Nicaragua National Security
Members of the Sandinista People's Army, Nicaragua's
national army
FREE ELECTIONS IN NICARAGUA in 1990 ended eleven years
of
government by the Marxist Sandinista National Liberation
Front
(Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional--FSLN), but
under the
new government, the Sandinista People's Army (Ejército
Popular
Sandinista--EPS) is still controlled by the FSLN. The
commanding
general of the EPS, Humberto Ortega Saavedra, and his
general
staff function independently of civilian authority,
although
President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro is nominally
commander in
chief and minister of defense.
Under the
Sandinista (see Glossary)
administration, the EPS
had grown from a force of a few thousand guerrillas to an
army
that at its peak had a strength of 97,000 troops,
augmented by
militia and reserve forces, bringing the number of total
activeduty personnel to 134,000. Since the restoration of peace,
the
armed forces have undergone comprehensive reform. Their
strength
was cut back to 15,200 in 1993, the militia has been
disbanded,
and obligatory military service has been terminated. Armor
and
heavy weapons supplied by the Soviet Union and its allies
had
enabled the Sandinistas to field the most powerful army in
Central America. Although some of these items have been
sold,
Soviet weaponry still predominates in the inventory of the
depleted army. However, much of it is not in service
because of
lack of maintenance, money, and personnel to operate it.
The conclusion of the civil war in 1990 was accompanied
by
the demobilization of some 22,000
Contra (see Glossary)
fighters
of the Nicaraguan Resistance. Nevertheless, violence in
the
heavily armed society remains commonplace. The Chamorro
government has failed to make good on its promises of land
and
credits to the former Contras to facilitate their
reintegration
into Nicaraguan society. Several thousand of them--known
as
Recontras--have formed armed bands in rural areas. Their
targets
are often local Sandinista officials and Sandinista farm
cooperatives. Disgruntled veterans of the EPS, known as
Recompas,
have formed similar groups in protest against the
government's
failure to relieve their economic distress.
Government amnesties offered during 1993 have reduced
the
number of Recontras and Recompas threatening the
countryside.
Political murders and kidnappings remain serious threats
in the
polarized society, however, although the level of violence
has
eased somewhat since the years immediately after the civil
war.
The National Police and the criminal justice system are
not
effective in arresting and convicting persons responsible
for the
lawlessness. Harassment of former resistance members by
local
security forces is a source of friction, but few such
crimes by
the EPS or police result in any punishment. Under pressure
from
domestic and international critics, Chamorro has removed a
number
of high police officials to reduce Sandinista control over
law
enforcement, has replaced many Sandinista judges in the
judicial
system, and has sought to gain control over the state
security
apparatus, which had been the principal source of human
rights
abuse during the Sandinista era.
Data as of December 1993
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