myers@uwmacc.UUCP (Latitudinarian Lobster) (01/15/86)
> [Ron Rizzo] > At least this to me is what a genuine "desire to know" is, whatever > your initial or later biases. It's not merely an effort to defeat > opponents by seeking flaws to enlarge, or "exposing" underlying > rhetorical strategies, or caricaturing arguments and evidence given, > in order discard any information unfavorable to your views. Such > tactics may be fine for chess or trial law but not for knowledge. Well, let's see how well you stack up, Ron. > That said, the readings offered below are remarkably free of flaws, > aware of bias, and careful about weighing information and building > cases, given the generally poor quality of much, maybe most, coverage > of Central American conflicts. In your unbiased, non-caricaturing opionion. > Shirley Christian, NICARAGUA: REVOLUTION IN THE FAMILY, Random > House, 1985, 337 p. > > The only book-length study of Sandinist Nicaragua in English, > aside from apologies by foreign sympathizers (which fill up > a couple of bookshelves, and are not worth much except as > documents of human gullibility in the 1980s).... > Christian supplies a basically sound narrative & reasonable > interpretation based on accumulation of evidence & fairly > incisive argument, features that pro-Sandinista writing lacks. Gosh, Ron, what's a foreign sympathizer? Is it a sympathetic foreigner, or an Amurcan that's sympathetic to foreigners? Note the harsh critiques of Christian in the bibliography below. The odd ``book-length'' study of Nicaragua will be thrown in as well -- others were listed in Andy Berman's recent posting. > Mother Jones, August/September 1985, pages 21-35: > Deidre English, "We Are Sandinistas" > Deidre English, "North Americans in Nicaragua" > Gloria Emerson, "Haskell Wexler Zooms in on Nicaragua" > > Good examples of the hackwork that too often passes for coverage > by the North American left & not-so-left: completely uncritical, > often absurd, & patently serving Sandinista propaganda aims. Well, so much for all writing by individuals further to the left than Robert Leiken and mainstream-liberal publications such as the New Republic. Well, anyway, on to my own Central American bibliography. Note that it is heavily biased toward coverage of the situation in Nicaragua. *Monthly Review* -- "Whither the Nicaraguan Revolution?", James Petras, Oct 1979. "The Nicaraguan Crisis", Richard Fagen, Nov 1982. "Days of the Jungle: The Testimony of a Guatemalan Guerrillero, 1972-1976", Mario Payeras, Jul-Aug 1983. "Revolution and Reaction: US Policy in Central America", Roger Burbach, Jun 1984. "Basic Christian Communities and the Future of Latin America", Phillip Berryman, Jul-Aug 1984. "Misunderstandings--Nicaragua", Michael K. Hertz, Sep 1984. "Nicaragua's Ethnic Minorities", Philippe Bourgois, Jan 1985. "Nicaragua Under File", John S. Saul, Mar 1985. "Two Elections", Victor Wallis, Mar 1985. "Intervention in Vietnam and Central America", Noam Chomsky, Sep 1985 [highly recommended]. "Nicaragua: The Strategy of Counterrevolution", William I. Robinson, Kent Norsworthy, Dec 1985. *The Guardian* (New York) -- Weekly articles on Latin America, e.g. "Peace marchers get bricks in Costa Rica, flowers in Managua", Doug Huss, Jan 8, 1986. *Foreign Affairs* -- "Central America: No Easy Answers", Richard E. Feinberg, Summer 1981. "At War With Nicaragua", Richard H. Ullman, Fall 1983. "Central America: From Quagmire to Cauldron", Cristopher Picken, 1984. *Foreign Policy* -- "Guatemala: The Coming Danger", Marlise Simons, Summer 1981. "The People's Struggle", Guillermo Ungo, Fall 1983. Dr. Ungo is the President of the FDR (political front for the Salvadoran armed opposition). *The Nation* -- "The Christian Network", George Black, Nov 7 1985. Critique of Shirley Christian's book on Nicaragua. "With Sandino in Nicaragua", Carleton Beals, Feb 22, 1928 thru Mar 