have.’ 153 Thus he refused to bolster Somoza with U.S. military aid in order for the Nicaraguan people to be able to influence change in the country by opposing their leaders, something the U.S. had been trying to push for in the region. Moreover, in light of uprisings against his rule, Somoza had instigated a series of oppressive measures including censorship of press, and imprisoning and torturing anyone who opposed him. 154 This, combined with the attempts to allow democracy to take hold in Nicaragua, meant the Carter administration refused to get involved militarily. Although they initially supplied aid and advice to Somoza in the hope he would resign peacefully, they eventually cut off all ties with him and allowed the pro-American dictator to become overthrown by the anti-American Sandinista’s. While members of congress heavily criticized this move, it shows Carter’s commitment to human rights in countries whose citizens were oppressed by pro-American governments. Carter continued his approach to human rights by using a different approach towards the Soviet Union. It involved confronting them directly on the international stage. The administration saw dissidents, émigrés, and political prisoners as an important focus. 155 By concentrating on individuals, the Carter administration was putting faces to large-scale 153 Jimmy Carter, Public Papers of The Presidents of the United States: Jimmy Carter, 1979, Book II – June 23 To December 31, 1979 (United States Government Printing Office: Washington, 1980), p.1308. 154 Betty Glad, Outsider in the White House: Jimmy Carter, His Advisors, and the Making of American Foreign Policy (Cornell University Press: Ithaca, 2009), p.243. 155 Mary E. Stukey, Jimmy Carter, Human Rights, and the National Agenda (Texas A&M University Press, 2008), p.121.
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