How the US secret combinations bought the election of 1990 in Nicaragua

Originally published 11/7/06:

It is instructive to see what sort of financial interference the US has done in the past in Nicaragua, specifically in the 1990 elections after a decade of US funding and arming of the terrorist group named the Contras, had led to their terrorizing of the nation of Nicaragua, bombing schools, hospitals and anything else they wanted to with Carter/Reagan support.  As you see below, we spent massively to get Ortega out of office, interfering hugely in the democratic process, and then when Ortega lost, hailed the election as a model of democracy.  This makes me wonder how much the Bush Administration spent in failing to defeat Ortega in Sunday’s vote down there then.  Check out these numbers from 1990 from:

http://www.brianwillson.com/awolnicelection.html

CIA Funds

$13.0 Million — 1984-1987 for covert political spending inside Nicaragua. Source: Edgar Chomorro, Institute for Media Analysis, Oct. 25, 1989 statement, “High Intensity Political Intervention Replaces Low Intensity Conflict,” citing Donald Gregg’s now unclassified testimony to Iran-Contra investigators revealing that during Boland Amendment prohibitions, Congressional Intelligence Committees, nonetheless, secretly approved $13 million for such purposes.

$10-12 Million — 1987-88 for a covert “political” account designated for Nicaragua opposition activity. Source: Chomorro, Oct. 25, 1989 statement (See above); and Holly Sklar, “Washington Wants To buy Nicaragua’s Elections Again,” Z Magazine, Dec. 1989.

$5.0 Million — 1989 for Nicaragua opposition’s “housekeeping costs.” Source: Newsweek, Sept. 25 and Oct. 9, ’89.

Total CIA Funds: $28-30 Million

NED Funds

$100,000 — 1984 to PRODEMCA for La Prensa. La Prensa, a right-wing, pro-Contra daily newspaper, served as the Contras’ mouthpiece throughout the U.S.-waged war against the Sandinista government. PRODEMCA was established by the NED in 1984 to primarily coordinate an anti-Sandinista campaign in the U.S. PRODEMCA is an acronym for “Citizens’ Committee for the Democratic Forces in Central America.” Source: The Central American Fact Book, Barry & Preusch, Grove Press, 1986.

$200, 000 — 1984 to PRODEMCA for Nicaraguan Center for Democratic Studies. The Nicaraguan Center was created by the Nicaragua Democratic Coordinating Committee (Coordindrea or CDN), the reactionary coalition that boycotted the 1984 Nicaragua elections under pressure from the U.S. in efforts to delegitimize the election results. The Center trains Nicaraguans “in the skills needed to sustain an independent democratic presence in Nicaraguan life.” Source: The Central American Fact Book (see above).

$50,000 — 1987-88 to US Information Agency (USIA) to finance speakers to address Nicaraguan groups. Source: San Francisco Chronicle, Oct. 5, 1988.

$1.0 Million — 1987-88 for trade unions, political parties and other anti-Sandinista efforts. Included was $170,000 for La Prensa. Source: San Francisco Chronicle, Oct. 5, 1988.

$20 Million — 1988-89 for the internal opposition in Nicaragua. Source: San Francisco Chronicle, Oct. 5, I988.

$3.5 Million — 1989-90 for NED and/or UNO (National Opposition Union) directly for opposition activity in elections. Many sources citing Congressional appropriations.

$9.0 Million — 1989-90 for NED and/or UNO for opposition activity in elections. Many sources citing Congressional appropriations.

Total NED Funds: $15,850,000

The following may or may not have been included in the above NED figures:

$220,000 — 1988 from Congress to NED, in turn through Delphi International (Washington, D.C.) to fund La Prensa. Delphi took over NED La Prensa grants in 1986. Delphi also administers NED grants for Nicaraguan broadcast media. Source: Edgar Chomorro, Institute for media Analysis, Oct. 25, 1989, statement, “High Intensity Political Intervention Replaces Low Intensity Conflict.”

