Copyright by Gregory Krauss 2007 - The University of Texas at Austin
Copyright by Gregory Krauss 2007 - The University of Texas at Austin
Copyright by Gregory Krauss 2007 - The University of Texas at Austin
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the Sandinistas, but he did not change or oppose the anti-Sandinista thrust <strong>of</strong><br />
Reagan’s policy.<br />
Dominican Republic<br />
<strong>The</strong> amount <strong>of</strong> time Lister gave towards a country was not always<br />
proportion<strong>at</strong>e to his impact. Lister worked for years on U.S. policy towards<br />
Nicaragua, but he probably accomplished more in the Dominican Republic on behalf<br />
<strong>of</strong> human rights and democracy in just a few weeks. In the Dominican election <strong>of</strong><br />
1978, Lister stood up for the integrity <strong>of</strong> the voting process, and this helped assure<br />
th<strong>at</strong> the results <strong>of</strong> the election were honored.<br />
<strong>The</strong> 1978 election was between Antonio Guzmán Fernández <strong>of</strong> the Partido<br />
Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD ) and Dominican President Joaquín Balaguer, the<br />
former deputy to dict<strong>at</strong>or Rafael Trujillo. Since defe<strong>at</strong>ing Juan Bosch in the 1966<br />
election, Balaguer had restricted democr<strong>at</strong>ic freedoms. 37 <strong>The</strong> 1978 election was the<br />
first in which Balaguer had faced an opponent capable <strong>of</strong> defe<strong>at</strong>ing him. 38 Prior to the<br />
election, the general secretary <strong>of</strong> the PRD, José Francisco Peña Gomez, whom Lister<br />
had known since the 1965 U.S. intervention, came to Washington to meet with Lister<br />
about possible <strong>at</strong>tempts <strong>by</strong> Balaguer to prevent an honest vote. 39 Rep. Fraser, perhaps<br />
through Lister, also became aware <strong>of</strong> the issue. After an investig<strong>at</strong>ion <strong>by</strong> his staff,<br />
Fraser wrote to President Carter to notify him about actions <strong>by</strong> the Balaguer<br />
government to interfere with the Guzman campaign and to restrict voter registr<strong>at</strong>ion. 40<br />
106