U.S. Involvement in Nicaragua

A detailed Summary of U.S. Involvement in Nicaragua

Not very many Americans know the truth that lies beneath the U.S.' involvement in Nicaragua. Most would be surprised to find out that U.S. armed forces and politicians violated U.S. laws and deliberately sabotaged Nicaragua's stable government by paying the dictator's henchmen to kill Nicaraguan citizens. The United States is considered one of the major superpower nations in this world. It is highly influential to other countries and often takes responsibility to intervene with other another country's problems-especially when it deals with the spreading of communism. When Nicaragua's dictatorship was overthrown by the popular Sandinistas, a communist regime was successfully put in place. The U.S. immediately feared that Nicaragua's surrounding countries would eventually become communist due to the Domino Theory. The negative impact of becoming further engaged in the Nicaraguan politics was destructive to both the U.S. and Nicaragua. These actions destabilized the Nicaraguan economy, encouraged civil violence, and motivated members of the American government to violate certain laws to continue their aid to the guerillas.

To fully comprehend the negative impacts of U.S. intervention in Nicaragua, one must be somewhat famil

When the Sandinistas overthrew the Somoza regime in 1979, they became the government of Nicaragua. The "rebels" then were the ex-Guardsmen (men from Somoza's military), who were now running the contra-rebellion. "Aid to the Contra's had been prohibited by [U.S.] Congress" (History). However, members of the Reagan Administration and the CIA devised a scheme providing illegal funding "under the table." The plan was to sell shipments of arms to Iran via Israel. The money paid was diverted to the Contra's resistance force and was overseen by Lt. Colonel Oliver North. The transaction first took place in 1985. (Jewish) The men indicted were: Secretary of Defense, Casper Weinberger; Head of the Sate Department's Latin American Bureau, Elliot Abrams; Reagan's National Security Advisor, Robert C. McFarlane, among many others. (Men) The U.S.' obsession with anti-Communist groups brought a handful of its leaders to break congressional laws to provide financial assistance to a group that had previously been engaged in a series of war crimes. They ignored the fact that the group of men they supported were ones that killed and abused Nicaraguan citizens during the Somoza dictatorship. The only excuse that they were able to use to uphold their actions in assisting the Contras was that they were in the process of destroying the Communist-backed Sandinista government.

The U.S. participation during Nicaragua's time of crisis caused its economy to become unstable, bolstered the civil war, and inspired criminal activities by high level politicians and officials in the U.S. Nicaragua's economy was at an all time high before the U.S. became immersed in it. As more aid was provided to the people, Nicaragua became more dependent upon the U.S. for financial support. This caused further problems when the U.S. decided to sanction Nicaragua. The people had expected the U.S. to stop the brutality when they entered the situation. Unfortunately, the U.S. chose not to do anything and merely observed the circumstances. If the U.S. had let the Nicaraguans deal with their problems their own way, more lives would've been saved. The U.S. feared that if communism were successful in Nicaragua, it would soon diffuse to the surrounding nations. When Congress halted the aid to the Contras, many government officials illegally earned money to send to them. "The Nicaraguans are fully aware of the role the United States has played in Nicaragua and that the resentment against the American government is very deep." Although U.S. politicians were capable of covering up the truth to the American public, the people mos

Some common words found in the essay are:
Communist-backed Sandinista, Somoza Debayle, Somoza's Guardsmen, Nicaragua Nicaraguan, , Somoza Garcia, Third World, Domino Theory, McFarlane US', Latin Americans, nicaragua's economy, sandinista government, nicaraguan citizens, anastasio somoza, civil war, american government, aid somoza, sandinistas communist, somoza dictatorship, military aid,

Approximate Word count = 1762
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History