Nicaragua: Twisting Arms

Debate over a draft

White-gloved guards goose-stepped up to the monument commemorating their nation's most venerated martyr. Then Junta Coordinator Daniel Ortega Saavedra and Interior Minister Tomás Borge Martínez laid a single wreath on the tomb of Revolutionary Hero Carlos Fonseca Amador. Two dozen grammar school students, clad in denim shifts or designer jeans, shook their fists and cried, "The Yanquis will die!" before breaking into bashful giggles as adults smiled their approval. Finally, a high school marching band tramped loudly up to the monument, throwing a gaggle of preschoolers into disarray....

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