War and Revolution in Nicaragua

Abstract

The impact of the war of aggression waged by the United States government against Nicaragua has been enormous. Between 1980 and 1986 counter-revolutionary activity has caused destruction of property and losses in production amounting to $5 96 million-that is, 15 per cent of the total material product of those years. The sectors most seriously affected were agriculture, forestry and construction, which bore 82 per cent of the total losses. In the same period, the aggression claimed over 17,500 victims. The actions of the American government included the direct and indirect financing of counter-revolutionary groups, providing them with military and logistical materials, training their troops and officers, mining ports etc; in addition requests to multilateral agencies for development finance have been blocked and a commercial embargo declared, among other measures. The total direct impact of the war on the Nicaraguan economy has been estimated at almost $1,000 million; the equivalent of three years of export earnings.