Firsthand report from THE Nicaragua's war front Pages 8, 9 A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF WORKING PEOPLE VOL. 51/NO. 46 DECEMBER 18, 1987 $1.00 Haiti strike hits Nicaragua: U.S. pilot canceling nabbed aiding contras of vote BY ROBERTO KOPEC MANAGUA, Nicaragua- A small air­ BY NORTON SANDLER plane flown by U.S. citizen James Jordan A two-day strike paralyzed much of the Denby was shot down by Nicaraguan business activity in Haiti's capital city troops December 6 after illegally entering Port-au-Prince December 7 and 8. Nicaraguan airspace and flying over a mil­ The strike was called in response to the itary zone near the Costa Rican border. November 29 cancellation of presidential Forced to land his damaged plane, Denby elections and the disbanding of the civilian was captured uninjured by Nicaraguan au­ election commission following violence by thorities, who found he had documents army troops and terrorist gangs known as linking him to the U.S.-sponsored contras. the Tontons Macoutes. The violence in­ At a December 8 press conference here, cluded shooting and hacking to death of Defense Minister Humberto Ortega re­ dozens of people around the country. ported that Denby had taken off in his The hated Macoutes were the armed Cessna 172 airplane from a Honduran air­ thugs used by ousted dictator Jean-Claude field and entered Nicaraguan airspace Duvalier to terrorize the population and to without the permit required to do so. He murder opponents. Duvalier was forced to flew 300 miles across Nicaragua without flee the country in February 1986 after sus· contacting Nicaraguan authorities or other­ tained protests against his goverment. With wise identifying himself. Washington's blessing, Duvalier appointed At 3 p.m. that day, as Denby was flying a military junta, the National Council of low over naval installations in San Juan del Government known by its Creole-language Norte, near the Costa Rican border on the initials KNG, to replace him. Atlantic Coast, Nicaraguan troops fired On December 7 and 8, stores were their rifles at the unidentified plane, boarded in Port-au-Prince and traffic was damaging its fuel tank. Already low on light throughout the city. Most factory fuel, Denby was forced to land on a nearby workers stayed off the job the first day with beach where he was captured, Ortega said. Mi Kopec some returning to work the second. Ortega also detailed evidence showing One of Nicaragua's army battalions on patrol near Pantasma. Capture of U.S. pilot The strike, which also had considerable Denby's links to the contra mercenaries. highlights U.S. government's efforts to keep contra war going. impact in Les Cayes, and Gona·ives, was Denby owns a farm in northern Costa called by four candidates from the canceled Rica along the San Juan River, which John Hull, also owns land in Costa Rica er, a State of Illinois permit to handle ex­ presidential election and by the Autono­ serves as a natural border between Nicara­ along the Nicaraguan border and is known plosives, military insignia, and a rough mous Confederation of Haitian Workers gua and Costa Rica. Ortega showed report­ to have close links with the contras and the sketch of the San Juan River area indicat­ (CATH) and two other unions. The central ers a 1984 issue of the U.S. magazine CIA. ing contra camps. demand was for reinstatement o[ the elec­ Farm Journal that featured an article on A notebook found in Denby's possesion Denby is the second U.S. citizen linked tion commiSSIOn. Protestors also de­ Denby's activities in Costa Rica. It in­ mentions a meeting between contra head to the contras captured after being shot manded the resignation of the KNG gov­ cluded a photograph of the armed mer­ Adolfo Calero and John Hull, apparently down flying over Nicaraguan territory. In ernment headed by Gen. Henry Namphy. cenaries training on Denby's Costa Rican also attended by Denby, Ortega reported. October 1986 Eugene Hasenfus was cap­ New York Newsday reported December property and reported that as many as Other documents found in Denby's pos­ tured when Nicaraguan soldiers hit a CIA 8 that 80 people had been killed in the cap­ I ,000 contras were living there at that session include numerous color photo­ plane delivering supplies to the contras. ital alone during the November 29 ram­ time. graphs of contra camps and helicopters, the Two U.S. pilots were killed in the crash. Continued on Page 2 An associate of Denby's, U.S. citizen business card of an international arms deal- In September 1984 Sandinista troops shot down a helicopter that attacked a Nicara­ guan army training camp with rockets and machine guns. The three crew members Book of Che's writings hailed in N.Y. were killed and two turned out to be U.S. Citizens, members