From: demon@desire.wright.edu (Stupendous Man)
Newsgroups: alt.activism,talk.politics.misc
Subject: Re: "Free elections" indeed
Date: 18 Aug 92 07:03:01 GMT
Organization: Demonic Possesions, Inc.

In article <1992Aug17.233941.13499@mcshub.dcss.mcmaster.ca>, bunker@physun.physics.mcmaster.ca (Alex Bunker) writes:
> 
>>	For the 1984 abuses: any America's Watch or Amnesty international. 
>>Also news reports from the time document:
>>
>>	Arrest of opposition leaders.
>>	Violent assualts on opposition rallies.
>>	Sandanista death squads killing vocal opposition leaders.
>>	Sandanista take over/shut down of opposition press.
>>	Revokation of ration cards to opposition members.
>>	Wide spread round up of potential adversaries, many of whom have never
>>been seen since.
> 
> Brett this is a falshood. I do not know about americas watch but
> I KNOW Amnesty International had NOTHING NEGATIVE to say about the election.

	Well, that's one way of splitting hairs.  Sure the "election" can be
held without someone gettin killed in a voting place, but what we're talking
about is a consistent application of force against the opposition in the weeks
leading up to the elections.

> The 1984 election was monitored by international observers 
> representing organisations from around the world including
> the governments of Ireland and Sweden and they gave a 
> UNANIMOUS REPORT that the elections were FREE and fair.
> They were given free access during the campaigning
> the election and the counting and gave their unanimous
> STAMP OF APPROVAL. Then the Reagan propoganda machine went
> into full gear spreading lies which were successful since
> many such as yourself are either stupid enough to believe them or
> malicious enough to spread. Amnesty international got on the
> Sandanistas case for acts like exiling priests and shutting down
> the opposition newspaper for a matter of months. These are the
> LIMIT of what they did and are quite understandable (though not
> commendable) considering they were undergoing a foreign backed
> terrorist insurgency on their own soil. US canadians committed far

	Wait, shutting down the opposition press and exiling priests is ok
"because there's a war on"?
	Hmmmm.

> worse acts during the two world wars (rigged elections,mass internment
> of Japanese) which were fought on foreign soil.
>   what bothers me is that if it was not for the few of us who 
> know something about these issues there would be no stopping these
> lies. I used to work for a Canadian member of parliament maintaining
> a news clippings bulletin on Central America to keep his caucus informed.
> It was depressing to see how easily lies are spread and how muzzled the
> truth is on Central America. Chomsky seems to have it right and
> is a breath of fresh air. Alexander and Leslie Cockburn similarly.

	Well, politcal televangelists have their converts.  Are you denying
that the Sandanistas killed anyone in the opposition parties in the weeks
leading up to the elections?  Arrested none of them?  That Sandanista death
squads didn't massacre the teenagers of a village that supported the contras?

> somehow these viewpoints have been suppressed by the conservative 
> american newsmedia (when was the last time you saw Noam Chomsky
> interviewed on CNN CBS ABC or NBC?)

	*Conservative* media?  Well, I suppose it is compared to the old
PRAVDA.

Brett                                                      
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