Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 30, 1985, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press May Page 7 focus the overthrow of the Somoza regime by the sandinista has brought Many changes to nicaraguan revolution brings benefits by Don Messner special to the free press what significance has the historical Day of july had for the daily lives of the nicaraguan peo ple How badly misinformed was i on the situation in Nicaragua be cause a great majority of North american dailies have conservative editorials in i visited Nicaragua with the intention of trying to understand the the present social and eco nomic situation in from a nicaraguan quite my first encounter with the revolution occurred in a taxi in route from the Sandino Airport in during the ride through the unlit City the taxi a Veteran of Many years of Mountain pointed out the window at passing Day bus and commented during the dictator ship Only Somp Zas people drove Mer cede Benz since the everyone rides in his enthusiasm and sincerity gave me the feeling that the taking of the Palacio Nacional occurred Only pro sandinista slogans and revolution Ary murals painted on every available Square Inch of Concrete Wall impressed upon me a very artistic and politicized one could not help getting involved Emo standing in front of a Large san Dino mural commemorating the fifth anniversary of the overthrow of the Somoza dictatorship by the Sandin Ista National liberation front i was approached by a Young nicaraguan Man who went by the name of he spoke English having attended the american College in he quickly began to voice anti san accusing the sandinista government of creating a totalitarian of being a Cuba soviet satellite exporting and of suppressing the Catholic he later invited me to his a Short ride to the outskirts of he lived in a typical Spanish Aristo cratic with White Marble polished Silver everywhere and sever Al maids washing and ironing nicaraguan by had obtained a mexican passport to avoid having to join the nicaraguan he spent his time dealing on the Black offering tourists 500 to 700 Cordoba per american the Bank Exchange in Nicaragua is 70 Cordoba per american there is a shortage of american dollars and with the Black Market the nicaraguan Economy continues to suffer because it is not the Banks who gain Access to the american dollars but a select what Jose accused the Feln of seemed very what totalitarian state would allow the publication of a daily ultraconservative newspaper la Prensa of pluralism of ideas exists in Nicaragua because there Are both conservative and Liberal party offices in Managua which participate freely in the National it seems like a contradiction to say that the Feln is suppressing the Catholic Church when three priests hold Cabine level to say that Nicaragua is a soviet cuban satellite exporting revolution re quires further Nicaragua turns to Cuba and the soviet Union for military and economic Aid de look for yourself what the literacy crusade alone has meant for the nicaraguan the literacy crusade carried out shortly after the revolution by Volun Teers mostly nicaraguan High school and College students went country to the most Remote parts of Nicaragua peasants were Given the Opportunity for the first time to learn How to read and nicaraguans Are found Reading i asked a nicaraguan Shoemaker in the Market whether he knew How to he responded excitedly before the literacy crusade i didst even know what the alphabet stood now i can actually read the a notable educational accomplishment considering the cooperation and mobilization of people required for such an what else has been done in Nicara Gua a Type of prison system has been created called the open farm inmates Are required to work on this farm growing vegetal despite the War with the nicaraguans can enjoy the fruits of the cause of the rigid embargoes imposed by the american any working political scientist or historian will Tell you that revolution is not in Nicaragua it was due to social and political difficulties suffered under the 40 year dictatorship of the Somoza since the Triumph of the revolt what has the sandinista government of Nicaragua done it has devised and implemented economic policies which have maintained the provision of Basic social services and material necessities to the peo ple of Rolando professor of languages at the University of Central America says its a people before profits philos a student attending pays 200 Cordoba equivalent to Ameri can for the whole at the end of the year each student is required to pick which is i after the Triumph of the education became open i to in the past it was a privilege Only for the aristocratic Bles for example com and there Are no guards and no fences As Mary director of the National commission for human rights explains its All based on Trust and the prison system Here places great emphasis on the individuals when the inmate reenters the Normal work he adapts to the environment with greater what about the Atlantic coast i travelled to a Village consisting mostly of miskito indians who practice a religion called the Atlantic coast under the Somoza regime remained isolated