is a sport anyway if it
doesn't remind you of boot camp?
Gee wiz, Ms. Soluk, if you'd try
treating your players like Bobby
Knight treats his players, maybe
you'd win a game once in a while.
I don't know Ms. Harte, I don't
know Ms. Soluk, and the only
basket I can make isone that holds
marshmallow chicks - but I
think I'm going to go out for
basketball next year: Maybe
there's something to be learned
about losing with pride.
MMeI