Socialist predicts
economic doom
P Collapse will lead to success
The Michigan Daily - Monday, October 24, 1988 - Page 5
Prof: Costa Rica,
banana republic?
BY ED KRACHMER
An upcoming economic crisis
will lead to the formation of an
"international workers' conscious-
ness," prompting them to rise up
against their oppressors, said So-
cialist Workers Party Presidential
candidate James "Mack" Warren.
Warren spoke to a sparse crowd of
11 at the Guild House Friday as part
of his campaign swing through
Michigan.
The stock market plunge last Oc-
tober signalled a general economic
crisis similar in scope and scale to
the crisis that followed the 1929
stock market crash, Warren said.
"We believe that it is criminal for
the candidates of the two major par-
ties to wage both the primary and
general election campaigns without
addressing themselves to this point."
' Warren admitted that he probably
won't win in November; he's more
concerned with education and aware-
ness. He also predicted doom for the
next chief executive. "The president
Who will be elected in 1988 will be
known as the Hoover of '80s, who
will administer this crisis against
vs," he said.
"There will be such fundamental
and basic changes in political con-
sciousness and understanding that we
have to have tremendous political'
imagination to even begin to recog-
nize the possibilities," he said.
"People in this country will not
accept these (current and future eco-
nomic) conditions being imposed on
them without a fight."
After a "deep sleep," a collective
working class political conscious-
ness will form, he said, allowing
social progress to occur.
But such progress will require
leaders. "The one thing that we are
trying to accomplish with this elec-
tion campaign," Warren said, "is to
make a contribution toward the or-
ganization of a leadership that can
play a vanguard role in the process
(of political and economic change)."
Warren said he sees no hope in
the current political system. "We
don't care who gets elected. Our
problem is capitalism," he said.
"You can tell the difference between
a genuine socialist and a capitalist
on what they believe we can accom-
plish as a class."
Warren said he sees quite a differ-
ence between Jesse Jackson, who
was often labeled as one of the more
liberal presidential candidates and
himself. "His view of us is as peo-
ple who need his help. No matter
what he says or talks about, we're
totally different. He doesn't stand a
snowball's chance in hell of accom-
plishing something for us. We do."
BY PAUL DE ROOIJ
The United States has been trying
to subvert democracy in Costa Rica,
said Biology Prof. John VanderMeer,
in what he called "a report on my
summer travels in Costa Rica" to a
dozen students at the Guild House
last Friday.
"Costa Rica used to be called the
'Switzerland of Central America'
because of its neutral stance, its de-
mocratic tradition, and because it
didn't have an army," VanderMeer
said.
But all that changed after the
1979 Sandinista revolution in
neighboring Nicaragua. The CIA
subverted Costa Rica's neutrality by
converting it into a sanctuary out of
which the contras could attack Ni-
caragua, he said. To this end, the
U.S. army built highways to ease
the access of U.S. troops in the
event of an invasion of Nicaragua.
"The CIA and the U.S. embassy
managed to change Costa Rica from
a 100 percent supporter of the San-
dinistas into their opponent," Van-
derMeer said. U.S. officials exploited
Costa Rica's dependence on U.S.
economic aid at a time when the
market for its main exports - cof-
fee, bananas, and cattle - collapsed,
forcing them into compliance.
In addition, the CIA has financed
a Costa Rican semi-fascist group, he
said, threatening internal democracy.
This group has published lists of
people it considers subversive, and
Costa Ricans believe that "these
methods are akin to those used by
the Salvadoran death squads," he
said. Furthermore, the main news-
paper in Costa Rica, La Nacidn, was
converted into a CIA mouthpiece, he
said.
VanderMeer also said that for a
country without an army, he was
struck by the number of Costa Ri-
cans wearing olive green fatigues and
carrying M-16 guns. "Everyone re-
fers to these men as the 'not-the-
Costa-Rican-army'," VanderMeer
explained. Many have received the
same American military and ideo-
logical training as the Salvadoran
army, he said, and soon they will
emerge as an official army.
U.S. policies may have accom-
plished some of their short-term
goals by creating an ally in Central
America, but they have also gener-
ated opposition.-
"The Costa Rican populace real-
izes that there is a very high correla-
tion between when (president Oscar)
Arias says something very nasty
about the Sandinistas and when a
new USAID loan is approved,"
VanderMeer said. Costa Rica is
treated like a banana republic, and
this may generate resentment that
could spill over in unpredictable
ways, he said.
The prospects for Costa Rica do
not look very good, he said. "Poli-
tically the country is moving to the
right, and the economic crisis is
getting worse. This can only lead to
more polarization and militarization
of the country," he said. "It is a very
bad situation for those who would
like to see peace develop in the
region."
JESSICA GREENE Doily
Biology Prof. John VanderMeer, who has visited Costa Rica
many times, says the U. S. government has taken advantage
of the Central American country for its own use. VanderMeer
spoke Friday at the Guild House.
Kentucky ex-governor lauds Dukakis
II
BY MICHAEL LUSTIG
Special to the Daily
YPSILANTI - Voters who care about educa-
tion should vote for Michael Dukakis and Lloyd
Bentsen, a former governor said Friday.
Martha Layne Collins, former governor of
Kentucky, stumped in Michigan last week for the
Democratic ticket. Her final stop was at
McKenny Hall at Eastern Michigan University.
Collins attacked Republican presidential can-
didate George Bush for his position on education,
saying Bush stood by for eight years while cuts
were made in the education budget, and now Bush
calls himself the 'education president.'
"The education president?" Collins asked. "No
way, no way."
Collins said she first met Dukakis when they
served together on the National Council of Gov-
ernors. She said she was frustrated by reports that
Dukakis lacks compassion because "it's so far
from the truth."
Collins also touched on drugs, saying Bush
had the opportunity for eight years to be the na-
tion's 'drug czar.' President Reagan appointed
Bush chair of an anti-drug task force in 1983.
But, Collins said, when vice presidential
nominee Dan Quayle was asked who the drug
czar was, he didn't know.
She tried to impress on the audience of about
60 that education is vitally important in a com-
petitive, globally-oriented economy. As gover-
nor, she said she visited Asia eight times and
Europe four.
She decried trade protectionism, saying that
when someone makes a product better than the
United States, Congress passes a law that says,
"Thou shalt not... " and wipes its hands of the
issue.
When asked, Collins said she's not expecting
a position in a Dukakis administration, but that
she offered to help promote Dukakis' candidacy
after she finished her term as governor at the end
of 1987.
Collins, the first woman governor of Ken-
tucky and one of only nine women ever elected
governor of a state, was brought to Michigan by
the Michigan Education Association, an arm of
the National Education Association.
Tues.
Oct. 25
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Continued from Page 1
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modern chain stores such as the Mc-
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Delight.
Other major changes include the
disappearance of the Pretzel Bell, a
popular hang-out; the refurbished
Union and Bagel Factory; a reduction
in student activism;increased vio-
lence on campus; and a more even
male/female ratio at the University.
In the '60s, students focussed
their energies on activism about
world events; but now, said 1971
graduate Jim Sawyer, students are
turning their energies inward toward
campus spirit and the Greek system.
The student body has a much
more pragmatic, get-on-with-it at-
titude than it did 20 years ago,
Dziedzic said. The nationwide con-
servative trend has also hit the Uni-
versity, he said.
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