from the rest of Nicaragua and extremely now roads Are being there is run Ning water and even Telephone lines have been living conditions Are improving in this fishing com a miskito Indian named Banada explained families in this area work though for every Pound of shrimp caught the Fisherman donates two Cordoba to the Community for material Aid the building of Homes for the Home fishermen now get 20 Cordo Bas for each Pound of shrimp caught under the Somoza regime they received five these social and economic improvements Are remarkable consid ering the fact that Nicaragua is a country at and a great Deal of the National budget is spent de fending her Borders from daily Contra Nicaragua remains a victim of aggression urging peace and Dia though the nicaraguan people seem quite Content in waiting it the message in their eyes reflects what is written in Black and red Feln colors on the Walls every no trespassing United As professor Tellex explains what must we As nicaraguans do to convince the Reagan administration that our Long sought objective is to construct a society free of disease and War backwardness is what we As a nation Are working together to eliminate we envy and cry out for peace but we must defend what is we never want to return to the Days of the oppressive Somoza we have been As a people exploited for too during the month of author and agent John Stock Well visited convinced that War with the is on the Stockwell says Reagan wants a full scale Nicaragua it will the White House is focus ing More intensely on Nicaragua than the press Stockwell explains they Are orchestrating some things trying to get inside the april and May Are crisis months be cause they have the presence of big Pine 300 soldiers and air planes preparing and rehearsing the anytime you have a Force like they Are ready to go and its intended to be a the House of representatives de feat of reagans bid to obtain million in order to continue financing Washington War on Nicara Gua is a Good it can Only be hoped that the american govern ment can change its role from that of a military supplier to the contras to one of a source of humanitarian Aid to the poor of Central Don Messner is a Winnipeg film maker who recently visited Nicara generic drugs Are a Boon to society by Percy Barsky special to the free press Ever since the introduction in 1969 of Noname or generic the multinational Patent holding pharmaceutical firms have fought to have them re moved from the Canadian mar it did not matter to them that the generics and their distributors had come into being the Patent had created a powerful monopoly which forced Canadian Consumers to pay an inordinately High Price for the medications which they it did not matter to them that this monopoly was condemned by three successive Federal commis Sions of which had re commended that the Canadian Patent act be amended by Sec Tion 41 to provide for compulsory so that an ele ment of Competition could be introduced into the Market place by the generic firms and their it did not matter to them that As a result of this the Canadian consumer and taxpayer saved at least million dollars in 1983 it did not matter to them because of compulsory the individual provinces were allowed to set up their own Pha Macare the pro Grams Supply Over 50 per cent of this nations medications to the to the needy and to the handicapped members of our so it did not occur to them that because of Section 41 our National medicare system which is rated by economists As the Best in the Western world today was Able to deliver More efficiently and economically those comprehensive services so vital to the citizens of what mattered was that their Market place monopoly had been they had been lobby ing against Section 41 4 so per that the East Man commission of inquiry was set up to Analyse the operation of the entire pharmaceutical Indus try in professor East mans report be came Public last it has come out forcefully for the preservation of the present system of compulsory licensing the free Sale of generic Eastman concluded that the present system has saved Canadian Consumers hundreds of millions of dollars and has also created Competition in the drug Industry in the exis tence of generics has had no discernible effect on the growth of the pharmaceutical Industry As a whole in this he also noted that the profits of the multinational Patent holding companies were higher than that of the rest of the entire manufacturing the Eastman inquiry has also proposed that the royalties paid to the Patent holders be increased from the present four per cent to a level of 14 per this is supposed to cover the Cost of funding any new drug develop ment on the in a Survey of the world drug Industry As a it appears that Canada represents Only two per cent of the total that is to that two per cent would be the Canadian share towards introducing a new drug since Canada is already paying More than its share and has been doing so since there is no need whatsoever to alter the existing Section 41 of the pres ent or to increase the Royal ties of four per cent which it now Barsky is associate professor of paediatrics of the University of a Pill by any