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Article: Sandinistas: How Big a Threat? Even With an Arms Build-Up, Managua May Lack Muscle
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- January 31, 1988
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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A dramatic turn in the debate leading up to this week's vote in
Congress on future aid to the contras was the startling revelation
that the Sandinista government plans to import large new amounts of
Soviet weaponry and to double its armed forces to 600,000 men in the
next few years.
Critics of the Marxist regime seized upon the projected military
buildup as unimpeachable proof of Managua's expansionist aims.
National-security adviser Colin L. Powell declared that the
Nicaragua's intention of placing one-fifth of its population under
arms posed a "direct threat" to its Central American neighbors.
Yet a different picture emerges in interviews here with
Nicaraguans across the political ...