Nicaragua consul tells of JDL seige ‘We will not be intimidated’ By TOM MORRIS TORONTO — Waving a UPI Washington-based story from that day’s Toronto Sun, two members of the Jewish Defence League (JDL) arrived at the home of Pastor Valle-Garay, Nicaraguan consul here, May 26 com- plaining about alleged persecution of Nicaragua’s Jewish community. The Sun story reported that the 50- person Jewish community in Managua had been expelled, Jewish owned prop- erty confiscated and the Jewish synagogue in Managua taken over. The story was released by the B’nai Brith Anti-Defamation League’s Latin Af- fairs department. The expulsions, the story charged, took place shortly after the Sandinista revolution in 1979. The case of an Isaac Stavisky was cited ‘‘a textile engineer”’ who was out of the country during the revolution and who was “‘told not to return to the country”’. “I explained to them that neither the government nor the people of Nicaragua engage in any anti-Semitic or racist policies,’” Valle-Garay told the Tribune. ‘“‘Our government’s policy is absolutely opposed to racism and anti- Semitism anywhere.” “I urged the two JDL callers to use their common sense and ask them- selves why it took four years for such a story to emerge; to question why the only newspaper to carry such a story happened to be the Sun. “T pointed out the story originated from UPI, which has made it its goal to attack the Nicaraguan revolution, that it came from Washington, and that our revolution’s progress has been moni- tored very closely by international church bodies who have never charged us with any anti-religious or anti- Semitic practices,’ Valle-Garay said. ‘The story,”’ he said, “‘is in line with the overall Reagan policy to use every method to discredit our revolution.” The consul then explained the callers left, only to return the next day with many others who lay siege to the house, which also serves as consulate pre- mises. ‘‘We stopped counting at 63 per- sons,”’ he said. ‘‘They surrounded the house, kicked the doors, cut the phone lines and broke into my car.”’ Following the arrival of police, the demonstrators whole episode lasted two hours, all the while the consul, his wife and two-year old child were trapped inside. “I refused to talk to these people, because I’m not going to confront what could have been stormtroopers from Nazi Germany. They behaved in a way that would have made Hitler proud. “No one was arrested,”’ he reported. Valle-Garay again stressed the JDL action fiits in with an orchestrated anti-Nicaraguan campaign led by Washington. ‘‘We’re seeing more signs of the use of such programs as PTL (Praise the Lord) and others who are praising such Latin American regimes as in Guatemala and Honduras and telling their viewers what bastards the Sandinistas are.” Valle-Garay then told the real story es of Isaac Stavisky: ‘‘I know him, I went _ to school with him,’’ he said. He was educated at DaLasalle Catholic school . in Managua. He owned a textile shop (was not an engineer). He did not return ‘ to Nicaragua following the downfall of and accompanying press departed. The ° Somoza because he worked with Somoza engaged in arms sales in a war which cost Nicaragua 50,000 lives. ‘‘We want him back to face trial. We didn’t expel him,’’ the consul said. ‘‘We want him to receive justice for criminal acts, just as we want Somoza’s son and others, regardless of their ethnic background. It’s similar to the J reasons the Jewish people want crimi- nals brought to justice for crimes against their people.” Valle-Garay then set out the Nicara- guan government’s position in face of such acts: ‘‘Under no circumstances will such cowardly attacks by the JDL or any others intimidate us. Our commitment to our revolution is based on principles much higher than any threats or terrorist actions. “This was a cowardly act to terrify a family based on totally false grounds for the sake of obtaining publicity for themselves.” Reagan’s ‘space wars’ plan _ breaks U.S.-Soviet treaties By EDGAR CHEPOROV Col. Jack Lousma, commander of the American space » shuttle Columbia, said that space was a place from where one could terrify the whole world. Col. Lousma added that he shared the U.S. administration’s interest in developing space projects which could put Soviet mis- siles out of action. The American astronaut’s statement came as a surprise, for Col. Lousma is not an arm-chair strategist but a man who saw with his own eyes how beautiful, small and defenceless our planet it. Only irresponsible people can speculate about the need to terrify the whole world. President Reagan’s plans to develop a new missile defence system have been strongly criticized throughout the world and in the Un- ited States as well. A group