Nicaragua urges U.S. to pay "historical debt"

Jun 28, 2023 - 19:49

U.S. President Joe Biden addresses the nation on the budget deal that lifts the federal debt limit and averts a U.S. government default from the Oval Office in the White House, Washington D.C., June 2, 2023. /CFP

UNITED NATIONS, June 27 (Xinhua) --

The United States has the legal obligation to pay a historical debt to Nicaragua as per an international court ruling over 30 years ago, Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Denis Moncada said here Tuesday.

Moncada on Tuesday handed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres a letter signed by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, requesting the UN chief circulate a document about Nicaragua's position on the U.S. obligation to the UN General Assembly.

The document, seen by Xinhua, says that "there is a historical debt to the Nicaraguan people that 37 years later has not been settled by the United States."

It stresses that Nicaragua has not waived "the payment of the debt" or "the right to receive its compensation."

According to the document, the International Court of Justice issued a judgment on June 27, 1986, ordering the United States to indemnify Nicaragua for all the damages caused by the U.S. military and paramilitary activities against Nicaragua.

"The United States has a legal obligation under this sentence to indemnify, pay the damages that they committed against the peoples, the state and the government of Nicaragua," Moncada told Xinhua in an interview at the UN headquarters.

"The sentence is still in place," he said. "It's binding, and it's obligatory, and should be complied."

The court judgment found that the United States had violated obligations under international law not to intervene in the affairs of another state, not to use force against another state, not to infringe the sovereignty of another state, and not to interrupt peaceful maritime commerce.

Back then, the United States refused to participate in the proceedings, vetoed the UN Security Council resolution and voted against the General Assembly resolution urgently calling for full and immediate compliance with the judgment.

Nowadays, the United States is pursuing a "rule-based international order, which is an exercise of double standards continuously practiced by Washington to manipulate (other countries) for its interests," Moncada said.

He said that the United States and some of its allies want to impose their own rules without compliance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations.

Moncada said the United States has double standards on human rights and lacks respect for other states' sovereignty.

The international community should be united in solidarity to defend the Charter of the United Nations, address hegemonism and other acts and build a just world with shared common interests, said Moncada.