An interview with Sandino’s daughter weer ‘So much blood and suffering’ The victory in Nicaragua is ‘‘a victory for all the people of the world,” said Blanca Segovia “The conditions, however, in which the assassin Somoza left my country are terrible,’’ she said. “‘So much blood was shed to defeat him! So much-suffering! But one must have faith in the future, just as my father did.” Blanca Segovia Sandino is the daughter of Augusto Cesar San- dino. father of the Nicaraguan lib- eration movement. The Sandinist National Liberation Front (FSLN) was named after this symbol of Nicaraguan indepen- dence, who was murdered in 1934 by Anastasio Somoza Garcia, father of the former dictator. Assassinated ‘‘My father was assassinated whea I was only eight months old,’’ she said. ‘‘He had already jost two small sons in the moun- tains, and his wife, Blanca Estela Arauz, died at the time of my birth. She was not only his wife, but his fighting comrade in the mountains. My name, given to me by my father, is a synthesis of this history. Blanca was the name of my mother; Segovia, the name of the mountain where I was con- ceived and where they fought the Yankees.” Raised by her grandmother and aunt, Blanca Segovia recalled her childhood, as daughter of the re- volutionary Augusto Cesar San- dino. “When I was very young I couldn’t explain why my aunt and grandmother were always warn- ing me;‘don’t-look out the door because a national guardsman may pass by’. “But the saddest thing of all was when I entered the school of nuns. There, a group of girls — later on I realized they were daughters of Somoza supporters — used to call me the ‘bandit.’ Sometimes they called me the ‘daughter of the bandit.’ They made fun of me. They looked at me with disgust. “‘Another group of girls, how- ever, defended me. They were daughters of men who had fought with my father. So two groups were formed and we fought each other a lot. But can you imagine what the mental torment of my childhood was like? I always asked myself: ‘Why did they call me the bandit?’ Was my father a bandit?’ My aunt and grand- mother told me: “Your father was a great men.” ”’ Official propaganda She went on to explain how all the official propaganda of Somoza had made Sandino appear to be a bandit. One day, however, Blanca Segovia came across some old photos of her mother, who died at 24 years of age, and her father. She also discovered some old letters — love letters, letters from friends and _ politi- cians. After reading them she felt ecstatic: her father was indeed a great man, a hero and a patriot. **Since that time my pain and sorrow have changed to extreme pride,’’ she said. ‘‘But still I didn’t know my father in his total historical stature. This, you may be surprised to know, I learned from Somoza himself. In his cam- paign to discredit my father, a book was published entitled, ‘The Real Sandino.’ Between the blas- Pol Pot, leng Sary condemned PHNOM PENH, Kampuchea — A People’s Revolutionary Tri- bunal set up here July 15 sen- tenced former Kampuchean lead- ers Pol Pot and Ieng Sary to death in absentia Aug. 20. The two were convicted of being “the authors of the deaths of The ‘episode’ of the ballerina i Ths ‘mischievous display of official Marxism-Leninism in Today’s World U.S. arrogance over the departure from about 3 million people’ in their four years in power and of being responsible for attempting to de- stroy Kampuchean culture. They were convicted under the UN General Assembly conventions of Dec. 9, 1948 concerning the pre- vention and punishment of genoc- idal crimes. phemies, some true documents that revealed who my father re- ally was came through: an out- standing patriot and great anti- imperialist fighter. The people who read that book made the same observation. Somoza or- dered the entire edition to be re- moved from sale.”’ Although Blanca Segovia has lived in Cuba since 1961, her heart is still in Nicaragua. When the fighting began in her country, she wanted to flee to the Segovia mountains where her father and mother had once fought over 40 years ago. Couldn’t participate She wasn’t able to participate directly in the struggle, but her three sons — Augusto Cesar, 23, Julio Cesar, 21, and Walter Ram- iro, 19 — all joined the Sandinist Front to carry on the tradition of their grandfather. “Tt comforts me to know that I have contributed in some way,” she said. ‘*Finally the poisonous tree of Somoza has died, where only birds of prey, snakes, eagles and Yankees nested,’’ she said. “Cursed tree, whose strength was rooted with so much blood and suffering.”’ ee ee oe Blanca Segovia in her home, above hangs a portrait of her father World conference for IYC MOSCOW — A world confer- ence marking the International Year of the Child opens in Mos- cow this month. It will be at- tended by delegates from over 130 countries. The assembly was prepared by _ trade-union, women’s youth and religious or- ganizations representing a wide spectrum of political views. It will be 20 years this coming November since the United Na- tions General Assembly passed the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. The International Pre- paratory Committee of the Mos- cow conference considers that the principles of this declaration have not been carried out in most of the world’s countries to date. In the contemporary world more than 30,000,000 children of school age never attend school, 52,000,000 under the age of 15 must work, 200,000,000 children are suffering from hunger with 10,000,000 of them likely