Archive Report
Archive Report
Intensified Mutual Hostility
Coming Decision on Anti-Sandinista Funding
The Reagan administration appears to be intensifying its war of nerves against the Sandinista government of Nicaragua. The Sandinistas' open defiance of the United States and their increasingly close ties to the Soviet Union and Cuba have made them an irritant to President Reagan since he has been in office, and the object of ill-concealed U.S. harassment for most of that time. But the administration's request, sent to Congress on Feb. 25, for $100 million in fresh funding for the anti-Sandinista “contra” guerrillas—including military assistance previously barred by Congress—represents a significant escalation of U.S. pressure on Nicaragua, one that many observers believe could presage direct U.S. military involvement in Central American conflicts.
It has been clear for some time ...