Contra Leader Arturo Cruz Resigns: Political Will for Democratic Reforms Within Contra Movement Not Visible Deborah Tyroler

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NotiCen Latin America Digital Beat (LADB)

3-11-1987 Contra Leader Arturo Cruz Resigns: Political Will For Democratic Reforms Within Contra Movement Not Visible Deborah Tyroler

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Recommended Citation Tyroler, Deborah. "Contra Leader Arturo Cruz Resigns: Political Will For Democratic Reforms Within Contra Movement Not Visible." (1987). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/noticen/496

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Latin America Digital Beat (LADB) at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in NotiCen by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. LADB Article Id: 076960 ISSN: 1089-1560 Contra Leader Arturo Cruz Resigns: Political Will For Democratic Reforms Within Contra Movement Not Visible by Deborah Tyroler Category/Department: General Published: Wednesday, March 11, 1987

On March 9, Arturo Cruz, one of three chieftains of the United Nicaraguan Opposition (UNO), resigned after months of bitter conflict within the contra movement. In a formal letter of resignation (published the next day in the MIAMI HERALD), Cruz said his time had run out in terms of waiting for genuine democratic reforms to take place in the movement. In a telephone interview from Costa Rica with NEW YORK TIMES reporter James LeMoyne, Cruz said he did not see the political will among the rebels to make major changes, so he had decided to resign. "I remain a firm opponent of the present Sandinista regime and a backer of the democratic cause in Nicaragua," he said. "But in the end it is my conscience, and my responsibility as a citizen, to make a decision in accord with may family and friends. My fundamental desire is to leave." Cruz confirmed his resignation in San Jose to reporters waiting to interview Costa Rican Foreign Minister Rodrigo Madrigal. When asked if he had resigned, Cruz said, "Yes," and that his action had been postponed "too long." According to LeMoyne, Cruz's decision stunned Reagan administration officials who had expected him to attend strategy sessions this week. Neither Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs Elliott Abrams or other State Department officials had prior knowledge of Cruz's decision to resign. Officials said that the timing of the resignation could not have been worse, coming two days before the House vote on postponing the $40 million in aid to the contras. In a telephone conversation from his home in Miami, Cruz's wife, Bonello Cruz, told AP reporters that his decision to resign from UNO was irrevocable. Cruz, a former ambassador for the Sandinista government in Washington, had long-standing disagreements with contra leader Adolfo Calero, head of the main contra army, the Nicaraguan Democratic Front (FDN). He was on the point of resigning last month, but decided to stay on to see if other contra leaders were serious about reform. Cruz's son would not give details about his father's decision, saying only that the senior Cruz was annoyed with "the entire mentality of the contra movement." House majority leader Democrat Tom Foley said Cruz's resignation "will make it more difficult for the administration to maintain support for the contras." Senator Christopher Dodd, outspoken critic of administration policy in Central America, agreed with Foley's evaluation. At a news conference he said, "Arturo Cruz is a real democrat...He has just discovered what many of us discovered a long time ago, that the contra movement is not a democratic movement." (Basic data from AP, 03/10/87; NEW YORK TIMES, 03/09/87, 03/10/87)

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