According to a blog posting at The Nicaraguan Dispatch (no relationship with our DC Dispatches), and similar articles in Spanish from the region, there are a group of fellows that claim to be a modern-day version of the Nicaraguan freedom fighter movement, the Contras. I’ve had folks well connected in the region tell of simliar tales.
We’re going to take a closer look at this issue in the weeks ahead. If this is true, then we have the leftist Daniel Ortega government to thank for it. The Ortega government, bordering on regime, has trampled rule of law, private property rights, and fundamental freedoms to remain in power. It will hijack the democratic processes even more so if it means remaining in power.
Where is the Obama Administration Latin American team on this and related issues in the region? Obama’s key Western Hemisphere advisors have failed to have a coherent, U.S.-centric focused policy toward the region. They, too, will have to share some of the blame for the problems in Central America, especially if Nicaragua continues to slide and anti-communist groups start to re-organize.
Many of the establishment scholars in the DC-area think tanks will deny that there is a problem. These are the same folks who argued just a few years ago, but have since changed their tune, that there is no “Iran problem” in the Americas. More to come.
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