$397,000 — 1988 from Congress to NED, in turn through Free Trade Union Institute (FTUI) to the AFL-CIO to aid non-Sandinista unions. FTUI was established in 1977 by the AFL/CIO to combat perceived left wing trade unions. Source: Chomorro, as above.

$290, 000 — 1988 from Congress to NED, in turn through the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) for various indoctrination efforts. NDI is the U.S. Democratic Party’s mechanism for receiving NED funds. Source: Chomorro, as above.

$174,000 — 1988 from Congress to NED, in turn through the National Republican Institute for International Affairs (NRI) for various indoctrination efforts. NRI is the U.S. Republican Party’s mechanism for receiving NED funds. Source: Chomorro, as above.

$1.5 Million — Sept. 15, 1989, NED approved this amount for Nicaragua, separate from the $9 million which was scheduled to begin on October 1, 1989 . Source: New York Times, Sept. 29, 1989.

Total: $2,581,000

The NED Grand Total is in the range of $15,850,000 to $18,431,000.

The CIA plus NED Grand Total is in the range of $43,850,000 to $48,431,000! ($43.85 million to $48.43 million).

There were 3.5 million Nicaraguan residents in 1990. About 1.75 million registered to vote. The infusion of unspeakable amounts of money, in Nicaraguan peasant terms, for the 1990 election, revealed the following in per capita terms:

A range of $12.53 to 13.84 for each of Nicaragua’s 3.5 million citizens. A range of $25.06 to $27.68 for each of Nicaragua’s 1.75 million registered voters.

Again, a comparison with a U.S. equivalent is instructive to indicate how staggering these figures really are! The ClA plus NED grand total range for Nicaragua has the following U.S. equivalents (the U.S. has 71 times the population of Nicaragua):

$3,113,350,000 to $3,438,601,000 ($3.1 billion to $3.4 billion)

In other words, if the U.S. law would allow funds from other governments to finance U.S. elections (which it definitely does not), a country like the Soviet Union, for example, would have contributed $3.1 billion to $3.4 billion to either the Republicans or Democrats, or a third party, in an attempt to purchase an election whose party winners would reflect the interests of the Soviet Union. I wonder how many citizens, whether in the U.S. or elsewhere, upon reflection, would accept the prudence of such policy. Nicaraguan’s election laws were changed in 1989 to allow contributions from outside Nicaragua. This policy change was motivated primarily to preempt further U.S. accusations of unfairness in the Nicaraguan election campaign, hoping to remove all possible justifications for continuation of hostile U.S. intervention. It was thought that the U.S. could not cry foul if it had such opportunity to try to buy the election. The U.S. undoubtedly would not have accepted the legitimacy of Nicaragua’s election results anyway, if the Sandinistas had won. The U.S. was determined to overthrow the Sandinista Nicaraguan government at all costs.

It is of further interest to briefly examine part of the UNO budget as it was earlier presented to Congress:

$600,000 — for 20,000 poll watchers

$140,000 — for invitations to international observers

$50,000 — for UNO “leaders” to travel abroad

$1.25 Million — for salaries and benefits to UNO “leaders”, including over $335,000 for paid vacations

$1.35 Million — for purchase of Toyota jeeps, pickup trucks and buses, and Yamaha motorcycles. (Interestingly, U.S. taxpayers were purchasing Japanese vehicles because the U.S. trade embargo prevented import of U.S. automobiles. One U.S. Congressperson remarked that the opposition could rent 2250 Japanese vehicles a month at $20/day.)

Total of Miscellaneous for UNO: $3,390,000

[Source: Los Angeles Times, Oct. 17, 1989; and Edgar Chomorro statement, Oct. 25, 1989 (see above).]

Edgar Chomorro, a non-Sandinista Nicaraguan, believed that the decision of the Nicaraguan government to allow U.S. or other foreign monies into the election process was a serious mistake. He articulated four clear points:

1. It seriously distorts the integrity of the process.
2. It tends to corrupt individuals and institutions.
3. It creates dependency upon foreign power centers.
4. It is an essential violation of the principle of national sovereignty.