Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site cornell.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!bellcore!petrus!scherzo!allegra!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!houxm!vax135!cornell!gil From: gil@cornell.UUCP (Gil Neiger) Newsgroups: net.politics Subject: Re: La Prensa in Nicaragua Message-ID: <176@cornell.UUCP> Date: Mon, 28-Oct-85 16:35:54 EST Article-I.D.: cornell.176 Posted: Mon Oct 28 16:35:54 1985 Date-Received: Thu, 31-Oct-85 23:25:33 EST References: <531@nbires.UUCP> <7280@ucla-cs.ARPA> Reply-To: gil@cornell.UUCP (Gil Neiger) Distribution: net Organization: Cornell Univ. CS Dept. Lines: 35 Summary: In article <7280@ucla-cs.ARPA> ekrell@ucla-cs.UUCP (Eduardo Krell) writes that "La Prensa is now the only opposition media in Nicaragua." It is true that La Prensa is the only main newspaper in Nicaragua that opposes the Sandinistas. However, there is no denying the fact that La Presna is a right wing newspaper. Although many articles that have been censored by the Sandinistas have been censored without apparent reason, this does not belie the fact that La Prensa does all that it can do to undermine the government there, and many of the articles it tries to publish would bring about successful libel suits in the United States if they were attempted by papers here. La Prensa repeatedly tries things like printing fallacious articles about food shortages in order to precipitate such shortages and otherwise destabilize the economy. While one may agree or disagree with the desireability of its doing so, there no getting around the fact that the U.S. government also severely restricted what papers could print during World War II. It may be the case that the Sandinistas are reacting more repressively than the current military situation warrants, there is not getting around the fact that La Prensa is a rabidly right wing paper. Citing the fact that the Chamorros were anti-Somoza before the revolution does not change this fact. Bear in mind that Chamorros run the other two papers in Managua: The FSLN (Sandinista) Barricada and the independent (but pro-government) El Nuevo Diario. Gil Neiger Computer Science Department Cornell University Ithaca NY 14853 {uw-beaver,ihnp4,decvax,vax135}!cornell!gil (UUCP) gil@Cornell.ARPA (ARPAnet) ; gil@CRNLCS (BITNET)