Friendly
Bilateral relations
Bilateralism is the conduct of political, economic, or cultural relations between two sovereign states. It is in contrast to unilateralism or multilateralism, which is activity by a single state or jointly by multiple states, respectively. When ...
now exist between
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...
and the United States. However, in the 19th and 20th centuries, tensions were high and American intervention was frequent. In the 1980s Due to
Red Scare
A Red Scare is the promotion of a widespread fear of a potential rise of communism, anarchism or other leftist ideologies by a society or state. The term is most often used to refer to two periods in the history of the United States which ar ...
paranoia and an attempt to put down
socialism
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
in the region, the U.S proceeded to wage an undeclared war against the
left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
Sandinista
The Sandinista National Liberation Front ( es, Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN) is a Socialism, socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after ...
movement by funding the
Contra
Contra may refer to:
Places
* Contra, Virginia
* Contra Costa Canal, an aqueduct in the U.S. state of California
* Contra Costa County, California
* Tenero-Contra, a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland ...
groups until it was defeated in the
election in 1990.
History
The
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
first landed in Nicaragua in 1852. According to Captain
Harry Allenson Ellsworth, a Marine Corps historian, their presence was "for the protection of American lives and interests." One occasion was to protect an American mining company where workers were threatening a strike. Another time they just stayed long enough to burn down
San Juan del Norte
San Juan de Nicaragua, formerly known as San Juan del Norte or Greytown, is a town and municipality in the Río San Juan Department of Nicaragua.
History
San Juan del Norte was founded by the Spanish and was a small fort and customs station. S ...
because - seven years earlier - the American minister to Nicaragua had been kept there overnight against his will before he was released just the following morning. Most Marine landings involved supporting one Nicaraguan faction against another.
Walker's 1855 filibustering
In the traditional historiography by historians in the United States and in Latin America,
William Walker's filibustering represented the high tide of antebellum American imperialism. His brief seizure of Nicaragua in 1855 is typically called a representative expression of
Manifest destiny
Manifest destiny was a cultural belief in the 19th century in the United States, 19th-century United States that American settlers were destined to expand across North America.
There were three basic tenets to the concept:
* The special vir ...
with the added factor of trying to expand slavery into Central America. Historian Michel Gobat, however, presents a strongly revisionist interpretation. He argues that Walker was invited in by Nicaraguan liberals who were trying to force economic modernization and political liberalism. Walker's government comprised those liberals, as well as Yankee colonizers, and European radicals. Walker even included some local Catholics as well as indigenous peoples, Cuban revolutionaries, and local peasants. His coalition was much too complex and diverse to survive long, but it was not the attempted projection of American power, concludes Gobat.
American protectorate 1913 to 1933
According to Benjamin Harrison, Wilson was committed in Latin America to the fostering of democracy and stable governments, as well as fair economic policies. Wilson was largely frustrated by the
chaotic situation in Nicaragua.
Adolfo Díaz
Adolfo Díaz Recinos (15 July 1875 in Alajuela, Costa Rica – 29 January 1964 in San José, Costa Rica) served as the President of Nicaragua between 9 May 1911 and 1 January 1917 and again between 14 November 1926 and 1 January 1929. Born in C ...
won the presidency in 1911 and replaced European financing with loans from New York banks. Facing a Liberal rebellion, in 1913 he called on the United States for protection and
President Woodrow Wilson obliged. Nicaragua assumed a quasi-
protectorate
A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over m ...
status under the
Bryan–Chamorro Treaty
The Bryan–Chamorro Treaty was signed between Nicaragua and the United States on August 5, 1914. It gave the United States full rights over any future canal built through Nicaragua. The Wilson administration changed the treaty by adding a provis ...
. Under the treaty Nicaragua promised it would not declare war on anyone, would not grant territorial concessions, and would not contract outside debts without Washington's approval. It permitted the US to build a naval base at
Fonseca Bay, and gave the US the sole option to construct and control an inter-oceanic canal. The Panama Canal opened in 1914 and the US had no intention of building another canal, but wanted the guarantee that no other nation could do so. The US paid Nicaragua $3 million for this option. The original draft also asserted the duty of the United States to intervene militarily in case of domestic turmoil – but that provision was rejected by Democrats in the Senate. Nevertheless the US did send in Marines to protect the government and suppress local uprisings such as that of
Augusto César Sandino
Augusto C. Sandino (; May 18, 1895 February 21, 1934), full name Augusto Nicolás Calderón de Sandino y José de María Sandino, was a Nicaraguan revolutionary and leader of a rebellion between 1927 and 1933 against the United States occupati ...
after 1927. The treaty was extremely unpopular in the Caribbean region, but it was observed by both sides until 1933. Díaz was now able to serve out his entire term; he retired in 1917, and moved to the United States. (He returned briefly to power in 1926–1929). According to George Baker, the main effect of the treaty was a higher degree of both political and financial stability in Nicaragua. President
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...
