oe a So arnt ge en NICARAGUA —— The warehouse at the foot of Main Street in Vancouver was still largely empty. But the arrival during a press con- ference of a tractor trailer loaded with medical supplies from Edmonton demon- strated that the 1984 “Tools for Peace” campaign was on track. Inside, spokesmen for the cross-country aid effort explained to the press the impor- tance of medical supplies and other dona- tions to the Central American nation of Nicaragua. The campaign, in its fourth year since union fishermen first began sending fish- ing equipment to Nicaragua in 1980 — one year after the Sandinista revolutionary forces toppled the U.S.-backed dictator- ship of Anastasio Somoza — netted more than $1 million worth of goods last year. The growing success of the annual drive shows Nicaragua’s friends are increasing. But the beleaguered nation also faces the emnity of the U.S. Reagan administration, and the indifference of Canada’s govern- ment, speakers pointed out at the Oct. 31 press conference. Stephen Gray, a Vancouver physician, visited Nicaragua to attend a medical con- ference this fall, and had praise for the country’s strides in medical care since the overthrow of,the Somoza regime. “We saw new hospitals and learned of important public health programs that had been instituted. We heard of the new malaria control program and of the work that has been done to deal with the terrible problem of leishmaniasis,” he reported. “But,” he noted, “the country is filled with a fear that outweighs even the most horrible diseases that they are trying to control. “The kind of terror and brutality that has been perpetrated by the counter- revolutionary forces who are backed by the Reagan administration is almost beyond description,” said Gray. Gray said the issue must be raised by External Affairs Minister Joe Clark at the United Nations. So far, the Conservative government’s response to Nicaragua seems to echo that of the United States, said lawyer Phil Ran- kin. He criticized Clark’s refusal to send observers to oversee Nicaragua’s Nov. 4 elections. “We can only judge that there are cer- tain pressures from the United States government (to the effect that) we should ‘join the club’ and perpetuate the notion that the Nicaraguan elections are fraudu- lent,” said Rankin. Nicaragua’s national elections — which the Sandinistas subsequently won by a large margin — came five years after the revolution. By contrast, the first U.S. elec- tions were held 10 years after the Amieri- can revolution, and the vote, unlike Nicaragua’s universal franchise, was limited to white property owners, he observed. Nicaragua’s emphasis on preventative health care has yielded tangible results, such as the reduction in the infant mortal- ity rate to 80 from 121 births out of one thousand, while the life expectancy has increased to 57.6 from 52.9 years, said Richmond health department nurse Ardith Roscoe. The backbone of the medical profession in Nicaragua is the rural health workers —a “barefoot’ doctor or nurse — but despite the gains, the country remains des- perately short of medical supplies, she said. TRIBUNE PHOTO — DAN KEETON “Tools for Peace’ needs carpentry, medical su Organizer Sue Mitchell (I) and nurse Ardith Roscoe (c) examine hospital equ ment donated to national Tools-for-Peace campaign in Main Street warehou! Vancouver. Last year the campaign raised more than $1 million in donated g00 for Nicaragua. “To them (the donations) are not only valuable, they’re vital,” she stressed. Parallel with the Tools-for-Peace effort is the “Carpenters Project,” through which the Carpenters Union is helping to build a training school in Diriamba, Nica- ragua. ‘ Carpenter Bill Darnell, who recently visited the school, said labor’s donations will be matched by CUSO and federal grants. Rev. Wes Maultsaid, an Anglican priest, noted the visit last spring of the inter- national work brigades to aid Nicaragua’s cotton harvest. He said three other delega- tions were heading south in Novemt January and March, some to work 1 the dangerous border areas, subject to attacks of the U.S.-financed “‘contras.’ The brigades are a testimony “to” strength of our commitment to Nicé gua’s effort to build a new society,” said. Vancouver city council has again $ ported the effort by donating the wé house, located at the south end of M Street. For donations or to volunteer lal to the project, phone Sue Mitchell 733-1021. Nicaraguan election ‘fully democratic, says lawyers group The Nov. 4 elections which gave a 67 per cent victory. to the FSLN — the Sandinista Front for National Liberation — were car- ried out “in scrupulous compliance with the electoral law in an atmosphere of quiet enthusiasm,” a group of lawyers who observed the elections said Nov. 8. The group of 14 lawyers, from Van- couver, Toronto and Oregon, returned Thursday after spending two weeks in Nica- ragua, observing the historic elections and travelling throughout the country. Group spokesman Vancouver laywer Stuart Rush told reporters at Vancouver airport that the group had met with opposi- tion leaders, the electoral council, various government ministers and judges, lawyers, businessmen, peasants, religious leaders and others in the two weeks before the vote. “The government was reaffirmed in fair and free balloting,” he said. ““An independ- ent body monitored the whole process, vot- ing was by secret ballot, every party had the right to have scrutineers present and regis- tered lists were readily available. Election day followed a 93-day campaign period which provided equal government funding and media access to all seven parties which represented the whole spectrum of political thought.” The group was critical of the federal government for refusing to send official government observers to monitor the elec- tion. Rush said that they sent a telegram from Managua urging that external affairs send observers but no reply was received. However, External Affairs Minister Joe Clark has expressed a willingness to meet with Canadian observers — the Toronto- based Interchurch Committee on Human Rights also had observers as did the New Democratic Party — to discuss the elec- tions. The lawyers were expected to contact Clark to set up a meeting as soon as possi- ble. Rush said it was a “welcome sign” that Clark was prepared to meet with the group, adding that there had been widespread con- cern that the refusal to send observers could indicate “acquiescence to the U.S. policies of military and economic intervention.” “We're hopeful that we can convince ‘Clark to set up a Canadian embassy in Managua and that we can convince him to use the good offices of Canada to deter the U.S. from intervention in Nicaragua,” he said. The threat of intervention hung over Nicaragua throughout the election, Rush said, adding that it was “remarkable that such a democratic society and free electoral process could be created and sustained in a state of war.” During the time the group was in Nicara- gua, six children were killed by U.S.-backed contras near the Honduran border and an electoral officer was also shot by contras in the Matagalpa area. The day after they left, the minister of communications was killed. Despite the threat, “people were eager to vote,” the group emphasized, noting that some of those they had met “had not voted for 25 years.” More than 93 per cent of eligible voters were registered and of those about 80 per cent voted — roughly the turnout expected by the Sandinista government. Although vote-counting began immedi- 10 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 14, 1984 TRIBUNE PHOTO — SEAN GRIFFIN Vancouver lawyers Stuart Rush (r) and Peter Grant talk to reporters at Vancou International Airport following their return from Nicaragua. ately — a process which the group also observed — the only detailed results pub- lished in this country were preliminary. Voters were electing a president as well as a 90-member constituent assembly which will write a new constitution for Nicaragua. The preliminary standings in the presi- dential election gave FSLN leader Daniel Ortega 53 per cent of the vote compared to 8.7 per cent for the Independent Liberal Party candidate and 8.5 per cent for the candidate of the Democratic Conservative party. The Liberal Party candidate had actually withdrawn only days before the vote (see note page 9) but his name remained on the ballot because of the late withdrawal. A final result carried in Friday news sto- ries gave the FSLN 67 per cent of the total votes cast in both the presidential and the constituent assembly election — a convinc- ing reaffirmation of the Sandinista govern- ment. The Reagan administration used the vote as a signal to step up its pressure 08 N gua, however. The Pentagon c Nicaragua was reciving MIG fight from a Soviet freighter and then a§ q altered the claim to contend that the cargo was SAM air-to-surface missilé then Czechoslovak planes. The election period was also math new overflights of Nicarauga by U: planes, one of which flew overt Ma! Oct. 31 when the lawyers’ group capital. The Reagan administration has ql edly rejected the legitimacy of the " — in blatant contrast to its praise ™ presidential vote in El Salvador 19 only right-wing candidates could Rush called Reagan’s commen ’ election “his own self-fulfilling proP! He warned that there was a stro?! bility of increased U.S. intervention" ragua, perhaps even an invasion: sabres are certainly rattling in ton,” he said.