Statement on Aid to the
Nicaraguan Democratic Resistance
May 24, 1988
months have passed since the Congress limited U.S. assistance to the
Nicaraguan democratic resistance to food, shelter, clothing, and medicine. The
Congress stopped U.S. military assistance to
the resistance while the Soviet bloc continued its military assistance to the
Communist Sandinista regime in Nicaragua. Some thought that U.S. forbearance would bring
democracy and peace to Nicaragua through negotiations
between the resistance and the Sandinista regime, but it has not.
as I leave on the first leg of my trip to Moscow, the resistance and the
Sandinistas are scheduled to meet again. The Sandinistas will again have the
opportunity to carry out the promises they have made -- beginning a decade ago
with promises to the Organization of American States -- of establishment of
freedom and democracy in Nicaragua. We do not need more
pieces of paper bearing empty Sandinista promises and Sandinista signatures. We
need deeds, not more words.
the 60-day truce established under the Sapoa
agreement signed March 23, the Sandinistas have continued, and indeed
intensified, their repression of the Nicaraguan people. They have not carried
out their commitments under the Guatemala accord of August
or under the Sapoa agreement. The Sandinistas have
gone so far as to make it impossible to arrange through neutral parties to
deliver food and medicine to resistance members inside Nicaragua.
men and women of the Agency for International Development who have worked long
and hard to ensure that the members of the resistance have the basic
necessities of life deserve the thanks of our nation. The work of AID keeps the
chance for democracy alive in Nicaragua.
United States continues to support
those fighting for freedom and democracy in Nicaragua. The freedom fighters
of the Nicaraguan democratic resistance deserve the continued support of the United States.
the current stalemate in the peace process persists and the Sandinistas
continue their policies of repression, then we will call upon the Congress to
reconsider its February 3 decision to curtail assistance to the Nicaraguan