(1929-1933) opposed the relationship. Finally in 1933 President
Franklin D Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
, invoking his new
Good Neighbor policy
The Good Neighbor policy ( ) was the foreign policy of the administration of United States President Franklin Roosevelt towards Latin America. Although the policy was implemented by the Roosevelt administration, President Woodrow Wilson had pr ...
ended American intervention.
Nicaraguan Revolution
In the 1970s the
FSLN
The Sandinista National Liberation Front ( es, Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto Cé ...
began a campaign of kidnappings which led to national recognition of the group in the Nicaraguan media and solidification of the group as a force in opposition to the Somoza Regime, which ruled Nicaragua since 1937. The Somoza Regime, which included the
Nicaraguan National Guard
The National Guard ( es, link=no, Guardia Nacional, otherwise known as ) was a militia and a gendarmerie created in 1925 during the occupation of Nicaragua by the United States. It became notorious for human rights abuses and corruption under ...
, a force highly trained by the U.S. military, declared a state of siege, and proceeded to use torture,
extrajudicial killings
An extrajudicial killing (also known as extrajudicial execution or extralegal killing) is the deliberate killing of a person without the lawful authority granted by a judicial proceeding. It typically refers to government authorities, whether ...
, intimidation and censorship of the press in order to combat the FSLN attacks. This led to international condemnation of the regime and in 1978 the
administration of U.S. president Jimmy Carter cut off aid to the Somoza regime due to its
human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
violations (
Boland Amendment
The Boland Amendment is a term describing three U.S. legislative amendments between 1982 and 1984, all aimed at limiting U.S. government assistance to the Contras in Nicaragua. The first Boland Amendment was part of the House Appropriations Bill ...
). In response, Somoza lifted the state of siege in order to continue receiving aid.
Contra War
Upon their inauguration in January, 1981, the
Reagan Administration
Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following a landslide victory over D ...
supported a strong anti-communist strategy in Latin America. The
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
funneled logistical, military, and financial support to
Contras
The Contras were the various U.S.-backed and funded right-wing rebel groups that were active from 1979 to 1990 in opposition to the Marxist Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction Government in Nicaragua, which came to power in 1979 fol ...
in neighboring Honduras, waging a guerrilla war to topple the Sandinista Administration in Nicaragua. In 1984, the CIA's 'Unilaterally Controlled Latin Assets' (UCLA) mined many Nicaraguan harbors, leading to several Nicaraguan and foreign ships being damaged or sunk, and the passing of the
Boland Amendment
The Boland Amendment is a term describing three U.S. legislative amendments between 1982 and 1984, all aimed at limiting U.S. government assistance to the Contras in Nicaragua. The first Boland Amendment was part of the House Appropriations Bill ...
by
US Congress. Though the Boland Amendment made it illegal, the Reagan Administration continued to fund and arm the Contras through the
Iran-Contra affair. The U.S Government continued to pressure the Sandinista Administration through election interference and support of the Contras until 1990, when the Sandinista Administration lost power.
Recent history
After being condemned for terrorism, the U.S has aimed to support the consolidation of the democratic process in Nicaragua with the 1990 election of President Chamorro. The United States has promoted national reconciliation, encouraging Nicaraguans to resolve their problems through dialogue and compromise. It recognizes as legitimate all political forces that abide by the democratic process and eschew violence. U.S. assistance is focused on strengthening democratic institutions, stimulating sustainable economic growth, and supporting the health and basic education sectors.
Until recently, the resolution of U.S. citizen claims arising from Sandinista-era confiscations and expropriations still figured prominently in bilateral policy concerns. Section 527 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act (1994) prohibits certain U.S. assistance and support for a government of a country that has confiscated U.S. citizen property, unless the government has taken certain remedial steps. After the Secretary of State had twenty times issued annual national interest waivers of the Section 527 prohibition, in August 2015 the U.S. Embassy in Managua announced a decision that the waiver was no longer needed, in a statement that included "The United States recognizes the work of the current government administration ‘to resolve pending claims in an expeditious and satisfactory manner.’"
