The House defeated BarnesHamilton 6 weeks ago and it should do so again. now. for the same reasons. The Hamilton amendment before the House is designed to decimate the Nicaraguan democratic resistance. The amendment appropriates $14 million for refugee assistance to Nicaraguans only if they are outside Nicaragua. The amendment thus seeks to turn a cohesive. effective Nicaraguan resistance into refugee exiles dependent on handouts. The Hamilton amendment encourages a massive refugee exodus into Honduras and Costa Rica. but only appropriates a measly $14 million to assist the refugees it would create. The Hamilton amendment would be U.S. foreign policy at its worsthere we go again. punishing our friends and rewarding our enemies. Under the Hamilton amendment. our resistance friends are abandoned. and our Honduran and Costa Rican friends get a huge refugee problem. but the Communist Sandinistas get a free helping hand from the American Congress in eliminating their internal democratic opposition. The Sandinistas have tried on their own to eliminate the Nicaraguan democratic opposition. but the more the Sandinistas engage in internal repressionagainst the workers. the church. the political oppositionthe more the opposition grows. The Sandinistas have failed to bring the opposition to its knees. But. alas. their solution is on the horizon: The American Congress may pass legislation to turn the resistance into refugees in foreign lands. freeing the Sandinistas to consolidate power in Nicaragua. unopposed. The Hamilton amendment should really be called the "Sandinista victory amendment." The Hamilton amendment does absolutely nothing to encourage the Sandinistas to stop their internal repression. stop their external subversion. and to start to negotiate in good faith. If the U.S.
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