Press Releases

Statement made by State Department's Acting Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs, Rose M. Likins.

24 February 2005

I would like to thank all the Nicaraguan officials with whom I met during this visit for the opportunity to discuss with them issues of great importance to both our nations.

We are very pleased to have received from the government, the Nicaraguan military and representatives of the political class reiterations of their commitment to continue with the destruction and safeguarding of the Man-Portable Air Defense Systems, or MANPADS located here in Nicaragua. This issue is one of long-standing concern and one in which the United States has been productively engaging with the Nicaraguan government and army resulting in the destruction of a partial stock of SAM-7s this past year.

The U.S. government is working worldwide to face this global threat. It is a fact that air defense missiles are the weapons of choice for terrorists. To date, about 10,000 missiles have been destroyed in a worldwide coordinated effort to eradicate this threat to humanity. As a responsible member of the international community, Nicaragua should continue to consider commercial aviation security and the implications that these unguarded missiles have for the security as well as the economic opportunities of this country.

Nicaragua is the only nation in Central America that still has these types of portable missiles within its borders. Missiles that are not officially monitored and controlled could easily fall into the hands of criminal or terrorist elements. Our concern is that these types of unaccounted for weapons pose a major threat to the region and to civil aviation worldwide.

President Enrique Bolaños reassured me of his firm commitment given to President Bush and former Secretary of State Colin Powell in 2003 that Nicaragua would destroy its MANPADS in order to reduce the chance that they might fall into the hands of criminals and terrorists.