Friday, December 5, 2008

Ortega to U.S.: Give us reparations

Tensions and violence mounted in Nicaragua due to the controversy over recent electoral results. The sticky situation caught the attention of the U.S. and the White House has tried to put pressure on President Daniel Ortega. In the most recent gesture, U.S. officials threatened to withhold $64 million in aid.

In response to the possible freezing of aid, Ortega has called on the U.S. to pay reparations owed to Nicaragua for over two decades:
The International Court of Justice, based in The Hague, ordered the United States in 1986 to pay reparations to Nicaragua for training, arming and financing Contra rebels and mining Nicaraguan ports during a conflict that killed tens of thousands of people.

"The United States has not honored the judge's order," Ortega said on national television.

The World Court never set a figure for compensation but Sandinistas said Washington owed the country $17 billion. Washington at the time rejected the court's jurisdiction.
So far there has reportedly been no official response from the White House.

Image- Canada.com
Sources-
The Latin Americanist, AFP, Reuters

4 comments:

Miguel said...

tough picture you chose, Erwin.

Erwin C. said...

Honest query - how so?

Miguel said...

i was just being facetious... those close ups of Ortega can be brutal.

Erwin C. said...

No prob. I had a hunch you weren't being too serious.

Physically he hasn't aged too well. Seeing recent photos of him compared to his early days in power remind me of the hoopla year ago over the "new vs. "old" Elvis stamps.

Then again, who cares what he looks like as long as he's a competent leader. (I'll leave that point for debate).