History
• 1912 -1933 U.S.
Marines in
Nicaragua
• Somoza family
comes to power
supported by U.S.
• Revolution 1979
“The Autonomist Army of Central
America declares abolished the
farcical Monroe Doctrine and by
the same declaration annuls the
right that said doctrine pretends to
have to enmesh itself cowardly in
the political life, domestic and
foreign, of the Indo-hispanic
republics. We do not protest
against the magnitude of the
intervention, but simply against
intervention. The United States
has gotten into the affairs of
Nicaragua for many years. We
cannot rely on their promise that
someday they will leave from
here.”
Augusto César Sandino
The war to oust Somoza had killed as many
as 50,000 people; hundreds of thousands
more were homeless or refugees in
neighboring countries, and many areas
were in ruins. Widespread war damage
had devastated the economy, which was
also burdened by a massive foreign debt
of about $1.6 billion.
Sandinista dominated government
committed to:
• create a mixture of private
businesses and socialist-style, statecontrolled enterprises. Most land
and businesses remained in private
hands, except for those taken from
the Somozas.
• respect human rights, and to pursue
a non-aligned foreign policy,
following neither the United States
nor the Soviet Union
• rebuild the economy, create a new
political structure, and improve
social conditions, especially for
Nicaragua’s poorest citizens.
• provide free access to education
and health care
“ The defense policy of the United States is based on a simple premise:
We do not start wars. We will never be the aggressor. We maintain
our strength in order to deter and defend against aggression, to
preserve freedom and peace. We help our friends defend themselves.
Central America is a region of great importance to the United States.
And it is so close; …..It's at our doorstep, and it's become the stage for
a bold attempt by the Soviet Union, Cuba, and Nicaragua to install
communism by force throughout the hemisphere. When half of our
shipping tonnage and imported oil passes through Caribbean shipping
lanes, and nearly half of all our foreign trade passes through the
Panama Canal and Caribbean waters, America's economy and wellbeing are at stake.
Right now in El Salvador, Cuban-supported aggression has forced
more than 400,00 men, women, and children to flee their homes. And
in all of Central America, more than 800,000 have fled -- many, if not
most, living in unbelievable hardship. Concerns about the prospect of
hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing Communist oppression to
seek entry into our country are well-founded.”
Ronald Reagan 1984
Who’s behind all this?
In its March 1986 report, Americas Watch (late
became Human Right Watch) denounces
the Reagan Administration for smearing
those reporting contra abuses rather than
seriously investigating the abuses and
acknowledging those that have taken
place. By its behavior, the report
concluded, "the administration has
enhanced the likelihood that further
abuses will take place and enhanced its
own responsibility for them." It added,
"such a concerted campaign to use
human rights in justifying military action
is without precedent in US-Latin
American relations, and its effect is an
unprecedented debasement of the
human rights cause.
Excerpted from The Politics of Human Rights
Reporting on Nicaragua,
Revista Envio, June 1986
The Republic of Nicaragua v. The United States of America
International Court of Justice 1986
• The court found in its legal verdict that the US was "in breach of its
obligations under customary international law not to use force against
another State", "not to intervene in its affairs", "not to violate its
sovereignty", "not to interrupt peaceful maritime commerce", and "in
breach of its obligations under Article XIX of the Treaty of Friendship,
Commerce and Navigation between the Parties signed at Managua on
21 January 1956.“
• The court had 16 final decisions which it voted upon. In Statement 9, the
court stated that the U.S. encouraged human rights violations by the
Contras by the manual entitled Psychological Operations in Guerrilla
Warfare.
• The court found that the United States of America is under an obligation
to make reparation to the Republic of Nicaragua for all injury caused to
Nicaragua.
• Damages awarded Nicaragua - $17 billion. US government reacted to
this, after the verdict, by withdrawing its earlier declaration accepting the
Court's compulsory jurisdiction
Anti-US Intervention
Movement
Pledge of Resistance
CISPES
Sanctuary Movement
Witness for Peace
Sister Cities
Nicaragua Network
Religious Task Force on
Central America
Veterans for Peace
Sojourners
NACLA
Quest for Peace
Movement goals:
Prevent U.S. invasion
of Nicaragua,
El Salvador,
Guatemala.
Stop military aid.
Support social justice
and local
development.
