United States embargo against Nicaragua

The United States embargo against Nicaragua was an embargo that prohibited all trade between the U.S. and Nicaragua. It was declared by then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan on May 1, 1985. Although the embargo was a very visible measure against Nicaragua, it did not have nearly as devastating an impact as did similar measures of the embargo against Cuba in the early 1960s. The embargo was renewed in November 1989 and ultimately lifted in March 1990.

Embargo

Ronald Reagan, on the day he declared the embargo, stated: "I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, find that the policies and actions of the Government of Nicaragua constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States and hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat."cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=US Policy: Economic Embargo: The War Goes On | date= | publisher= | url =http://www.envio.org.ni/articulo/2695 | work =Revista Envío | pages = | accessdate = 2007-12-25 | language = ] Reagan made four demands during his embargo announcement. The first demand was to "halt its export of armed insurrection, terrorism, and subversion in neighboring countries.", to end its military ties to Cuba and the Soviet Union, to cease its "massive arms buildup", and to adhere, in law and practice, to democratic principles and "observance of full political and human rights."cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Embargo Politics | date= | publisher= | url =http://multinationalmonitor.org/hyper/issues/1989/12/editorial.html | work =The Multinational Monitor | pages = | accessdate = 2007-12-25 | language = ]

The embargo declared by Reagan stripped Aeronica, a Nicaraguan airline, the right to land on U.S. soil. Reagan also a longstanding Treaty of Friendship, the Commerce and Navigation between the U.S., which states: "neither party shall impose restrictions or prohibitions on the importation of any product of the other party, or on the exportation of any product to the territories of the other party." The embargo banned all Nicaraguan ships from landing in any U.S. port. The Nicaraguan government denounced the embargo as a violation of international law by stating the the U.S. had breached the treaty and other charters.

Embargo extension

The embargo was extended for six months by George H. W. Bush on November 1, 1989. He later lifted the embargo after five months on March 1990. [cite book |author=Holiday, David; Arnson, Cynthia |title=Fitful Peace: Human Rights and Reconciliation in Nicaragua Under the Chamorro Government (An Americas Watch Report) |publisher=Human Rights Watch |location=New York |year= |pages=51-54 |isbn=1-56432-034-0]

ee also

*Nicaragua v. United States
*Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN)
*Contras

References