U.S. cuts Nicaragua military assistance

[arcos]

U.S. cuts Nicaragua military assistance

MANAGUA, NICARAGUA - Raising tensions that have revived the politics and personalities of the Cold War, the United States has suspended military assistance to Nicaragua because it has failed to move forward with the destruction of an arsenal of shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles that the Bush administration considers a possible terrorist threat.

American diplomats here said that about $2.3 million in aid to the Nicaraguan army had been suspended pending the destruction of the Soviet-made SA-7 missile systems. In Washington, a senior State Department official confirmed that "part of our security assistance is on hold" while an agreement is worked out, and added that Nicaragua had made a commitment to President Bush to scrap the missiles.

"These missiles are not necessary to a country that is not at war," Peter M. Brennan, the deputy chief mission at the U.S. Embassy, said Friday. "These missiles represent a danger to the world. We know that terrorists are trying to get them."

Defense Minister Jose Adan Guerra said he had not been formally informed of a suspension. He said, however, that he had received "verbal notification.

<snip>

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/world/3094784


I personally think this is great news. Why the hell does Nicaragua need an army is beyond me...

[izzie]

1. Wonder what is up? Even Carter gave Salvador money

That is he gave the military money and it was not a good thing.They just killed the every day people and they learned their tricks in the USA

[arcos]

7. Yup... armies have a terrible history in Latin America...

And very few Latin American countries actually NEED one. They are usually used to repress people and waste government's money.

[EFerrari]

8. Unlike our army

which gives ballroom dance lessons and enriches our treasury?!

[arcos]

14. Not at all... but at least your army doesn't repress your own citizens...

at least YET...

For the record, I'm from Latin America, Costa Rica especifically, and we've been without an army for nearly 60 years. That's the one and most important reason why we haven't had much of the problems the other countries have had.

[EFerrari]

19. I think the harrassment and intimidation that our draft age

kids are going through is the beginning, arcos. Also, the unreported and unresolved cases of rape in the military. Also, there is the small matter of US citizens being held without charge -- much as "stop loss" holds our people after their contracts expire. Oh, we're well on the way.

Add to that, our treasury is being ransacked by the Defense "budget".

My family is from San Salvador, and my grandfather was a career officer and politician. We know exactly what it's like to have a family member hauled off in the middle of the night and held for months without charge.

And, we've always admired Costa Rica for the reason you name.

[arcos]

23. I'm sorry about your grandfather...

and I agree, the US situation is very discouraging and will probably only get worse.

:hi:

[EFerrari]

36. It's all good, arcos

My grandfather got loose, dressed up as his own chauffeur and escaped. He went back as the Minister of Defense a few years latter. (More important to all of us, *alive*.)

But, we still all get it, two generations later. Concentrated power with no balance leads to obscenities.

And, forget the personal stuff, right, it gives us a compass. The second biggest immigrant population in the U.S. is from El Salvador. And, we know about Negroponte. We know the elections in El Salvador are routinely manipulated by someone in the U.S. government.

We know about the export of torture and the drug running and the casual slaughter of civilians that CNN or MSNBC will never speak.

We are not helpless and we know the pattern of this scenario as it plays out. These are tools we can use.

:)

[Make7]

2. "These missiles are not necessary to a country that is not at war"

"These missiles represent a danger to the world. We know that terrorists are trying to get them." - Peter M. Brennan, the deputy chief mission at the U.S. Embassy

When is the U.S. planning on destroying their portable surface-to-air missiles? The terrorists are trying to get 'em.

---

Actually, I think this is good news too. The only thing Nicaragua could use an army for is counter-insurgency. The fewer dollars we send for that, the better.

- Make7

[oblivious]

3. Hmmm...US arms manufacturers ain't gonna like the sound of that.

"These missiles are not necessary to a country that is not at war."

I guess you could say that about all arms.

[arcos]

6. Exactly nt

[aneerkoinos]

4. Why the hell does Nicaragua need an army ?

Why, against US aggression of course. Sandinistas are coming back to power and that is what this is all about.

