NICARAGUA VS. U.S.: THE UNPAID DEBT
MANAGUA, Aug 9 (NNN-Prensa Latina) -- The United States, one of the world's biggest economic powers, has not yet paid 17 billion dollars for material and human damage to the world's second poorest country in the western hemisphere: Nicaragua.The latest Home Survey published by the International Foundation for Economic and Global Challenge (FIDEG) showed that overall poverty still affects 42.7 percent of Nicaraguans and 7.6 percent of them live in extreme poverty.According to FIDEG Research Director Enrique Alaniz, 2012 was the fourth consecutive year when poverty decreased steadily in Nicaragua, as acknowledged by the United Nations as one of the achievements of the socio-productive program implemented by the administration of President Daniel Ortega.No money could compensate for the suffering of families due to aggressions financed and supported by Washington in the 1980s, but paying the debt by concept of compensation would help fight poverty.More than 38,000 people were killed during the so-called dirty war, and the destruction of bridges, power towers, ports, dams, health centers, schools and farms is evidence of economic damage, as stated by the Nicaraguan Government at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).Based on law, the sentence pronounced by the ICJ on June 27, 1986, is not open to appeal, but the White House has not complied with its obligations.This is the only case in history where the highest court in the world condemned "and certified" that the United States had committed serious violations against Nicaragua and that it must compensate for them, said Dr. Carlos Agüello, Nicaragua's ambassador before the ICJ, in statements to reporters.The legal prerogative to demand due compensation is still in force, said the diplomat, in reference to what happened in 1991, when the administration of President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro decided to relinquish the claim.In a recent interview published by Russia Today, President Ortega confirmed that the lawsuit is still alive and we do not relinquish it, "so, every time that the United States speaks about having helped Nicaragua, I tell them that they are paying part of the debt they have," he stressed.What they call assistance, he added, "is nothing but a payment, they are giving little, acknowledging little, they are not supporting, nor are they giving away, neither are they donating anything, they are just paying a small part of the huge debt."According to Ortega, the case could perfectly be reopened, it would be a moral, political and legally legitimate battle, which would lead to "unmask the United States as what it is, a power that decides to use law when it favors its interests, but it is not respectful of international law."