Activities:
Public education
Nonviolence training
Citizen lobbying
Delegations/
accompaniment in C.A.
Direct action
Media activism
Sanctuary
Material aid
Human rights monitoring
This weekend, in our tradition of nonviolence:
• we will gather together in a manner that reflects the
world we choose to create.
• we will promote an alternative to domination systems by
acting with love, respect, mutuality, compassion, and
acceptance for the interdependence of all life.
• we will struggle for a world free from violence and we will
use actions, words and symbols consistent with this
struggle.
• we will not use or instigate violence against any person.
• we will act with respect for the people and property of the
local community.
• we will promote the safety of ourselves and others
through our actions and interactions.
SOA Watch
The New Haven/León Sister City Project is a progressive,
binational, grassroots organization that fosters a
partnership between the communities of Greater New
Haven, Connecticut and León, Nicaragua. Our mission is
to promote social justice.
We work to form fair and respectful relationships between the
people of our two cities. Through delegations and other
exchanges, we strive to understand and celebrate our
respective cultures.
In León, we engage in sustainable economic, human, and
community development projects. In New Haven, we
educate our neighbors about Nicaragua and about local
and global effects of policies of the U.S. government and
international economic institutions.
Founded in 1984.
NHLSCP Goals
Support local
development in
Nicaragua.
Send delegations and
volunteers to learn
about poverty and
injustice.
Organize people in US
to work for social
justice/ structural
change.
NHLSCP
Delegation/Internship
Goals:
• Learn reality in Nicaragua
and hopefully begin to see
world from their
perspective
• Critique US government
actions/motives
• Understand economic and
political forces
creating/maintaining
poverty
• Stay involved (social
justice focus a priority)
• Why are there different stories?
• Why isn’t the media covering the violence?
• Why is the US government doing this?
“Furthermore, we have about 50% of the world's wealth but
only 6.3% of its population. This disparity is particularly
great as between ourselves and the peoples of Asia. In
this situation, we cannot fail to be the object of envy and
resentment…..we will have to dispense with all
sentimentality and day-dreaming; and our attention will
have to be concentrated everywhere on our immediate
national objectives. We need not deceive ourselves that
we can afford today the luxury of altruism and worldbenefaction.”
George F. Kennan - 1948 “Truman Doctrine”
US Corporate Investment and Profit
1950-1965 (in billions of dollars)
Investment
Europe
8.1
Latin Amer. 3.8
Africa
5.2
Source: US Department of Commerce
Profit
5.5
11.2
14.3
67%
294%
275%
Benefits of weak or friendly governments:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Cheap labor
Limited regulations
Cheap natural resources
Access to markets
Privatization
Open Investment/lending
"I spent 33 years and four months in active
military service and during that period I spent
most of my time as a high class muscle man
for Big Business, for Wall Street and the
bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a
gangster for capitalism. I helped make
Mexico and especially Tampico safe for
American oil interests in 1914. I helped make
Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the
National City Bank boys to collect revenues
in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen
Central American republics for the benefit of
Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the
International Banking House of Brown
Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the
Dominican Republic for the American sugar
interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras
right for the American fruit companies in
1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that
Standard Oil went on its way unmolested.
Looking back on it, I might have given Al
Capone a few hints. The best he could do
was to operate his racket in three districts. I
US Interventions in Latin America 1950 to Present
• Guatemala, 1953-1990s: A CIA-organized coup overthrew the
democratically-elected and progressive government of Jacobo Arbenz,
initiating 40 years of death-squads, torture, disappearances, mass
executions, and unimaginable cruelty, totaling well over 100,000 victims.
• Brazil, 1961-64: President Joao Goulart was guilty of the usual crimes: He
took an independent stand in foreign policy, resuming relations with socialist
countries and opposing sanctions against Cuba; his administration passed a
law limiting the amount of profits multinationals could transmit outside the
country; a subsidiary of ITT was nationalized; he promoted economic and
social reforms. In 1964, he was overthrown in a military coup which had
deep, covert American involvement.
• Dominican Republic, 1963-66: In February 1963, Juan Bosch took office
as the first democratically elected president of the Dominican Republic since
1924 Bosch was true to his beliefs. He called for land reform, low-rent
housing, modest nationalization of business, and foreign investment
provided it was not excessively exploitative of the country. In September,
the military boots marched. Bosch was out. The United States did nothing.