[arcos]

5. Sandinistas are not what they used to be...

And if Ortega is their candidate, they will never ever win... He is a corrupt dinosaur and very unpopular. Sadly, it seems he will be the candidate because the ruling elite of the FSLN named him so a few days ago.
They are scared to death of Herty Lewites, the most popular politician in Nicaragua and member of the FSLN too. He is a left winger but he supports change and renovation within the party. The old entrenched elite does not like that.

[aneerkoinos]

9. Really?

From what I read (which is not very much), the other two parties are even less popular (and corrupt) than Ortega and FSLN. In the last elections FSLN was leading in the polls, but US openly threatening with consequenses should FSLN win was not lost on the electoriate. Now, with Chavez and other leftist forces victorious and the Big Bad Wolf proven to have its teeth blunt, US threats are no more taken too seriously.

However, the current situation with US "diplomacy" seems to be mostly connected to some powershift towards FSLN currently, even without elections, FSLN types taking over the Nicaraquan military or sumfink...

[arcos]

15. The two major parties (FSLN and the Liberals) are equally corrupt...

The leader of the Liberals and former President Arnoldo Alemán has been under house arrest for a couple of years for corruption and stealing money from the government. But he has met several times with Daniel Ortega to agree on "important reforms" that only make them more powerful and wealthy. For example, they've met and agreed to remove powers to the current government (elected by the Liberals, but they have declared independence ever since, because of intraparty fighting between President Bolaños and Arnoldo Alemán), they agreed to several electoral reforms to make it harder for new parties to form, but easier for the traditional parties to get elected.

Most of the high level members of FSLN leadership like Ortega and Tomás Borge now own several million dollars in properties they took during the revolution, while millions of Nicaraguans still don't have a house, a job, and are starving... they started out ok, giving land to people who needed it, but ended up leaving it only to enrich themselves.

I really do believe Herty Lewites is the answer... but the Sandinista establishment hates him because he has made public a lot of their corrupt dealings with the Liberals. Right now he is touring the country and holding huge rallies... and he is leading all polls, both in the FSLN primary elections (which won't take place), as in the general election.

[Robbien]

17. I am so glad you support the idea that the US has South and Central

America's best interests at heart. Of course South and Central America shouldn't be armed, Georgie will take care of you. Hasn't the US always treated South and Central America fairly in the past?

Trust us.

[arcos]

18. No, the US hasn't...

However, do you really think a Central American army could defeat the US army in case they decided to invade?

Not at all... it just doesn't make any sense. Central American countries are small and don't have much of a budget... unless they spend 50% of their budget in defense like North Korea, their armies will continue to be very small and weak... Certainly that would be very stupid.

I'm from Costa Rica, and we haven't had an army for nearly 60 years. The money that we would have spent in defending against a non-existant enemy was spent in roads, schools and healthcare. For that reason we have something like 97% literacy rate, we have the highest life expectancy in the region, etc.

Why would we need an army? If a powerful nation wants to invade us, they will succeed whether we have an army or not.

On the other hand, governments have used national armies against their own population countless times. Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua are very good examples of this. People are terrified of their own armies because of their past.

They should be abolished... the money is best spent elsewhere, in the real advancement of the people and their quality of life.

[Robbien]

20. Costa Rica has been lucky

The US has not interferred too much by using your country's land for our drug farms, your citizens as our forced labor or your natural resources as ours for the taking. Costa Rica is only our way station for the drugs coming up from the south. Hopefully CAFTA with all its privatization rules is something you can tolerate.

But once we interfer in a country we set up a corrupt government and a corresponding army to protect that government (the government not the people). You just need to see the army we are building in Haiti to see the truth of that. The arms a South or Central American government has more than likely has been purchased with American dollars.

I can see the US withholding payments to Nicaragua until we see if we can keep control of that government.

[arcos]

25. well, the US has interferred...

The CIA tried to kill President Jose Figueres several times because he was not totally opposed to Fidel Castro. He didn't support him explicitly, but was not radically opposed either. The US had secret military bases (with the government's permission) here during the 80s, precisely to fight the Sandinistas.

