Washington, Somoza, and the Sandinistas : State and regime in U.S. policy toward Nicaragua, 1969-1981

This study of US policy toward Nicaragua during the Nixon, Ford, and Carter presidencies reveals the fundamental importance Washington places on preserving state institutions in Latin America while adopting a much more flexible approach regarding support for elected regimes or dictatorial rulers. The Carter White House decision to dump a longstanding ally, Somoza, and support a regime change was triggered by the appearance of a mass-based social movement led by radical nationalist guerrillas posing a challenge to both the dictatorial regime and, more importantly, the state structure that underpinned it. This study is based on the extensive use of personal interviews and declassified US government documents. Among its distinctive features as compared with earlier studies is the emphasis on the pivotal role Washington played in contributing to the long-term survival of the Somoza dictatorship. It is the first detailed study, based on original research, of Nixon and Ford policy toward Nicaragua. "This study makes extensive use of personal interviews and recently declassified U.S. government documents to cast fresh light on various aspects of American policy toward Nicaragua during the period from dictatorial to revolutionary rule. It concludes with a provocative argument rejecting the notion that there was a dramatic policy shift in the transition from Carter to Reagan." "This is the first book to place U.S. policy during the Somoza crisis in a compelling and rigorous analytical framework." "American policy toward the crisis of the Somoza dictatorship in Nicaragua centered on the goal of securing a change of regime that ensured the continuity of the existing state institutions, especially the National Guard. The Carter administration's willingness to dump Somoza after decades of U.S. support for the family dynasty was triggered by the appearance of a mass-based social movement led by radical nationalist guerrillas posing a challenge to both the regime and the state. Determined to prevent a Sandinista-dominated victory over the dictatorship, the White House actively supported those sectors of the opposition movement perceived as most supportive of U.S. interests in Nicaragua and prepared to coexist with the Somoza state." "The failure to broker the desired outcome did not weaken the centrality of the state-regime distinction in American policy deliberations on Nicaragua. Rather, it testified to the fact that Washington is not omnipotent - it cannot assume that what it "wills" it can "realize". In the absence of a viable alternative, the Carter administration adopted a policy of conditional accommodation with the new Sandinista-dominated regime and state, and began formulating strategies - political, economic, covert - to promote a political base within the regime that could eventually challenge the state."--BOOK JACKET The practice of contemporary U.S. policy toward Latin America is shaped by three broad-based concerns: support for open economies and development strategies that accord private foreign banking and investment capital a key role; support for regimes prepared to align themselves with efforts to contain, and even roll back, the forces of national and social revolution; and a determination to safeguard America's strategic and "national security" interests in conformity with regional and global goals.