Nicaragua: Challenge from the Contras

As disillusionment spreads, the Sandinistas face a new threat

For the celebration of the third anniversary of Nicaragua's Sandinista revolution, the dusty provincial town of Masaya, 18 miles southeast of the capital city of Managua, last week was colorfully decorated with flags and posters. A band played revolutionary songs, and the crowds sang along. But there was little cheer in the speech delivered by Daniel Ortega Saavedra, a member of the all-powerful nine-man Sandinista Directorate. "Nicaragua is undergoing a silent, yet bloody invasion," he declared. Ortega charged that the U.S. Central...