Friday, November 03, 2006

Influencing Nicaraguan Elections

A revealing window into the methods the U.S. is willing to use to influence foreign media as a means to influencing foreign elections is provided by this excerpt:
Even some of America's friends here think Mr. Trivelli has been heavy-handed. Carlos Bricen[~]o, a U.S. citizen who heads a television station in Managua, says he was telephoned by a deputy of Mr. Trivelli who said the election was a matter of U.S. national interest and suggested his news coverage should reflect that concern. "The U.S. has lost the parameters of what is permissible and what is totally unacceptable," Mr. Bricen[~]o says.


Another excerpt is notably honest in itassessmentnt of the relevant history:
The U.S. has a turbulent history with Nicaragua, which it has treated as a kind of protectorate.


JOSE['] DE CO[']RDOBA, "A Cold War Ghost Haunts Elections In Nicaragua," Wall Street Journal, November 3, 2006; Page A1 [from an email listserv posting]