I am still profoundly troubled by the war in Nicaragua. The United States launched a covert war against another nation in violation of international law a war that was wrong and immoral.

The British Red Cross asked me to help them spearhead a fundraising campaign for the victims of the war in Nicaragua. It was a turning point in my life. It began my commitment to justice and human rights issues.

There is a question for which we will never know the answer: had the U.S. not launched the Contra war to overthrow the Sandinista government would they have succeeded in bringing socioeconomic justice to the people of Nicaragua?

In Nicaragua liberty equality and the rule of law were the stuff of dreams. But in Paris I discovered the value of those words.

Global political conditions make a direct American intervention difficult but President Reagan's messianic and visceral attitude toward the Nicaraguan revolution could mean it will happen as an act of desperation.

It is pretty amazing. My parents who came from Nicaragua to the U.S. - who would have thought that they would have American kids on the Olympic team? I think that's the epitome of the Olympic dream.