And I think one of the reasons why the US has not been involved too much here (at least when compared to other countries in the region) is precisely because of our stability. And that stability is a direct consequence of not having a standing military.

[bemildred]

11. I would guess the return of the Sandinistas adds a certain urgency to it.

Although Ortega is no Sandino, he's not a US stooge either.

[arcos]

24. Ortega is NOT popular at all... and he will never ever win again...

This is in Spanish, but it has the latest poll results.
http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2005/marzo/21/ultima-sr319960.html

87.2% of Nicaraguans are against another Ortega candidacy, while 10.4% support him.

Herty Lewites (FSLN) leads with 50% of the vote, while the Eduardo Montealegre, the Liberal candidate gets just 22.7%.

[bemildred]

33. Why annoy me about it, I never said he was?

I don't like him much, I thought he did a crappy job back in
the 80s. That doesn't mean I think another US stooge is a good
idea either.

[arcos]

34. I never said you did...

But it seemed to me you were implying it was basically a done deal he will be the next President, and that doesn't seem to be the case. Sorry if that was not the case, but that's what it seemed to me.

I don't believe a US stooge is a good idea... Lewites wants to have good relations with the US, but he is against neoliberal policies and in favor of social programs. He is more like Lula or Kirchner than Chavez.

[bemildred]

38. You need to calm down.

Nothing bad will happen if people are allowed to run around
with incorrect ideas in their heads. With any luck the people
of Nicaragua will decide the issue, not you and I. Let's hope
they choose well.

[arcos]

39. I need to calm down?

Huh... whatever.

I like to be corrected when I say something wrong, and I assumed most people that come to discuss in an Internet forum do so.

[bemildred]

40. Hey, you corrected me for something you imagined I meant.

So yeah, whatever.

[arcos]

41. I didn't imagine anything...

It seemed pretty clear to me at the time, and it still seems to me that way. You cleared up you didn't mean that, and that's ok, but you can't deny that it is perfectly possible to interpret it the way I did.

[bemildred]

42. Yes, I can, and I do, I said diddly squat about his popularity.

Or his electoral prospects, or any of that blather of yours.

[arcos]

43. I think you need to calm down....

:eyes:

[bemildred]

47. OK. nt

[NNN0LHI]

10. US, Citing Nicaraguan Possession of Missiles, Suspends Military Assistance

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBTJ91XK6E.html

WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States is suspending $2.7 million in military assistance to Nicaragua because President Enrique Bolanos has not followed through on a promise to destroy surface-to-air-missiles, a State Department official said Monday.

The administration is concerned that the missiles, left over from the Central American wars of the 1980's, could fall into the hands of terrorists and be used to attack commercial flights.

The State Department official, asking not to be identified, said the missiles are believed to be in the custody of the Nicaraguan military.

The official said Bolanos assured President Bush that the missiles, believed to number about 1,000, would be destroyed.

more

[bemildred]

12. Backgrounder:

The part about Somoza getting mysteriously iced in Paraguay
always cheers me up. There is still some justice to be had in
the world.

The Sandinista National Liberation Front (Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional--FSLN) was formally organized in Nicaragua in 1961. Founded by José Carlos Fonseca Amador, Silvio Mayorga, and Tomás Borge Martínez, the FSLN began in the late 1950s as a group of student activists at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua--UNAN) in Managua. Many of the early members were imprisoned. Borge spent several years in jail, and Fonseca spent several years in exile in Mexico, Cuba, and Costa Rica. Beginning with approximately twenty members in the early 1960s, the FSLN continued to struggle and grow in numbers. By the early 1970s, the group had gained enough support from peasants and students groups to launch limited military initiatives.

---

United States support for President Somoza waned after 1977, when the administration of United States President Jimmy Carter made United States military assistance conditional on improvements in human rights. International pressure, especially from the Carter administration, forced President Somoza to lift the state of siege in September 1977. Protests and antigovernment demonstrations resumed although the National Guard continued to keep an upper hand on the FSLN guerrillas.