Nineteen months later, a revolt broke out which promised to put the exiled
Bosch back into power. The United States sent 23,000 troops to help crush
it.
US Interventions in Latin America 1950 to Present Continued….
• Cuba, 1959 to present: Fidel Castro came to power at the
beginning of 1959, removing dictator Fulgencio Batista. A U.S.
National Security Council meeting of March 10, 1959 included on its
agenda the feasibility of bringing "another government to power in
Cuba." There followed 40 years of terrorist attacks, bombings, fullscale military invasion, sanctions, embargoes, isolation,
assassinations...
•
Chile, 1964-73: Salvador Allende was elected president in 1970
who program included nationalization of large-scale industries
(notably copper, mining and banking); government administration of
the health care system, educational system; a program of free milk
for children in the schools and shanty towns of Chile; and an
expansion of the land seizure and redistribution. The CIA and the
rest of the American foreign policy machine left no stone unturned in
their attempt to destabilize the Allende government over three years,
paying particular attention to building up military hostility. Finally, in
September 1973, the military – and Augusto Pinochet -overthrew the
government, Allende dying in the process.
US Interventions in Latin America 1950 to Present Continued….
•
Grenada, 1979-84: What would drive the most powerful nation in the world
to invade a country of 110,000? Maurice Bishop and his followers had taken
power in a 1979 coup, and though their actual policies were not as
revolutionary as Castro's, Washington was again driven by its fear of
"another Cuba," particularly when public appearances by the Grenadian
leaders in other countries of the region met with great enthusiasm. The
American invasion in October 1983 met minimal resistance, although the
U.S. suffered 135 killed or wounded; there were also some 400 Grenadian
casualties, and 84 Cubans, mainly construction workers.
•
Panama, 1989: Washington's bombers struck in December 1989, a large
tenement barrio in Panama City wiped out, 15,000 people left homeless.
The Us came to arrest President Manuel Noriega on drug charges.
Counting several days of ground fighting against Panamanian forces, 500something dead was the official body count, what the U.S. and the new
U.S.-installed Panamanian government admitted to; other sources, with no
less evidence, insisted that thousands had died; 3,000-something wounded.
Twenty-three Americans dead, 324 wounded.
•
.
US Interventions in Latin America 1950 to Present Continued….
•
El Salvador, 1980-92: El Salvador's dissidents tried to work within the
system. But with U.S. support, the government made that impossible, using
repeated electoral fraud and murdering hundreds of protesters and strikers.
In 1980, the dissidents took to the gun, and civil war. Officially, the U.S.
military presence in El Salvador was limited to an advisory capacity. In
actuality, military and CIA personnel played a more active role on a
deaths and the U.S. Treasury depleted by six billion dollars. Meaningful
social change has been largely thwarted. A handful of the wealthy still own
the country, the poor remain as ever, and dissidents still had to fear rightwing death squads
•
Haiti, 1987-94: The U.S. supported the Duvalier family dictatorship for 30
years, then opposed the reformist priest, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Meanwhile, the CIA was working intimately with death squads, torturers,
and drug traffickers. With this as background, the Clinton White House
found itself in the awkward position of having to pretend-because of all their
rhetoric about "democracy"-that they supported Aristide's return to power in
Haiti after he had been ousted in a 1991 military coup. After delaying his
return for more than two years, Washington finally had its military restore
Aristide to office, but only after obliging the priest to guarantee that he would
not help the poor at the expense of the rich, and that he would stick closely
to free-market economics. This meant that Haiti would continue to be the
assembly plant of the Western Hemisphere, with its workers receiving
literally starvation wages.
US Interventions in Latin America 1950 to Present Continued….
• 2004 Haiti: For more than two-and-a-half years prior to the 2004
coup that ousted democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, paramilitary rebels led by former Haitian police chief Guy
Philippe had attacked Haiti from bases in the Dominican Republic.
They killed civilians and government officials, targeted police
stations, Haiti’s largest dam and even the presidential palace, all
sparking further violence. Government aid embargoes by both the
Clinton and Bush administrations further stripped bare the foreign
aid–dependent Haitian state. Opposition-aligned political parties
and anti-government “civil society” organizations received tens of
millions of dollars in training and support funds during that time from
U.S. aid agencies. On the night of the coup, US military took Aristide
from his home in Port Au Prince against his will and flew him to the
Central African Republic.