Other key U.S. policy goals for Nicaragua are:
* Improving respect for human rights and resolving outstanding high-profile human rights cases;
* Developing a free market economy with respect for property and intellectual property rights;
* Ensuring effective civilian control over defense and security policy;
* Increasing the effectiveness of Nicaragua's efforts to combat trans-border crimes, including narcotics trafficking, money laundering, illegal alien smuggling, international terrorist and criminal organizations, and trafficking in persons; and
* Reforming the judicial system and implementing good governance.
Since 1990, the United States has provided over $1.2 billion in assistance to Nicaragua. About $260 million of that was for debt relief, and another $450 million was for balance-of-payments support. The U.S. also provided $93 million in 1999, 2000, and 2001 as part of its overall response to Hurricane Mitch. In response to Hurricane Felix, the United States provided over $400,000 in direct aid to Nicaragua to support recovery operations from the damage inflicted in September 2007. Aside from funding for Hurricanes Mitch and Felix, the levels of assistance have fallen incrementally to reflect the improvements in Nicaragua. Assistance has been focused on promoting more citizen political participation, compromise, and government transparency; stimulating
sustainable growth
Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The desir ...
and income; and fostering better-educated and healthier families. The Millennium Challenge Corporation signed a 5-year, $175 million compact with Nicaragua on July 14, 2005. The Millennium Challenge Compact is intended to reduce poverty and spur economic growth by funding projects in the regions of León and Chinandega aimed at reducing transportation costs and improving access to markets for rural communities; increasing wages and profits from farming and related enterprises in the region; and increasing investment by strengthening property rights.
NICA Act
In 2016, the Nicaragua Investment Conditionality Act of 2016 (NICA) was passed by the United States House of Representatives. It was unable to be approved by the Senate or the president due to the
2016 presidential election. The bill would, as a response to the alleged election fraud committed by president
Daniel Ortega
José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (; born 11 November 1945) is a Nicaraguans, Nicaraguan revolutionary and politician serving as President of Nicaragua since 2007. Previously he was leader of Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, first as coordinator of the ...
during the
2016 election, prevent Nicaragua from taking additional loans until they are willing to "
ake
Ake (or Aké in Spanish orthography) is an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It's located in the municipality of Tixkokob, in the Mexican state of Yucatán; 40 km (25 mi) east of Mérida, Yucatán.
The name ...
effective steps to hold free, fair and transparent elections." The bill was reintroduced to the House of Representatives again during a new session in 2017.
The Nicaraguan government and every single political party (including those who originally voiced concern over the election) opposed this bill, with Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario Murillo calling it a “reactionary and interventionist" action that would “undermine the right of Nicaragua to continue developing the socialist model.”. All
ALBA
''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scottish people, Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed i ...
member states are opposed to the bill. An international group of prominent trade unionists have also voiced their opposition to the bill by signing a solidarity statement in support of the Government of Nicaragua:
On December 20, 2018, U.S. President
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
signed the NICA Act into law after it was unanimously approved by Congress. This enactment comes eight months after the beginning of the
2018–2021 Nicaraguan protests.
School of the Americas and Fr. Roy Bourgeois
In 1987, United States Senator
Bob Dole
Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his te ...
visited Managua and criticized President Daniel Ortega for two of Nicaragua's political prisoners. Ortega offered to free the two political prisoners, who were opposition lawyers, in exchange for the freedom of the founder of
School of the Americas Watch School of the Americas Watch is an advocacy organization founded by former Maryknoll Father Roy Bourgeois and a small group of supporters in 1990 to protest the training of mainly Latin American military officers, by the United States Department of ...
,
Roy Bourgeois
Roy Bourgeois (born January 27, 1938 in Lutcher, Louisiana) is an American activist, a laicized Roman Catholic priest, and the founder of the human rights group School of the Americas Watch (SOA Watch). He is the 1994 recipient of the Gandhi Pe ...
.
In 2012, Nicaragua ended relations with the
School of the Americas
The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), formerly known as the School of the Americas, is a United States Department of Defense school located at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia, renamed in the 2001 National Defens ...
, refusing to send any more trainees to the institute. In a news release, it stated that the School of the Americas has victimized Nicaragua (likely referring to the
Contras
The Contras were the various U.S.-backed and funded right-wing rebel groups that were active from 1979 to 1990 in opposition to the Marxist Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction Government in Nicaragua, which came to power in 1979 fol ...
, who were trained at the institute).
