Since the President took that decision. the Congress has sought to secondguess him and pushed for alternative methods for dealing with the Sandinista government. Some Members of this body have argued that the Contras are unworthy of U.S. support and. despite the indisputable fact that thousands of Nicaraguan peasants are fleeing their homeland through Contraheld territory and thousands more are Joining the armed resistance. they persist in accusing the Contra of unspeakable atrocities. At the same time. they turn a blind eye and deaf ear to the refugees accounts of Sandinista brutality. Let me share with you some excerpts from an unclassified Embassy cable. which relays to Washington information gleaned from the latest refugees to reach Honduras from Nicaraguas northern provinces. During interviews. when asked about reports of FDN complicity in noncombatant deaths and alleged atrocities. the refugee officer reports that "the variable response was that is a lie. . . . Several refugees explained that the Sandinistas use propaganda like that to promote their point of view." A deserter from the Sandinista Army reported that: It is categorically false that the FDN Is killing civilians. We soldiers saw the destruction of the villages. of the campesinos. and how It was organized by the Sandinistaz. When international groups. human rights groups. or others arrived. they would say that there had been a battle. and the Sandinista Army had defended the people.
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