other name Price per 1000 1984 name Brand name valium Hydro Duril to frail omm la six Plavil tagamets Librium Stela Jne am Oxil Mell aril omm name address generic name diazepam hydrochloric thl azide Imi praline fur Semide Amir Ityline cimetidine amoxicillin Thor Dazine name use tranquil Izer diuretic antidepressant diuretic antidepressant anti ulcer tranquil Izer antidepressant Antibiotic tranquil Izer massive and campaigns try to boost image of nip for them to be spending taxpayers Money is informational and propaganda no it is evidence of a government that is say it that comment was made by Howard Paw Ley in Early when the Lyon government was in the extent of its desperation became More apparent As the months passed and promotional advertising the ads which initially concerned the nip Leader were relatively inoffensive a Mere to convince Manito bans that their province was not a bad place to succeeding versions were much More promoting Industrial benefits of Var ious Meg projects which were merely a gleam in the governments the message to the Public about the need to get the first Chance at hazy prospects was criticized As opportunistic and a waste of Public the majority of voters agreed and opted for the nip in the after More than three those people have Learned that regardless of who is in is a Way of promotion of the jobs fund and Limestone have been prime Wilson Parasiuk insisted that the Advertis ing Blitz for Limestone would provide information contrast to the tory Meg project promotions but there was a definite As Gerry Mercier it was a desperate attempt to prop up the image of a faltering admitting that about tory use of Public Money for political purposes had been the critic believed that the nip was even More hypocritical because it was spending considerably that accusation was reinforced by the Public accounts for the 198384 fiscal under the dome Arlene Billinkoff which indicated the nip government had spent More than million on ads and that was almost 75 per cent More than the tory total in their last year and 158 per cent higher than the amount spent in the year before they became pan icky about the if it was wrong for the it was just As wrong for the charged Brian it was not Correct to use taxpayers Money for image advertising and putting a govern ment in a better Eugene Kostyra insisting his governments advertising expenditures had increased because the nip was an activist group which wanted to publicize innovative tory criticism was a bit he because they had promoted Meg projects before contracts had been his party believed that general advertising was the most effective Way to present information to the new democrats May believe but who have Learned the hard do therefore when they began to study spending estimates for the advertising audit the ammunition was the amount allotted for Public sector advertising was including for Limestone and for the jobs but did not include preparation it had been previously indicated that the total and Campaign for Limestone alone might reach million Bob Banman viewed those numbers with mixed he knew All too Well what can occur when a government is in advisers say the problem exists because the Public does not understand and it is time to get out the he the tories took that advice and Learned a bitter the current is not he it is taking the promotional approach to an extent to which his party had never lets be Banman the government knows it is in trouble and is trying to bolster its not Only were the Lime Stone and jobs fund ads they were being dovetailed with party advertise no assessments of the Impact of that Campaign were under Way and he expected the results would determine when the election would be such activity is Only window dressing and a waste of taxpayers because there is no Way a government can Adver Tise its Way to electoral Banman the More they the More suspicious the Public will become and the worse they will do at the while such action would probably assist the tories in the next he urged Kostyra to speak to his colleagues and save millions of listening the minister agreed on certain but insisted his government was not involved in Mere image Advertis the ads were enhancing eco nomic development policies and social pro ensuring that Manitoban would have More input and Access to it was a far better approach than a recent Saskatchewan government which said virtually he and was considerably better than a tory and during the Lyon years which talked about sitting on a Gold that and was one of those which most tories prefer to but Banman has it was one More indication of How a government can Worsen an already bad political he you All too often we think people dont catch but let me Tell they see through us pretty one really has to question How far any government of any political Stripe will go in using taxpayers dollars to manage the Media and manage the taxpayers who will eventually foot the Banman the tory government Learned the hard Way about what can if Pawley has forgotten and his government continues on its current the nip May have the same doonesbury by Garry Trudeau some of and Youknot Pip they Haw to Calpe act Why offi oks i i i i ;