Waging Peace:  Nicaragua

Go to: Monitoring Elections | Friends of the Inter-American Democratic Charter | Resolving Property Disputes | Offering Humanitarian Support | Urging a Moratorium on Arms Sales

Monitoring Elections

A decade of war and economic disintegration created deep divisions in the 1980s among Nicaraguans who supported the Sandinistas and those who supported their opposition. The Sandinista government's failed socialist policies had more than quadrupled the country's foreign debt and failed to lift Nicaraguans out of poverty. As the 1990 presidential election grew close, the international community was leery of another Sandinista win, and tensions within Nicaragua increased. In turn, the government and electoral authorities welcomed international election observers, including The Carter Center, to help ensure an election that represented the will of the people.

1990 Presidential Election
Opposition candidate Violeta Barrios de Chamorro emerged as the president-elect after a campaign in which she and President Daniel Ortega were tied in opinion polls. The Center found the election to be fair and open, and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter brokered an agreement for a transition of power.
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Election Reports

View Carter Center election reports for Nicaragua >

Friends of the Inter-American Democratic Charter

A five-person delegation of members and advisers to the Friends of the Inter-American Democratic Charter visited Nicaragua during the presidential and legislative elections on Nov. 6, 2011. The delegation sought to understand the perspectives of various social and political actors, including those contending for elected positions, about the electoral process and postelectoral scenarios for Nicaragua.  The delegation did not serve as election observers nor seek credentials under Nicaragua's Election Accompaniment Regulation to access voting sites and therefore did not evaluate the voting process itself.

The group released a statement about the elections on Nov. 9, 2011, acknowledging the strong electoral support given to President Ortega but expressing concern of the reports of significant deficiencies in the electoral process and the implications for democratic governance. Read the November 2011 Elections in Nicaragua Study Mission Report (PDF) (En Español). Read full text >

Resolving Property Disputes

In the mid-1990s, the Carter Center's Americas Program staff traveled to Nicaragua to analyze the land and property rights disputes and explore resolutions to them. With the U. N. Development Program, the Americas Program sponsored a forum in Nicaragua on property issues, co-chaired by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former Belize Prime Minister George Price. Participants, including national political officials, former property owners, current occupants, and foreign ambassadors, reached consensus on a few key reforms. At President Carter's recommendation, a follow-up commission met to explore carrying out these and other reforms and made recommendations to the National Assembly, which subsequently passed a property law reflecting the spirit of the conference.

Offering Humanitarian Support

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, visited Managua in November 1998 to call international attention to the suffering and humanitarian need caused by Hurricane Mitch. Following a flight over Nicaragua's disaster zone, President Carter told reporters he predicted the recovery would be lengthy and urged lenders to forgive the country's foreign debts and those of neighboring Honduras.

Urging a Moratorium on Arms Sales

Although Latin America spends relatively less on defense than most other regions, expenditures on expensive weapons systems divert scarce foreign exchange from more effective investments, including education. They also compel neighbors to spend more on defense and, by doing so, generate international tensions. Concerned about an arms race in Latin America, the Carter Center's Council of Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Americas urged governments in the region to pause before embarking on major arms purchases. Between April 1997 and March 1998, 28 current heads of government and 14 former heads of government signed a written pledge to accept a moratorium of two years on purchasing sophisticated weapons. Among the signatories was Nicaragua President Arnoldo Aleman.