WORLD A CANADIAN JUST BACK FROM NICARAGUA: U.S.-led sabotage hurts economic renewal plans By TOM MORRIS Sigmund Sherwood is quite a man. He’s an Alberta businessman, owner of hotels in Fort McLeod and Fort Assiniboine. He’s a welding technician by trade. Born in Poland 62 years ago, Sherwood, then 17, was taken by the nazis in 1940 and interned in the Auschwitz death camp. His tatoo number is 88. He spent four years there and witnessed the full scope of the atrocities. Moved to the Sachenhausen concentration camp near Berlin in 1944, Sherwood was among those liberated by the Soviet army. His experiences made him a life-long - anti-fascist. But that’s not the end of it. Following the Cuban revolution he took his skills to that country where he worked for one year. His impression of the turmoil of Cuba building its future amid attacks are still vivid and he speaks of those days with a special pride. “I had read much about the Nicaraguan revolution and, when I learned that an Alberta group was being organized to go there and help, I decided to go,”’ he told the Tribune last week on his way home from his two- month stay. ‘Most of the members of the 16-person group were agricultural specialists, some cattle specialists, and they worked in various agricultural cooperatives. Because of my trade, I was attached to the Ministry of Construction teaching welding techniques,”’ he said. As well as bring- ing their expertise, the group brought $10,000 worth of tools, including two welding machines as a gift to the Nicaraguan people. Sherwood, who speaks fluent Spanish, travelled extensively. *‘I talked with people everywhere. They couldn't understand why the Americans were making things so difficult for them.’’ He reported that the U-S.- led economic war was very, very hard on the country. “One workers told me, ‘Number one priority for us is to end this war.”’ Having fought seven years against Somo- za, the man continued, ‘We can’t have another five years fighting on two fronts — economic and military.” Another said, ‘We must finish with the contras in 1985 so we can begin building our economy’.”’ “One has to imagine the tremendous strain on a little country like Nicaragua with a population less than that of Havana, Cuba,’’ Sherwood said. ‘‘The war has cost over $1-billion since 1981.’” He quoted Nicaraguan President Ortega who brought the problem out bluntly: ‘‘ For every 100 pencils we produce, 40 go to the military; for every 100 pair of shoes we produce, 40 go to the military,”’ he said. “Notwithstanding all that,’ Sherwood continued, “the spirit of the Nicaraguan people is truly admirable. They genuinely want to rebuild their country which has been plundered for over 100 years. They revere Sandino, their national hero who was murdered by Somoza’s father. If the U.S. thinks it can impose a ‘new Somoza’ on them, it is mistaken.”’ When asked about U.S. charges that Nicaragua was becoming a “‘Soviet bridgehead” in Central America, Sherwood smiled. ‘‘I don’t know what that means. What’s the connection between Nicaragua and the USSR? I do know that when there was a light bulb shortage recently a Soviet ship arrived with 1.5 million light bulbs. “IT was checking some welding machines which had arrived from a Leningrad factory,”’ he said. ‘They were diesel-powered, moveable machines of high quality. And the USSR sold them at one-third the price they would bring in Canada. That’s helping the people.” And about Nicaragua aiding Salvadoran guerrillas? “One only need read history to see that the Salvadoran revolution began 10 years before the Nicaraguan revolu- tion. Who was ‘helping’ them then? Reagan’s talk about Nicaragua exporting revolution to El Salvador is just talk. The U.S. simply wants to topple the Sandinista government which it calls ‘brutal and cruel’. “I travelled everywhere, went to hospitals, rode buses, walked the streets of cities and villages. I didn’t see cruelty or brutality. I visited an agricultural farm for »people, fed up with their condition, bring about ?. ! Sherwood describes the anti-contra actions on a map Nicaragua during his talk with the Tribune. | petty criminals. Compared to what I witnessed Auschwitz, they are living in a hotel. “Revolutions aren’t exported,’ Sherwood argue “They stem from a long historical process in which change.”’ Asked about the contras, Sherwood produced latest issue of Time magazine which carried a map $ Nicaragua showing shaded areas of ‘‘contra control’: “They're lying. I spoke with a Spanish physician W works near the Costa Rican border. He reports th Pastora’s contras are totally demoralized. When they come to the villages they ask for food and medicin ‘“Time’s map shows the contras control almost half the country, all the way to bluefields on the Atlanti@ That’s simply not true, people travel to Bluefields every day. Similarly with Puerto Cabezas in the north ane Matagalpa in the centre, shown as contra occupied. “The contras are in decline now,’ he continut | “Without U.S. direct help they will be finished this) year.” ‘| What did Mulroney promise in Jamaica? - The Simon Bolivar ba ttalion of Nicaragua’s crack anti-contra fighters. cans Renee ee reer eal BRIDGETOWN, Barbados — Could this past month’s visit to the Caribbean by Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney start a new increased role for Ganada in the continuing militarization of the Caribbean region? Mulroney, in Jamaica to meet with Anglophone Caribbean government heads, had lengthy discussions with such personages as Jamaica’s Edward Seaga and Barbados’ Prime Minister Tom Adams before he died. The Tribune understands that Mulroney listened to appeals from the government heads that more military assistance from Canada be included in any future “‘aid’’ packages between the two hemispheric areas. Observers of these links point out that the Canadian armed forces already trains several dozen military per- sonnel from the Commonwealth From the Caribbean Caribbean in various courses. Omniously, they say, part of this training includes a ‘‘combat readiness’’ component. As well, Canadian money is being used to train Grenadian policemen following the invasion of the Spice Isle by U.S. forces in October 1983. Significantly, when asked by the Caribbean News Agency whether Mulroney’s new Con- servative government would look favorably on a request from a Caribbean government to inter- vene like the Americans did in Grenada, Seaga said: ‘‘I expect 8 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, MARCH 27, 1985 Faria (the new government in Ottawa) to have a more willing ear (than the previous Trudeau government).”’ For his part, Mulroney told journalists here that Ottawa has begun “‘a foreign policy review’’, and that the relationships with the Caribbean would be part of that re-assessment. Meanwhile, due mainly to mounting public outcry against the plan, the proposals for a multi-nation Eastern Caribbean standing army are expected to be shelved. Before he died of a heart attack earlier this month, former Barbadian Prime Minister Adams conceded:*‘I’m not sure now, seeing the strength of the feeling (in opposition), that I would sup- port the idea of committing forces to a single organization.”’ Under the Washington-backed plan, an 1,800 member force would be set up. It would have had its headquarters in Barbados, and garrisons in Antigua to the north and Grenada to the south. A * number of governments in the Eastern Caribbean island chain, such as St. Lucia and Dominica, would have been involved in the scheme, which would have cost some $60-million or more a year to maintain. Critics of the plan, such as peace groups throughout the reg- ion, argued that such monies could be channelled into much needed housing programs and improvement of the region’s agriculture. “ One political analyst, who re quested anonymity, told the — Tribune that militarization con tinues in other forms. i “The visits to the islands bY nuclear armed and powered U.S: warships continue, contributiN® — to maintaining a state of tension 2 — the area and also posing a re# threat to the peoples of the regio? — through an accidental explosiO® — of one of the nuclear devices power plants on the ships. The — armed forces of some of the 15 — lands like St. Lucia and Barbados are also being built up even mor to a level which has nothing to 49 with defence purposes,” he argued. “These arms and training ar coming from various sources. may be now that Canada is getti more involved. This is not-w! the Canadian people want,” 2 added.