ABSTRACT
The crisis in Central America, manifesting itself primarily in Nicaragua and to a lesser degree in El Salvador, is the latest installment of Soviet-American rivalry in the Western Hemisphere. The Sandinista consolidation of power is distinguishable from the Cuban in a number of respects. Cuba’s consolidation and transformation into a Marxist-Leninist state was and is likely to remain unique. During the years of Sandinista rule, Managua has oriented its political, economic, and military relations almost totally toward the East. Economic and military relations of an “urgent and long-term” nature were discussed, as Nicaragua’s economy was integrated more intimately with that of the Soviet Union. The Sandinista regime is considered to be “socialist-oriented,” of the “vanguard party” type, but Soviet strategy is to downplay this feature and encourage the Sandinistas to emphasize the mixed nature of the economy and the residual pluralistic character of its political system in order not unduly to arouse US hostility.