of leading American scientists have sent a message to the leaders of a number of the world’s largest nations, urging them to ban the development of space Japanese military grows dramatically TOKYO — Japan’s armed forces, formed in cn- travention of the country’s constitution now number 250,000 and are armed with modern weapons such as missiles, tanks, long-range artillery, various types of attack aircraft, ships and submarines, Military expenditure rose 7.75 per cent in 1982-83 and the new five year defence plan calls for continued build- up of Japan’s offensive capacity. Poised against the USSR and a threat.to Korea, Vietnam and other states, the Japanese military refers to the country as ‘an unsinkable aircraft carrier’’. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JUNE 10, 1983—Page 8 weapons. The message said that the testing and deploy- ment of any armaments in outer space considerably in- creased the risk of an outbreak of a war on earth. One of the signers of the letter, Dr. Carl Sagan, direc- tor of the Interplanetary Research Laboratory at Cornell University, said that only Soviet leader Yuri Andropov answered their message. Neither the President of the United States nor the leaders of the other western coun- tries have replied. It should be said that Andropov emphasized in his reply to the American scientists that the prevention of militarization of space was one of the most urgent tasks that faced humankind. What did Washington reply to public criticism? The United States stepped up the implementation ofits milit- ary space program. U.S. under-secretary of Defence Fred Ikle told the Senate Committee on Foreign Rela- tions that the administration was studying the possibility of conducting auxiliary military operations in space and that the Pentagon was already using near-earth space to perform command, control and communications func- tions in conducting military operations on land and in the sea. Ikle made no secret of the fact that since 1977 the United States has been conducting research to develop anti-satellite weapons which it intends to test this sum- mer. He said that the Department of Defence was conducting intensive research to develop a series of anti-missile systems based on laser and beam weapons. While confirming the existence of the Pentagon’s plans in the field of space weapons, Ikle tried to assure the Senate Committee that the use of space for military purposes by the United States was in conformity with international law. That statement was made to mislead those who questioned the American ‘‘right’’ to turn outer space into a military testing ground. Unbiased politicians and the public have ample reason for doubt. Article 5 of the Soviet-American Treaty on the Limitation of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems reads: ‘‘Each party undertakes not to develop, test, or deploy ABM systems or components which are sea-based, air-based, space-based, or mobile land-based’. Article 15 of the same treaty reads: ‘‘This treaty shall be of unlimited duration’’. The U.S. President signed the treaty on May 26, 1972: Later the treaty was ratified by the U.S. Senate and became effective. It is clear that White House statements that U.S. efforts to make a breakthrough in defensive technology DEPOSIT 1,000 PILecion DOLLARS are compatible with its obligations under the ABM treaty constitute an attempt to prepare the ground for violation of these agreements. In March 1953 the Soviet Union raised at the United Nations the question of prohibiting the use of space fot military purposes. In the spring of 1961 when Yuri Gaga rin became the first man in space, the Soviet Unio? declared that ‘‘we place the successes in space explora” | tion not at the service of war but at the service of peacé and international security’. - The Soviet-sponsored treaty banning nuclear weapo? | tests in the atmosphere, in outer space and under watet came into force in 1963. : The treaty on principles governing the activities of | states in the exploration and use of outer space including the moon and other celestial bodies; which was signed 1967, provided for partial demilitarization of outer space | and the complete demilitarization of the moon and othel celestial bodies. : In December 1981 the UN General Assembly called: at Soviet initiative, for negotiations to draft an inter” tional treaty banning the deployment of any types ° weapons in outer space. The Sovet Union has tabled 2 draft of such a treaty. “‘We’are convinced that we should go further’, At dropov said. ‘‘We should conclude an agreement on the prohibition of the use of force in outer space and also from outer space to earth’. Edgar Cherporov is a political commentator for the Soviet news agency Novosti.