AMERICA'S NEW VIETNAM?

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000503980013-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 20, 2012
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: June 16, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000503980013-6
Y
Nicaragua
LOS ANGELES TILTS BOOK
16 June 1985
AMERICA'S NEW VIETNAM?
by Karl Gros (Plermsi Pi $10.95; 227 pp.)
SOLIDARTIY WTI?'I THE PEOPLE OF NICARAGUA
by Jams M( Orbit Hoops 1755;162 pp.)
&Ono" concluded
T
Lv that the ctarest warn in
Ce-tial America-a region that by
tart ha a and more more po
passions than any "done" world
crisis since the Sp. Avil Wee.
That perhaps a w ies wry in
many waeda have been written in
who wants to learn the bales about
Nicaragua and the roots at ft
revolution Both books are aimed at
people already convinced that
Rea`an's eclat to overthrow the
Sandinista government is wrong,
"Solidarity." written by St. Louis
peace activist James McGinnis, is a
primer that outlines steps that
opponents Of the Reagan Admims-
tsssion can follow in setting up
activiti
t
Reviewed by Frank del Clmo
the last few years about Nicaragua.
Despite being one of the smallest
nations in Latin America, with
fewer than 3 million people, Niea-
ragua has become the foeus of an
incredible amount of attention by
Americans of all political tipe
not Ing among them president
Reagan. Sadly, eta'ge of inter-
est has resulted in very tittle that is
new being written about the am-
try. Instead. it has generated ooh
heated wads of doom, or praise; for
Nicaragua's Sandinista govern-
ment.
In keeping with this trend, both
"Nicaragua: America's New Viet-
nam?" and "Solidarity With the
People of Nicaragua" offer more
passion than information. Neither
will be of use to the general reader
es
o support Nicaragua
against the pressure it is getmg
from the U.S. government: His
suggestions range from buying
Nicaraguan coffee through food
co-ops to joining activist groups
that will carry out nonviolent pro-
tests in the event of U.S. military
action against Nicaragua. At the
heart of McGinnis' book are peo-
ple-to-people projects, like U.S.
fund-raising drives to build play-
grounds for Nicaraguan schoolchil-
dren, efforts that will contribute to
usndasfanding between the two
countries by bringing individual
U.S. citizens into contact with
individusi s'
McGinnis' book a also not as
completely oriented to politics as it
might at !feat sound, for the author
is a devout Christian. and his
writing is infused with references
to prayer, meditation and even
fasting that may put off non-reli-
gious readers But McGinnis' desire
to put religious; beliefs to work to a
meaniegtul way is so sincere that it
comes Sam as constructive, rath-
er than simply naive. At least
McGann ' proposals for dealing
with Nicaragua are more charitable
than those espoused by some of the
more strident spokesmen for the
religious right in this country.
Karl Grossman's book, on the
other hand, is a quickie tract
written by an activist-journalist
who ran off to Nicaragua chasing a
hot story and couldn't quite find it.
Grossman's disagreement with
the Reapm Administration policies
is clear from the start, which has
him arriving in Honduras looking
.for CIA_NLwU and U.S. military
advisers, -w-ho be claims he can
recognize by shoe styles. The book
is written with a breathless "I-
was-there" approach that may be
ezplaimed by the fact that Gross-
man is an anchorman for a televi-
sion station in New Yak.
Not least among the book's faults
is the fact that it is badly organized.
reading as if Grossman simply
transcribed his notes upon his
return, then supplied chapter
headings wherever he thought
they would be convenient. Only a
chapter on the history of U.S.-Nic-
araguan relations, which provides a
concise summary of that sad story,
is worth reading. But that is not
enough to recommend this book to
anyone except readers who can't
get enough about Nicaragua.
Times editorial writer Del Olmo
special zee in Latin America.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000503980013-6