Ortega Decries U.S. Policy of ‘State Terrorism’ in Nicaragua

Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega today accused the United States of “state terrorism” and said the state of emergency in his country will be suspended once the United States stops its “policy of aggression.”

“Nicaragua shall never kneel before the policy of state terrorism being practiced by U.S. rulers,” the 39-year-old leader said during a speech before the U.N. General Assembly.

He said President Reagan should announce that the United States will cease “its policy of aggression” and is willing to normalize relations with Nicaragua when he speaks before the United Nations on Thursday.

“We on our part will suspend the state of emergency we have been forced to impose due to the aggressions, as of the very moment when the aggressions effectively cease,” he said.

Nicaragua last week imposed new restrictions on freedom of speech, travel and assembly, the right to strike and protection of privacy in the home and the mails. The Reagan Administration described them as “a further step toward imposing a totalitarian regime.”

Although Ortega severely criticized U.S. policies in his speech, he said “Nicaragua is no enemy of the United States. . . . Nothing in our revolutionary project is incompatible with normal and friendly relations with the United States.”