Those who accuse progressives of calling for "purity tests" want this party to stand for nothing.

[Ken Burch]

43. The Sandinistas weren't a left-wing dictatorship. They were freely elected in 1984.

And they willing left power when defeated in 1990(even though they were only beaten because of the relentless U.S. economic and military pressure on the Nicaraguan people).

Nicaragua did not become a better country as a result of the Sandinistas being removed and right-wing economic policies being imposed from outside. OK, the constitution now respects "property rights&quot which is great if you're a millionaire, but useless to anyone in Nicaragua who isn't).

There was never any excuse for the U.S. creation of the "Contras" OR the economic embargo.

And if you wanted the Sandinistas out in Nicaragua, you never cared about the poor or the workers there. There was never any way that U.S. hostility towards the Ortega administration was ever going to lead to Nicaragua becoming a European-style social democracy. Our country's leaders were never going to allow anything decent for the people anywhere in Latin America-they care only about "market economics" and giving U.S. corporations control of Latin American economies.