Nicaragua resumed a long-standing claim against the United States, that of compensation for war damages, which brings to the present one of the most repudiatory pages of the inventory of interventions of the Northern power in the world.
The government of the Central American country has resumed what it describes as Washington's historical debt, estimated at more than 12 billion dollars, not paid by the defendant despite a ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Nicaragua refers to the financial, armed and logistical support of the US administrations, especially that of Ronald Reagan, to the counterrevolutionaries who fought against the Sandinista government in the 80's of the last century.
The so-called "rebels", according to the terminology of their sponsors, launched terrorist actions during 10 years that caused almost 50,000 deaths and serious material losses.
The so-called "contras" tortured, burned communities and farms, blew up bridges and murdered civilians, without establishing a firm base of operations in Nicaraguan territory.
Defeated in the military field, they had to go to negotiations and eventually Managua took the case to the Court of The Hague.
That court ruled on June 27, 1986 that the United States should compensate Nicaragua for the damages caused by what it called "military and paramilitary activities".
As a recent letter from the Sandinista government to the UN Secretary General points out, the northern nation did not comply with a ruling still in force and must abide by it.
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega called on the White House to go back to the Court for reparations for other historical damages, including sanctions currently in place.
Joseph Biden's administration followed the path of Donald Trump's, imposing sanctions on Nicaragua with various arguments, among them the alleged persecution of opponents.
Ortega described these accusations as infamous, some of them imposed in areas where the United States has influence.
Thirty-seven years after the ruling in the Court of The Hague, the compensation has still not been paid, while the Nicaraguan Social Security system still pays pensions to war wounded and their families, victims of the terrorism of the contras, Washington's godchildren.
Nicaragua resumes demands against the U.S.
Related Articles
Commentaries
MAKE A COMMENT
All fields requiredMore Views
- Granma seeks alternatives to continue classes in earthquake-affected centers, with teachers offering their homes
- Annual solidarity conference of National Network on Cuba underway in U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan
- World Bank reports Israel’s aggression inflicts $8.5 billion in economic losses on Lebanon
- Cuba denounces and warns of indiscriminate Israeli attacks in Damascus and Beirut, including near Cuba's diplomatic headquarters
- Africa: International conference in Niger supports anti-imperialist struggle of Sahelian peoples