Florida International University now offers a Master of Arts program in Economics with an emphasis in International economic develop- ment. The program, consisting of 30 semester hours with the option of a thesis or a research paper, is designed to be completed in one year. For information please contact: Dr. Jorge Salazar Department of Economics Florida International University Miami, Florida 33199 (305) 554-2316 status but on: 1) the importance of the crop to the national economy, and 2) the elas- ticity of supply. That the state and the private sector can have conflicting interests is so obvious that it hardly needs to be stated. What is not always so clear, however, is that the same can be true even for those marginal sectors that the revolutionary regime proclaims it- self committed to aid. For example, the marginal traditional coffee growers in Nic- aragua have suffered from government pol- icies as much as large technified coffee producers to whom the revolution owes nothing. All govemments seek to maintain "solvency," and that imposes a need to gamer resources such as foreign exchange. Rhetoric to the contrary, the proclivity is al- ways to obtain them wherever easiest In the case of Nicaragua, where the state has in- creased its power, economic exigencies have led to a heavy "tax" (camouflaged though it may be by relying on manipula- tion of the exchange rate) on agricultural producers-no matter what their class status. The deterioration of the Nicaraguan economy has been so extensive, and the reactivation of the economy so difficult, that the promised "liberation" of peasants and laborers has not been forthcoming. Instead, peasants suffer from low prices as the new regime hastily tries to protect urban con- sumers, and from neglect as the state con- centrates on the management of large state farms that are judged more important for the reactivation of the economy. Laborers suffer from an enforced policy of "austerity and efficiency" that demands continued sacrifices, including trade-union rights, as well as from continued salary freezes. This has resulted not because the Sandinista rul- ing elite has desired it; there is no doubt that they would like to provide a better life for Nicaraguan peasants and laborers. Rather, the exigencies of the situation have made the continued impoverishment of peasants and laborers a structural necessity. Not surprisingly, postrevolutionary re- gime policies that change the economic fortunes of different classes have important political consequences. The responses of poor laborers and agricultural producers to the policies of the Sandinista government shows with piercing clarity that the political allegiance of classes is based on their per- ception of their well-being, and not on ideo- logical grounds. This is as true with lower classes as it is with upper classes. Ideology is important in shaping perceptions, but ab- solute and relative changes in material well- being are decisive in shaping allegiance. Legitimacy for a revolution depends on political issues; legitimacy for a postrevolu- tionary regime depends on economic per- formance. Hence, a revolutionary regime must take care not to undermine the welfare of those sectors which it is committed to assist. This is especially important if a revo- lutionary regime is threatened by counter- revolution; if lower classes become dissatisfied and cynical, counterrevolution- aries-domestic or international-may be able to gamer strength that they otherwise could not hope to gain. This has clearly happened recently both in Nicaragua and Mozambique. It is a truism of both revolu- tionary and conterrevolutionary insurgency that success depends upon generating some popular support or, at least, the tacit support of those disaffected with the exist- ing regime. Finally, the examination of the four sec- tors of Nicaragua's agricultural economy illustrates the limits of what "politics" can and cannot accomplish. Nationalization or redistributive policies cannot alone solve the principal problem plaguing the produc- tion of maize, beans and coffee: low yields. These crops are cultivated principally by marginal peasants using a low level of tech- nology. Raising the low yields of small pro- ducers necessitates introducing them to improved cultivation practices, providing them with needed inputs, and most impor- tantly, making sure that it is in their per- ceived interest to adopt improved cultiva- tion practices. Undertaking this is slow, expensive and difficult; however, there is no alternative. [ 42/CAfBBEAN F EeW STHECA B rvEW AWARD In accepting the Fourth Annual Caribbean Review Award at the recent Caribbean Studies Association meetings in Santo Domingo, Professor Sidney W. Mintz of The Johns Hopkins University offered the following comments: "Dr. Levine, President Maingot, Esteemed Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen: "It is a genuine honor to have been chosen to receive the Caribbean Review Award, and it is a keen pleasure to be the first recipient to be able to accept the award personally. "The Caribbean Studies Association provides all of us with an intellectual vehicle that transcends cultural and language barriers, while offering us a wider and more embracing vision than any single academic discipline. It gives me added pleasure to accept the Caribbean Review Award during the Eighth Annual Meeting of this cross-cultural, interdisciplinary, pan-Caribbean Association. "As we meet here in the cradle of Hispanic spirit in the New World, I would like to express my appreciation not only to Dr. Levine and the members of the Award Committee who have shown me this honor, but also to our Dominican colleagues who worked so long and so hard to ensure such an agreeable and successful convention. "Thank you." The Caribbean Review Award is an annual award to honor an individual who has contributed to the advancement of Caribbean intellectual life. Sidney W. Mintz joins previous recipients Gordon K. Lewis, Philip M. Sherlock, and Aim6 C6saire. Nominations for the fifth annual Caribbean Review Award-to be presented at the Ninth Annual meeting of the Caribbean Studies Association to be held in St. Kitts in Spring 1984-should be sent to The Editor, Caribbean Review, Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33199. The award recognizes individual effort irrespective of field, ideology, national origin, or place of residence. In addition to a plaque the recipient receives an honorarium of $250, donated by the International Affairs Center of Florida International University.