Roy Gutman, “America’s
Diplomatic Charade,”
Foreign Policy 56, Fall 1984, pp.
3-23
The basic argument of this article is that the American diplomacy disaster with Nicaragua was as much or more America’s fault as well as Nicaragua’s. American policy makers and diplomats created numerous blunders that resulted in a failure to create any sort of diplomacy with Nicaraguan leaders.
During the Reagan administration, the American leaders in charge of diplomacy with Nicaragua failed to communicate clearly and effectively with their Nicaraguan counterparts, as well as, publicly lie and deceive about the discussions and actions of Nicaragua. The proposals offered to the Nicaraguans as solutions were often unofficial, worded poorly, and included unreasonable demands. American policy makers didn’t seem to have a clear goal or clear strategy. This caused leaders to contradict themselves by using secretive and military measures to force the Nicaraguan government to fold, whilst others were trying to solve the conflict peacefully. Another problem that caused confusion was the number of people involved in the conflict from both America and Nicaragua. And, despite refusing proposals, the Nicaraguans did show a willingness to work towards a solution.
Because the Nicaraguan government was not stable at the time the State Department took control of initiating all discussions and proposals. Most of the contracts offered to the Nicaraguans usually included unreasonable requests and demands, sometimes asking for destruction or exportation of goods without compensation. The negotiators often sent poorly prepared and written documents, some of which contained contradictions within them. Sometimes the documents were incomplete and unofficial causing doubts among the Nicaraguans as to the legitimacy of the proposals. At times the American diplomats would offer a proposal just to take it back hurriedly and call it void. When negotiations did not end in success each party would blame the other for causing the stalemate. At times, even Reagan himself spoke lying propaganda to the American public about Nicaraguan activities and sentiments trying to sway support for his new theory for success. Officials from both parties blew conflicts out of proportions and assumed the worst about activities of the other party. The U.S. lied about what the Nicaraguans had and had not agreed to in order to try and force them into accepting the false terms.
None of the Americans involved with the conflict could seem to come up with unifying, clear, and precise goals for the diplomacy with Nicaragua. Several issues came up during the discussions, but often changed from one meeting to the next. Some of the issues considered most important were buildup of weapons and troops, security, foreign advisors, democratic elections, individual rights, eliminate Marxist sects, foreign subversion, and outside military support. Diplomats never had a clear objective on how to solve the conflict. Along with an absence of defined goals, there was no unifying strategy on how to attain the goals that were wanted. This lead to a department or person contradicting a different department’s or person’s words and actions. When some diplomats were trying to come to terms peacefully, the government would try and use military force. More and more soldiers and equipment was sent to the neighboring regions. These forces would mobilize and run maneuvers, even attack and overthrow neighboring countries, causing fear and hesitation among the Nicaraguan government. The military pressured kept escalating and Nicaraguan ports were mined. Also, the U.S. government would approve of clandestine military and intelligence measures to bully the Nicaraguans, which contradicted what the diplomats were trying to propose. The American government secretly aided rebels and insurgents of the Nicaraguan government. The U.S. also led a “disinformation campaign” to attempt to force outside parties to intervene and support our cause. It was difficult for the Nicaraguans to trust the U.S. fully.
One of the most frustrating problems with settling diplomacy with Nicaragua was the number of people involved in the dispute. Too many people, in both parties, had the ability to influence the situation. Numerous times, one meeting would show signs of progression only to have a member from the other party say or do something to damage the repoire gained in that meeting. Often times, there would be meetings and it seemed like a solution may be near only to have the U.S. government make some sort of military pressure or scare on the Nicaraguans. Also, people from both parties would have meetings when they were not fully authorized to do so, causing an incident that would slow down progression and sometimes cause regression towards a solution.