See also
*
Foreign relations of Nicaragua
Nicaragua pursues an independent foreign policy. A participant of the Central American Security Commission (CSC), Nicaragua also has taken a leading role in pressing for regional demilitarization and peaceful settlement of disputes within states in ...
*
Foreign relations of the United States
The United States has formal diplomatic relations with most nations. This includes all UN member and observer states other than Bhutan, Iran, North Korea and Syria, and the UN observer State of Palestine, the last of which the U.S. does not rec ...
*
Embassy of Nicaragua, Washington, D.C.
The Embassy of Nicaragua in Washington, D.C. is the Republic of Nicaragua's diplomatic mission to the United States. It's located at 1627 New Hampshire Avenue, Northwest, Washington, D.C., in the Dupont Circle neighborhood.
The embassy also opera ...
*
Embassy of the United States, Managua
The mission of the United States Embassy in Nicaragua is to advance the interests of the United States, and to serve and protect U.S. citizens in Nicaragua.
The embassy is located at Kilometer 5 1/2 (5.5) Carretera Sur, in Managua, Nicaragua.
Enr ...
*
Ambassadors of the United States to Nicaragua
The following is a list of Ambassadors of the United States, United States ambassadors, or other chiefs of mission, to Nicaragua. The title given by the United States State Department to this position is currently ''Ambassador Extraordinary and ...
*
Latin America–United States relations
Historically speaking, bilateral relations between the various countries of atin Americaand the United States of America have been multifaceted and complex, at times defined by strong regional cooperation and at others filled with economic and ...
*
U.S. support for the Contras
References
Further reading
* Baker, George W. "The Wilson Administration and Nicaragua, 1913–1921." ''The Americas'' 22.4 (1966): 339-376 https://doi.org/10.2307/979017
online* Bemis, Samuel Flagg. ''The Latin American Policy of the United States.'' (1943) passim and p. 465
online* Bermann, Karl. ''Under the big stick: Nicaragua and the United States since 1848'' (Boston: South End Press, 1986)
* Booth, John A., Christine J. Wade, and Thomas Walker, eds. ''Understanding Central America: Global Forces, Rebellion, and Change'' (Westview Press, 2014)
* Colburn, Forrest D. ''Post-Revolutionary Nicaragua'' (University of California Press, 2020).
* Feinberg, Richard E. ''Nicaragua: Revolution and restoration'' (Foreign Policy at Brookings, 2018
online
* Hager Jr, Robert P., and Robert S. Snyder. "The United States and Nicaragua: understanding the breakdown in relations." ''Journal of Cold War Studies'' 17.2 (2015): 3-35.
* Harrison, Benjamin T. "Woodrow Wilson and Nicaragua." ''Caribbean Quarterly'' 51.1 (2005): 25-36
online* Hoekstra, Quint. "Helping the contras: The effectiveness of US support for foreign rebels during the Nicaraguan Contra War (1979–1990)." ''Studies in Conflict & Terrorism'' 44.6 (2021): 521-541.
* Lee, David Johnson. ''The Ends of Modernization: Nicaragua and the United States in the Cold War Era'' (Cornell UP, 2021).
* Kagan, Robert. ''A Twilight Struggle: American Power and Nicaragua, 1977-1990'' (1996).
* Munro, Dana G. "Dollar Diplomacy in Nicaragua, 1909-1913." ''Hispanic American Historical Review'' 38.2 (1958): 209-234
online* Neumann, Pamela. "The More Things Change: Continuities in US Foreign Policy toward Nicaragua under the Trump Administration." in ''The Future of US Empire in the Americas'' (Routledge, 2020) pp. 106–127.
* Pastor, Robert A. ''Not Condemned to Repetition: The United States and Nicaragua'' (Routledge, 2018).
* Roberts, Kenneth. “Bullying and Bargaining: The United States, Nicaragua, and Conflict Resolution in Central America.” ''International Security'' 15#2, (1990), pp. 67–102
online* Travis, Philip W. ''Reagan's war on terrorism in Nicaragua: The outlaw state'' (Lexington Books, 2016).
* Walker, Thomas W., et al. ''Reagan versus the Sandinistas: The undeclared war on Nicaragua'' (Routledge, 2019).
Historiography
* Bell, Aaron T. ed. ''Gale Researcher Guide for: The Central American Crisis'' (Gale, Cengage Learning, 2018).
External links
The Sanctuary Movementfrom th
Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicaragua-United States relations
Nicaragua–United States relations,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
Bilateral relations of the United States