Rise and shine
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
2. 5
Details. page 2
Thursday
Published since 1889 by the students of the University of Kansas
March 12, 1987
Vol. 97, No. 114
(USPS 650-640)
House approves resolution to cut aid to contras
Measure faces Senate.
United Press International
WASHINGTON — The House approved a symbolic resolution yesterday that would cut off military aid to the contras, rejecting Republican accusations that members were handing Central America over to the Soviets.
The measure, which passed the House 230-196 in an extremelypartisan atmosphere, would suspend for six months all assistance to the contras, notably the final $40 million of a $100 million package that Congress approved last year. The resolution also demands a public accounting of millions of dollars already sent to the contrasts.
The resolution was supported by 213 Democrats and 17 Republicans and opposed by 40 Democrats and 156 Republicans.
Speaker Jim Wright of Texas conceded the resolution stood little chance of passage in the Senate and no chance of being enacted over President Reagan's veto. But he said it would send a potent message to the White House that arming and aiding the contra is mine.
diplomacy and economic aid to curtail subversion in Central America and warned that Reagan's request for $105 million in aid in fiscal 1988 faced probable defeat later this year.
The measure faces a likely filibuster in the Senate where there was strong opposition to the contra program before the revelation of the Iran-contra scandal in which profits from U.S. arms sales to Iran apparently were used to bankroll the contras at a time when Congress banned such aid.
During the often emotional debate yesterday, Republicans accused Democrats of selling out U.S. interests in the region. Opponents such as Rep. Trent Lott, R-Miss., repeated the statement, "I do not want to be recorded as handing Central America over to the Soviets."
But House Democratic leader Thomas Foley of Washington called that accusation a poor and limp excuse in support of a failed program. He said the Soviets knew Congress was united in pledging not to permit Nicaragua to have offensive weapons that threaten any nation.
members to say what they think should happen in the future."
The speaker said passage of the resolution meant Reagan should abandon his request for the $105 million — a request that could die by a majority vote in either chamber and didn't invite a veto because no legislation would go to the Oval Office.
Wright calle
Wright and Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd said that even if the measured Congress, they did not have the votes to kill Reagan's anticipated veto of the resolution.
Republicans were clearly putting themselves in the position to blame aid opponents for a possible victory over the Contra. Sandinista army over the Contra.
Rep. Robert Mrazek, D-N.Y., countered by saying he refused to have his name recorded "in favor of handing Nicaragua over to the Contras."
Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., called the policy one of deception, lies, and cover-up and said opponents of the Sandistas "don't have the guts to ask for a declaration of war. It is
KU experts say U.S. reputation could sour
By ROGER COREY Staff writer
The United States' reputation as a peace-loving power and representative of international law in Central America could be destroyed if President Reagan continues to support the contras, according to three KU Latin American specialists.
Yesterday, the U.S. House suspended 230-196 the final $40 million of a $100 million package of aid to the contras that Congress approved last year. The resolution also demanded a public accounting of millions of dollars already sent to the contras.
House leaders admitted that the resolution had little chance of passage in the Senate. They also acked the bill, saying of being enacted over Rogan's veto.
"The $40 million can't be stopped politically," said Charles Stansifer, director of Latin American studies.
Stansifer said that the real issue was not the $40-million outlay but the funds diverted to the contrasts from the Iran arms sale.
"Before Congress votes on any
million," Stansifer said.
Jack Bremer, director and campus pastor of Ecumenical Christian Ministries, said the most humane action for Congress and the administration would be to end all contra sumport.
"I saw the effects of the contra action," said Bremer, who just returned from a trip to Honduras, Nicaragua and the war zone area. "It was mostly terrorism against unarmed civilians."
Brenner said the administration had blocked peace proposals by the Contadora group and by Costa Rican president Oscar Arias Sanchez because it did not want to see a Central American government free of U.S. influence.
"Since 1850, when we sent the Marines to Central America, we have controlled Nicaragua." Bremer said. "It's evident the administration wants to overthrow the Nicaraguan government."
Bremer said the administration's policy actually was helping the communists by bringing death to innocent civilians and supporting a ter-
is power in the last century, the United States was relatively gentle
"And we are still pursuing the same policy," he said.
But U.S. policy in Central America in the past six or seven years has been a failure, Stansifer said.
Barbara Waggoner, adjunct lecturer in Latin American studies, said the current Central American policy was not effective in terms of U.S. goals.
Waggoner said she had been watching developments in Central America since her first trip there in 1966. She said the effect of the war against the Sandinistas was vast. Farmers' land was being taken over for airstrips, and the fighting had increased economic pressures on Nicaragua. The war also had affected El Salvador and Costa Rica.
"Violence encourages both sides to end gon
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Namongo smiled. "It is a wise father who secures his daughter's happiness," he said.
The next afternoon Namongo went to see the fetisher. The fetisher's hut was not among the others in the village, but was a short distance beyond a maize field in a grove of mangoes. Namongo trod along the path, out of the hot sun and into the shade of the trees.
Continued from p. 10
"You have come to ask about this maiden from Mahale," the fetisher said.