28, 1928. First foreign journalist to reach Sandino. *Marine Corps Gazette* -- Lots of interesting stuff in the issues from 1927 to 1936 with regard to our intervention in Nicaragua. "Marine Air in Nicaragua", Maj. Ross E. Rowell, May 1985. *WANI* -- Four language journal published by CIDCA (Centro de Investigaciones y Documentacio'n de la Costa Atlantica), Managua. *Encuentro* -- "Eleciones y Democraci'a en Nicaragua", Universidad de Centroamerica, Managua. Articles, election results, and platforms of the seven registered parties. *Pensamiento Propio* -- INIES (Instituto de Investigaciones Economicas y Sociales). One of the major social science institutions in Managua. Three issues prior to the elections have interviews with officials of all parties, including those which did not register. *NACLA Reports* (North American Congress on Latin America) -- Issue on Nicaragua, Feb 1976. Issue on Nicaragua, Nov-Dec 1978. Issue on Nicaragua, May-Jun 1980. Issue on Sandinista Foreign Policy, May-Jun 1985. "Visions of the Kingdom: The Latin American Church in Conflict", Sep-Oct 1985. "The Power of the Guatemalan Army", George Black, Nov-Dec 1985. *Commonweal* -- "Villains & Recipes to Kill", Robert E. White, Nov 1 1985. Critique of Christian. *Books* -- *Nicaragua: A Country Study*, James D. Rudolph, ed. Department of the Army, Washington DC, 1982. Really quite balanced and informative, considering the funding source. Gosh, Ron, it's even in English! There are country studies for each of the other CA nations as well. *Witness to War*, Dr. Charles Clements, 1983[?]. Tells of this Quaker MD's year-long stay in the rebel-held zone in El Salvador around Guazapo volcano (quite near the capital). Clements was an Air Force C130 pilot in Vietnam until he refused to fly more missions due to what he had seen, whereupon he was placed in a mental institution. Dr. Clements is now active in Medical Aid to Central America. >>>>>>>>*Soviet Strategy in Latin America*, Robert S. Leiken, The Washington Papers #93, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown Univ., 1982. Mr. Leiken is one of Ron's favorite authors by his list of readings, at any rate. This is the big one he left out. Mr. Leiken is a fellow at the CSIS, and his specialty is Soviet-Latin American relations. *The Sandino Affair*, Neill Macaulay, Duke Univ. Press, 1985 [reprint of a 1967 publication]. Excellent coverage of the military and diplomatic aspects of the struggle between the US Marines and the new constabulary and Sandino's Eje'rcito Defensor de la Soberani'a Nacional de Nicaragua. *US Interests and Policies in the Caribbean and Central America*, Jorge I. Domi'nguez, American Enterprise Institute, Washington, 1982. *Communist Interference in El Salvador*, US Dept. of State, 1981. The government's white paper `proving' massive Cuban, Soviet, and Nicaraguan military aid to the FMLN. *Report of the National Bipartisan Commission on Central America*, Washington, 1984. The famous Kissinger Commission Report, an excellent demonstration of virtual Democratic-Republican identity when it comes to basic foreign policy issues. Quoting, ``Certain common threads run through all the chapters... just as Nicaragua was ripe for revolution, so the conditions that invite revolution are present everywhere in the region as well. But these conditions have been exploited by hostile outside forces -- specifically by Cuba, backed by the Soviet Union and now operating through Nicaragua -- which will turn any revolution they capture into a totalitarian state, threatening the region and robbing the people of their hopes for liberty.'' *Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare*, Tayacan [CIA pseudonym], translated by Congressional Research Service, Washington, 1984. Learn the ``steps that will lead us toward the realization of the goals of our movement, which are: GOD, HOMELAND AND DEMOCRACY.''