---

On July 17, 1979, Anastasio Somoza Debayle resigned, handed over power to Urcuyo, and fled to Miami. The former Nicaraguan dictator then established residence in Paraguay, where he lived until September 1980, when he was murdered, reportedly by leftist Argentine guerrillas. After President Somoza left Nicaragua in 1979, many members of the National Guard also fled the country, seeking asylum in neighboring countries, particularly in Honduras and Guatemala. Others turned themselves in to the new authorities after the FSLN took power, on promises of amnesty. They were subsequently tried and many served jail terms. The five-member junta arrived in the city of León a day after Somoza's departure, on July 18. Urcuyo tried to ignore the agreement transferring power, but in less than two days, domestic and international pressure drove him to exile in Guatemala. On July 19, the FSLN army entered Managua, culminating the Nicaraguan revolution. The insurrection left approximately 50,000 dead and 150,000 Nicaraguans in exile. The five-member junta entered the Nicaraguan capital the next day and assumed power, reiterating its pledge to work for political pluralism, a mixed economic system, and a nonaligned foreign policy.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/nicaragua1.htm

[Judi Lynn]

16. Thanks for your link. What a loss when Somoza went a-w-a-y......

Looks like a lot to read for those of us who are trying to overcome the void in our awareness about this hemisphere's history!

Just looked for a photo of the Somoza you mentioned, discovered he was the THIRD Somoza. I presume the middle one was his brother? Sounds like the _Bushes. Loathesome, brutal people.

Here's a timeline, for those of us (myself, too) who are trying to catch up:

1974: Somoza is decreed president of Nicaragua.

1978: By the end of the decade, Nicaragua experiences an economic slowdown and circumstances are ripe for a revolution. Joaquín Chamorro, editor of the anti-Somoza newspaper, La Prensa, is assassinated. The public holds Somoza responsible. Led by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), anti-Somoza guerrilla forces launch a violent uprising against the military. Nicaragua is plunged into a near civil war.

1979: Somoza resigns on July 17th, and flees to Miami, exiling to Paraguay. On July 20th, Sandinista forces enter Managua, and hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans celebrate their triumph.

1980: Somoza is assassinated in Paraguay. The Sandinista government implements social programs, which receive international recognition for their gains in literacy, health care, education, childcare, unions, and land reform. For the first time in history, Nicaraguans are called to decide their own future. Just as they struggle for increased self-sufficiency, the Reagan-Bush administration begins funding the Contra War. The goal is to undermine the Sandinista regime. This ten-year war is fought at the cost of 60, 000 lives, 178 billion dollars, and the Nicaraguan infrastructure and economy.

1980: Political control is shifted to a five-member junta, which rules Nicaragua from 1980 to 1985. Among the junta members is Violeta Chamorro, the widow of the late journalist, Joaquín Chamorro.

1985: FSLN's presidential candidate, Daniel Ortega takes office and declares a state of national emergency, suspending civil rights. The Iran-Contra Affair begins. This U.S.-orchestrated operation secretly channels funds to the Contras soldiers, which is in direct violation with the Boland Amendment.

1988: Nicaragua is a disaster zone, ravaged by civil war and the onslaught of Hurricane Hugo. President Ortega agrees to the first round of peace talks with Contra leaders. A temporary truce is reached in March.

1990: The moderate UNO Coalition candidate, Violeta Chamorro is elected president of Nicaragua. Chamorro improves diplomatic relations with the U.S. At this time, the FSLN party still holds the majority of popular support in Nicaragua.

1991: The UNO coalition governs Nicaragua. They severely cut government spending on successful, Sandinista-led social programs in such areas as health care and education. On July 1st, right wing sectors attack Sandinista land reforms, which have redistributed land to small-scale farmers. The impact is felt across the nation.

1997: Arnoldo Alemán Lacayo, the Liberal Party's conservative candidate, wins the presidential elections- 49 to 39 percent over FSLN opponent, Daniel Ortega.
(snip/...)

http://www.stanford.edu/group/arts/nicaragua/discovery_eng/timeline/

[JohnOneillsMemory]

35. I just found copy of 'Nicaragua Betrayed' by Somoza in 1980. CIA written!

I collect propaganda to study the lies for evidence of the truth, especially CIA propaganda.