to die. One-third of African children die before reaching the age of five. The preparatory committee is especially concerned about the tragic fate of children living in countries with reactionary dic- tatorial regimes. They fall victim — to political persecution, genocide, national and racial discrimination together with their parents. The participants in the confer- ence will discuss the conditions of children in the world today, to - tion of the rights of the child hav" ~* publics of the Soviet Union the world of today. It.could not stop # | forward movement of the peoples at draw to the attention of the pat! aments, governments, and publ organizations the dire needs of tht) world’s innocents and draft com crete reccommendations. Most of the foreign visitors the USSR note the great attentioly and care surrounding Soviet ch! dren. All principles of the decla been guaranteed here, partic’ larly free medical care and edt’ cation. The conference delegates will be offered tours of all the 15 gain a better idea of the system children’s health service, educ® tion and professional training. the USA of Bolshoi ballerina Ludmilla Vlasova for her homeland — the Soviet Union — left U.S. officialdom with egg all over its collective face. On the other hand, Ludmilla Vlasova emerged from her ordeal as a person of high principle who refused to be cajoled, bribed or deceived by the con men of the U.S.° State Department’s ‘‘special forces’’, or by her defective husband who cast aside his Soviet citizenship for a brief moment of notoriety and the ‘‘glitter’’ of U.S. gold. ~” * * What is alarming about this “‘episode”’ is the crude and provocative interference by U.S. officialdom into the affairs of a citizen of another country under the guise of the self-proclaimed ‘‘principle”’ of *‘no forced repatriation”. This was the rationale advanced by the acting U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher, backed by the President of the USA. Not to be upstaged in this amazing charade, Douglas McHenry, chief U.S. negotiator in this contrived diplomatic confrontation with the Soviet Union, is quoted in the press as saying: ‘“‘We are Satisfied that the principles involved in this incident have been upheld. .. .”’ One PACIFIC TRIBUNE—SEPTEMBER 14, 1979—Page 10 may well ask when did crass interference get raised to the level of principle? * OK * It took McHenry and his collegues the best part of three days to establish the fact that the ballerina wanted to go home. Big deal! Apparently it was not enough for these fact finders that Ludmilla Vla- sova, having a mind of her own, boarded a plane to go home following her hus- band’s defection and his harassment of her to join him in his defection. Surely Vlasova, who had committed no crime in the USA, could leave that country if she had a mind to. Not so, said State De- partment officials backed by the presi- dent. * >” * It mattered naught to these self- appointed defenders of their version of human rights that Vlasova, her fellow passengers and the plane’s crew had to sit on the tarmac at Kennedy Airport for 73 hours and 29 minutes while they played out their obnoxious charade. Well, they got their answer to their bra- zen query: **Do you really want to stay in . the USA’’? It was a clear and un- equivocal ‘‘nyet’’ that resounded round the world. One would be naive indeed to think for one moment that these odious champ- ions of a bogus version of human rights give a fig for the real rights of any indi- vidual. Such champions are the product of the system of state-monopoly capital- ism whose god is maximum profit. In that system, people and their rights are but pawns to be disposed of at will by the ruling circles in their efforts to maintain their robber system. * * * The “‘incident’’ of the Bolshoi bal- lerina smacks of political brinkmanship reminiscent of one-time U.S. Secretary © of State John Foster Dulles. His chief claim to fame was his unremitting effort ' to keep the world on the very brink of nuclear war. His chief stock-in-trade was virulent anti-Sovietism which he disem- inated wherever the anti-Soviet mill was open to his crass falsifications. The Dulles policy was built on nuclear blackmail with the aim of wringing politi- cal concessions from the socialist coun- tries, the national liberation movement and the newly developing countries to enrich the giant U.S. corporations and their counterparts in other capitalist countries. But that policy failed because it was a bankrupt policy out of tune with nations away from imperialist opprey sion and exploitation. * * * The Dulles policy of nuclear blackmé 4| failed because the peoples struggling freedom .from oppression, exploitatl ion and want rejected the lie of anti-Soviet} ism as being, in the final analysis,. rected at them and their struggles aga continued subjection to imperialist plu") der. q The peoples who have taken theif ture into their own hands have learn the course of their struggles that the Soviet Union and the socialist comm | nity are loyal and stalwart allies of toiling people everhwhere. * * * As the Dulles policy of nucléar black mail failed, so will the current blackmay policy based on the crudest anti-Sovie slanders. And, it will fail for the sa reason, namely, that the people come to understand that anti-Sovietis™ is, in the final analysis, directed tou mining their vital interests. i! Objective truth is a stubborn re will not go away. It is bound to as itself, as the “‘episode’’ of the Bolsb® J ballerina has amply proven.