of the right-wing paramilitary group Civilian-Military As­ Five selections have never before ap­ BY MARGARET JAYKO Also present were Clinton Adlum, first sistance. NEW YORK - A meeting to celebrate peared in English; all the others have been secretary of the Cuban Interests Section in Light planes such as Denby's Cessna the publication of Che Guevara and the newly translated to make them as faithful Washington, D.C.; Tseke Morathi, mem­ have also been used by the contras for mil­ as possible to Che's original words. The Cuban Revolution: Writings and Speeches ber of the African National Congress of itary reconnaissance and in contra bombing book includes 48 pages of photographs, a of Ernesto Che Guevara was held here De­ South Africa and of the Sechaba Singers; attacks against civilian targets in Nicara­ cember 6. Some 400 people attended the number of them never before published. and Noel Corea, director of international gua, including an attack on Managua's in­ reception and program. Waters pointed to the renewed interest in relations for the Sandinista Association of ternational airport in September 1983. The book was published by Pathfinder/ Che' s ideas because of the relevancy and Cultural Workers in Nicaragua. Represen­ As of December 8, Nicaraguan au­ Pacific and Asia, which is based in Syd­ immediacy they have for fighters for na­ tatives from Pathfinder distributors in Aus­ thorities were still questioning Denby. ney, Australia. The meeting was sponsored tional liberation and socialism everywhere, tralia, Britain, Canada, and New Zealand Ortega said that he would probably be by Pathfinder in New York City. October 9 from Cuba itself to southern Africa, Cen­ Continued on Page 4 charged and brought to trial soon. marked the 20th anniversary of Che's mur­ tral America and the Caribbean, and the der at the hands of the U.S.-backed Bo­ Philippines. livian military dictatorship in 1967. A cen­ tral leader of the 1959 Cuban revolution, "One of the things that the enemies of Guevara had severed all official ties and revolutionaries always try to do as soon as Trial of Ky. Ininers exposes left Cuba to participate in the guerrilla the revolutionaries are dead is to tum them struggle in Bolivia in 1966. into harmless icons," said Waters. "One purpose of this book is precisely to reclaim fraine-up by cotnpany, gov't The evening's guest of honor was Am­ the legacy of Che Guevara, to restore him bassador Oscar Oramas-Oliva, permanent to his rightful place as one of the great BY JIM LITTLE nesses, attorneys for the miners are show­ representative of Cuba to the United Na­ Marxists of our century, as a central leader ASHLAND, Ky. -The trial of four ing that Massey security guards worked tions. The ambassador knew Che during of the Cuban revolution, who was also a Kentucky coal miners has been marked by closely with the Kentucky State Police, the the early years of the revolution. capable military strategist and a coura­ government misconduct since it began here FBI, and other U.S. government agencies Mary-Alice Waters, a member of the geous fighter." November 24. to fabricate the case. board of directors of Pathfinder, and Steve The event here was one of a series of The unionists on trial are Donnie A blatant example of government mis­ Clark, director and chief editor of Pathfind­ meetings around the world to launch the Thornsbury, president of United Mine conduct came to light in the testimony of er, co-chaired the meeting. book: six took place in Australia, three in Workers of America (UMWA) Local police "weapons expert" William McBray­ Che, said Waters, "belongs to us all, in­ New Zealand, and one in London, Mon­ 2496; James Darryl Smith; David Thorns­ er during the second week of the trial. He cluding those right here within the borders treal, and Toronto. Others are planned. bury; and Arnold Heightland. They face acknowledged during cross-examination of the United States who are fighting for The New York meeting was itself an in­ life imprisonment on federal frame-up that the government had hidden from the the kind of world that Che lived and died ternational gathering. Delegations were charges stemming from the shooting death miners' attorneys the results of tests on for." present from the Angolan, Cuban, and of scab coal hauler Hayes West during the shotguns the government had seized as evi­ Pathfinder/Pacific and Asia collaborated Vietnamese missions to the United Na­ 1984-85 UMWA strike at A.T. Massey dence. with the Jose Marti Publishing House of tions; the South West Africa People's Or­ coal mines in West Virginia and Kentucky. Havana in publishing Che Guevara and the ganisation (SWAPO) Permanent Observer Paul Smith, also a member of the mine­ Even Judge Henry Wilhoit was forced to Cuban Revolution.