VENTURA : U.S. Policy Obsolete, Says Sandinista

The decline of communism has rendered obsolete the longtime U.S. policy of backing right-wing dictators, a Sandinista leader and former Nicaraguan vice president said in Ventura on Sunday.

Speaking to about 50 Latino lawyers at the annual convention of the California La Raza Lawyers Assn., Sergio Ramirez said the United States “can no longer say it is backing dictators to fight a communist threat.”

His remarks were often interrupted by applause, and at the end he received a standing ovation.

A renowned essayist and novelist before joining the Sandinista revolution that toppled Nicaraguan strongman Anastasio Somoza in 1979, Ramirez said that the peaceful transfer of power following his party’s electoral defeat in February is proof that the Sandinistas brought democracy to Nicaragua following decades of U.S.-backed dictatorship.

As Daniel Ortega’s running mate on the Sandinista ticket, Ramirez was elected vice president of Nicaragua in the 1986 national elections. The Sandinistas were ousted in February by a disparate coalition led by President Violeta Chamorro that included right-wing Contra leaders and the Nicaraguan Communist Party.

Rather than dwelling on disagreements with the United States, Ramirez used his speech Sunday to highlight what he said were the main accomplishments of the Sandinista government and his party’s new role as Nicaragua’s main opposition.