In an Oregon antique shop I recently found a 427 page book supposedly dictated by Somoza to 'Jack Cox' while in Paraguay in February 1980.

'Nicaragua Betrayed' (Western Islands Publishing) is obviously a CIA ghost-written rant against Jimmy Carter's diabolical alliance with Castro to support communism in the Americas by withdrawing support for Somoza.

It is extremely heavy-handed in its red-scare mongering and interesting as evidence of CIA-steering of public opinion from post-Vietnam efforts to re-militarize American culture with heavily increased propaganda output. Just like today!

The back flap has a picture of Somoza "reviewing book material" as Jack Cox looks over his shoulder. The caption reads:

"Jack Cox is a private consultant on Latin America who has written extensively on U.S.-Latin America relations. A graduate of North Texas State University and veteran of World War II, Mr. Cox is a former legislator and member of the Texas Commission on Higher Education. This native Texan was the Republican nominee for Governor of his state in 1962 but lost the election in a close race to John Connally. He is a three-time recipient of the George Washington Gold Medal of Honor from the Valley Forge Freedom Foundation and is the author of 'This I Believe.'

Mr. Cox is particularly knowledgeable about Central America and since 1960 has maintained close relationships with Nicaraguans from every level of society, including President Anastasio Somoza. He was in the capital city immediately following the great earthquake of 1972 and on July 17, 1979 witnessed personally the bloody take-over by the Sandinista terrorists. Trapped in the devastation of Managua with a documentary television crew, Mr. Cox eluded the Marxists and escaped on the personal jet of President Lopez Portillo of Mexico.

This book is President Somoza's heartbreaking and frightening story of the betrayal of Nicaragua as told to Jack Cox."
------------------------

[Judi Lynn]

37. Amazing! Is that like "back engineering?" Starting with propaganda

hoping to work back to the truth? Could be very interesting, but hard to endure.

I found a "review" of the book, which is, itself, comical. Here's a note on Jimmy Carter:

Two decades later, in the presence of a new generation of citizens who knew little of this treachery, Carter has finally gotten his way, and shown up to bask in the bleakness of his diabolical victory: Self determination for leftist Panama, but really for Communist China; and betrayal of self determination to the United States, who now has one more major defense concern for the future imposed upon her.
(snip/...)

From: Jimmy Carter: Still on the prowl

By Steve Farrell
web posted January 10, 2000

(Note: Sections of this article rely heavily on documentation provided in "Nicaragua Betrayed," by former President Anastasio Somoza of Nicaragua and Jack Cox, Boston and Los Angeles, Western Islands, 1980)

http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0100carter.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You know, we don't hear of Jimmy Carter being described as "diabolical" too often!

Uh, oh! I just went to look for more on Jack Cox, had noted the book was published in 1980, then found this entry in google:

The Carter Administration and Latin America: A Test of Principle
... In the Republican primaries, Ronald Reagan expressed his opposition to new Panama
... Somoza, Jr., Antastasio. Nicaragua Betrayed. As told to Jack Cox. ...
www.ciaonet.org/wps/par06/ - 170k - Cached - Similar pages

Holy moly! You weren't kidding! Oh, gosh. Was anyone following you when you left the store? You have their book! Now there's some good propaganda readin' there, no doubt. I'll bet they really piled it on.

Wonder if Jimmy Carter has seen it!

Good luck with your unusual hobby. It's bound to be fascinating.

[mutus_frutex]

13. You want those missiles? Well, Buy them!!

Pay top price for them since there seems to be a lot of demand.

Isn't this the way free market works??

[chlamor]

21. US Suspends Military Aid to Nicaragua

US suspends military aid to Nicaragua
From correspondents in Washington
22mar05

THE US State Department has confirmed its suspension of $US2 million ($2.5 million) in military assistance to Nicaragua because of Managua's delay in destroying its stock of portable surface-to-air missiles.

Deputy department spokesman Adam Ereli said some progress had been made on President Enrique Bolanos' pledge to eliminate the stocks of man-portable air defense systems, or MANPADS.

