ABSTRACT
The Reagan administration would have believe the problem face in Central America emanates first and foremost from Moscow. As its famous White Paper put it in February of 1981, this is “a classic case of indirect armed aggression … by Communist powers acting through Cuba.” Former Secretary of State Haig had taken that line even before the White Paper came out. The United States does, however, have legitimate security interests dictated by the region’s proximity to the United States itself and to the Panama Canal. American leaders have long understood that those interests must be protected. An examination of some of the administration’s other promises is also illustrative. In a letter to the Senate on April 23, 1985, for example, President Reagan promised to resume talks with the Sandinistas. In early June of the same year, in a letter to Congressman McCurdy of Oklahoma, the president promised to pursue diplomatic rather than military solutions.
