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Posted on 04/29/2019 1:56:39 PM PDT by jazusamo
Bernie Sanders, a front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, has long billed himself as a democratic socialist, citing the peaceful governments of Denmark and Sweden as his inspirations.
But back in the 1980s, as mayor of Burlington, Vermont, Sanders often endorsed a different strain of leftist government – praising violent socialist revolutionaries as well as economic policies like forced land redistribution, according to a Fox News review of archived footage and documents.
Asked about the comments today, Sanders’ campaign highlighted other aspects of the now-presidential candidate’s 1980s-era views, saying he was prescient to warn against U.S. intervention abroad.
“Our foreign policy will focus on diplomacy, not endless war," the campaign said in a statement.
In the 1980s, Sanders spoke of socialist Nicaraguan revolutionaries known as Sandinistas so often that one local paper called it a “favorite Sanders topic.”
The Sandinistas overthrew a dictator in the Central American nation in 1979, and then began to impose socialist policies. That sparked a rebellion from Nicaraguans who opposed socialism, who became known as “Contras.”
Tens of thousands were killed in the fighting. The Soviet Union and Cuba sent weapons and economic support to the Sandinistas, while the U.S. led by President Ronald Reagan sent arms and funding to the Contras.
The U.S. involvement appalled Sanders. As soon as he became mayor of Burlington in 1981, his pro-Sandinista views began to make headlines in local papers.
The Burlington Free Press reported in 1981 on a speech Sanders gave that year, stating that Sanders “exhorted his audience ‘to take control of your own lives’ as the ‘struggling masses’ did in Chile, Cuba and Nicaragua.”
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
It will not be publicized.
Gee, that’s shocking. Bernie doesn’t fit the profile for that sort of thing at all, apart from checking every box.
A very DANGEROUS bum. So totally anti-American.
please, please, please nominate him for president
Crazy Bernie low energy senile ridiculousness
What a surprise in a guy who honeymooned in the USSR.
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Bernie is a commie in all but name. On top of that, he is ant-Israel, ala Noam Chomsky.
He has a good chance if the fix is not in like the last time. But he took one for the team then, so maybe the path will be clear for him.
He still defends Cuba and Venezuela.
I’m shocked I say. Absolutely shocked........not at all.
That is why he is so popular. He is very dangerous.
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