But differences within the Nicaraguan Government have held up the process, prompting US action, Mr Ereli said at the daily State Department briefing."In light of those differences, I think some of our security assistance will sort of be put on hold until the differences can be resolved and the elimination of the MANPADS proceed forward," he said

Mr Ereli said about $US2 million ($2.5 million) in aid had been suspended, mostly for training and credits to purchase military materiel. This was a fraction of the nearly $US46 million in overall US assistance to Nicaragua.

http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,12622738%255E1702,00.html

[villager]

22. but isn't this the government Reagan helped install?

n/t

[arcos]

26. Actually the current government was democratically elected...

And in 57% landslide...

[villager]

27. I mean, since he ousted the Sandinastas....

...it's the party he put into power, que no?

[arcos]

28. No...

The Sandinistas faced lots of pressure from Reagan, but were never ousted by anyone but the voters. They got into power in 1979 by ousting Somoza, but called up elections in 1984 and won easily. In 1990 elections were held again and this time they lost, to Violeta Barrios who was a member of the Sandinista Junta in the early 80s... the US supported her heavily.

Then the corrupt Liberal Party (right wing) won the elections in 1996 and 2001, in fair and square elections.

So no... Reagan didn't put anyone in power. He was out of office by the time the Sandinistas were defeated in the polls... sure, the Bush I administration did help Barrios get elected, but she was hardly imposed.

[villager]

29. I'd always read that the U.S. manipulated their economy via

the World Bank, etc., to make sure the Sandinastas would be "voted" out, "democratically."

And don't forget, they had their hands full fighting U.S. backed "rebels" the whole time...

[arcos]

30. oh, sure they did...

There was one year during the late 80s that Nicaragua had a 33,000% inflation... Yes, 33,000%. It is almost unbelievable.

As I said, the US gave Violeta Barrios lots of help, and for that reason the 1990 elections were very close. But she is not from the same party as Arnoldo Alemán and Enrique Bolaños, Presidents 1996-2001 and 2001-2006. Hell, even Bolaños is not a member of the Liberal Party now, since he was kicked out after his election because he was investigating corruption during the previous government.

After losing the 1990 elections, the Sandinista dominated Congress passed several laws that allowed them, the Sandinista leadership, to take ownership of lots of land that was supposed to go to the poorest Nicaraguans. They paid a heavy price because people still won't forget about it.

[villager]

31. so, "meet the new boss, same as the old boss," eh?

n/t

[arcos]

32. yup, more or less...

Sadly that's the way a lot of Latin American democracies work... Different parties, but none of them helps the people, just the ruling elite of the moment. Ortega and Alemán are very well known for meeting and agreeing to new laws that only favor them.

I think that's starting to change, but there's still a very long road ahead.

[webtrainer]

44. Sandinista Official Says U.S. Is Meddling

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-nicaragua-us-sandinistas,0,7390052.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

Story is ostensibly about Tomas Borge's comments about the U.S. meddling in Nicaraguan politics due to being scared of the Sandinista's winning the 2006 presidential elections . . . but really, it seems to me, in my semi-ignorant P.O.V. that they're not going to win with Ortega anyway . . . and they would have a good chance if Lewites was the candidate. I'm upset that the U.S. is already in an "all or nothing" mode, stopping the $2 million in military aid, etc. Larger view, to me, is that they can't touch Chavez in Venezuela, so they pick on Nicaragua instead . . . bullies!

Remember, this started when they "found" a missing missile in a man's home that was later understood as being a known CIA asset . . . I sure hope Nicaragua stands up for itself and does not rollover on this, but realistically, what can they do? Chavez can do his Bolivarian Revolution act all he wants without fear of losing U.S. aid because he's bringing in BILLIONs in oil $ but poor Nicaragua . . . ?

LINK:
http://nicanet.org/hotline.php?id=151#topic1

[Rex]

45. This just in, China agrees to send 5 million in military aid to Nicaragua

Wouldn't you shit if they did!?!?

It's like I can literally SEE the bridges burning as American foreign policy finds a new nation to hate. The American people should feel like Homer Simpson every time the Bush regime pisses another country off. Doh!

[Hamcracker]

46. Time to abandon democracies.