As he approached the hut, he saw the fetisher, who was a very old man with wrinkled skin like the dried carcass of an animal, asleep on a bench of logs. The fetisher awakened before Namongo spoke, and sat up on the logs. He had a serene face and gentle eyes that were silver in color as if he were blind.
Namongo nodded and placed a bag of rice before the fetisher. The old man slowly stood up from the log bench and walked to his hut. After a moment, he returned and squatted beside a smooth bare spot on the ground. He ran his aged fingers over the soft dirt. From a pouch in his boubou, he removed a pintard feather and began to make a series of circular and angled designs in the dirt. The feather brushed smooth images in the dust. Namongoose squatted beside
the fetisher and watched
When the patch of dirt was covered with markings, the fetisher leaned back on his haunches.
"This woman, Mabintou, will be a good wife," he said, touching the designs with his feather. "The readings of the marriage are good."
Namongo smiled happily. It was important to have the fetisher's blessing.
The wedding ceremony for Namongo and Mabintou took place during the next full moon. Under the pale night sky, the balaphone players beat out music. Women holding bits of cloth danced together in the compounds. The men drank banghi, a potent palm wine. Everyone was in festive spirits.
A hut was prepared for the newlyweds, and a white goat was killed and skinned. The hide of the goat was dried and placed over the sleeping mat of the new wife. At daybreak following the wedding night, an old woman from Mabintou's family would go to the hut and examine the skin.
If the goat skin was stained, the old woman would take it to Mabintou's father. He would then present the skin to Namongo's father, as proof of the new bride's virginity. If the goat skin wasn't stained, the marriage could be annulled, and the bride's family would be disgraced.
It was nearly dwn when Namongo awakened after the wedding night. His head ached
from too much banghi. Yet he had never experienced such happiness — to wake in the cool morning with Mabintou asleep beside him
Soon, he thought, the old woman from Mabintou's family would come to fetch the goat skin. He imagined he could hear her bare feet on the dirt path outside the hut. He would be proud to show the village the goat skin. It would stand as proof that he had married a good woman.
Curiously, Namongo nudged aside his new wife as she slept and peered at the skin. But although he looked carefully, he could not find a stain. The white hair was not blood stained, but clean as the meat of a coconut.
Mabintou awakened to see her new husband touching his hand to the goat skin.
"Mabintou," Namongo said, astonished. "The goat skin is not marked."
The young woman did not respond, but rubbed her eyes and vawned.
Namongo pushed her off the goat skin and examined it from top to bottom. But the hide simply wasn't stained, not in the middle or along the edge. He gazed seriously at his new wife.
"Mabintou," he asked. "Are you at the compound or in the bush?" It was an expression the villagers used for virginity. A young woman who strayed into the bush had surely lost her innocence.
Mabintou turned her dark eyes
to the smoky light entering the hut and bean to tremble. Namgo felt her trembling against his shoulder.
"Mousu?" he said, meaning woman. "You are my wife now. You must speak the truth. Are you in the bush?"
Mabintou nodded and drew away defensively.
Outside the hut Namongoose could hear chickens cackling and a woman breaking firewood. Soon the old woman would come to fetch the goat skin.
"Ah, I am a fool," Namongo mutter to himself. "I should have traveled to the coast to find a wife. Or perhaps I should have staved with Achou-Noire."
He gazed at his new wife and then around the interior of the marriage hut. The euphoria with which he had awakened had vanished, though his headache remained. His thoughts were mingled with anger and confusion.
Then something caught his eye, and his brows narrowed. A machete leaned against the wall of the hut.
"Eh, alors," Namongo mournured. He reached for the long knife. Mabinton stopped trembling and gazed fearfully at him.
As the first light touched the treetops, the old woman from Mabintou's family came down the path and stopped before the marriage hut. The bride's father was eager to examine the goat skin, so he sent her early. She stood outside the hut and clapped her hands.
"Namongo," she called. "I have come to take the goat skin."
"It is here, Mouso," Namongo said, stepping from the hut and holding out the dried skin.
The old woman held up the goat skin and laughed. "You have taken a good woman," she said, tapping her finger to the stain marking the center of the hide. "A good woman."
She folded the skin and hurried up the path.
Later in the day, Namongo passed his mother and Mabintou as they sat beside a cookfire in the compound. He was on his way to the river and carried a fishing net over his shoulder. The two women watched as he stepped from the shade of the trees into the sunlight.
"Look Mabintou," his mother said, pointing. "Namongo has torn his leg on a thorn bush. See how he limps."
"Oui, Bamouso," Mabintou nodded.
"He should be more prudent," his mother said. "It is easy in the bushland to become infected."
"Out, Bamouso," Mabintou said. "I will prepare a lotion."
Namongo's mother turned to Mabintou. "You are a good wife," she said smiling.
Mabintou looked shyly at the ground.
The fetisher's prediction had been truthful.
Roger Corey is a graduate student in Roger念心. He lived in the west African country of Ivory Coast from 1979 to 1981 and had experiences he had in the bushelh.
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