Nicaragua

Black Lists developed by the United States of America

The information which follows result from a preliminary inquiry into the events that led to the arrest, kidnapping, internment in the United States, and deportation of Nicaraguans of German heritage during World War II. This page is under construction and will be updated as additional facts are forthcoming from the researchers who are presently looking into this matter.

"Today I did some spot checking, and it seems that it is common knowledge here [Nicaragua] that persons of German Ancestry or persons with German last names, their property was confiscated, and the owners jailed, deported (without any due process), and jailed in the USA. (Everything is nicely catalogued). Their property ended up in the hands of the Nicaraguan dictator Somoza-Garcia. At that time, Nicaragua was in very bad condition economically, the European Coffee Market had disappeared, and there were regular plagues of locusts.

But something on a more substantive note, I checked the legislative records [Nicaraguan] for 1941 and most of 1942--and found the following:

What I call the legal starting point (because it was being promoted by the US Government since 1940) is a document called "The Convention on Provisional Administration of Colonies and European Possessions in America" (act of ratification) entering into law here by being published in the official daily La Gaceta, No. 1, January 7, 1942. It was the result of the Second Consultative Meeting in Havana, Cuba on 30 July 1940. It was signed by 25 countries of Latin America and the US. It established something called the "Interamerican Territorial Administration Commission." The ratified document was deposited in the archives of the Pan-American Union in Washington, DC. Providing for the administration of European Colonies and Possessions in this hemisphere, this law provided the framework, a guide, regarding a pattern of conduct or mindset for the rest of the laws mentioned below.

The second example consists of three decrees:

1. Decree No. 70, Gaceta No. 275, December 18, 1941, which froze all funds of companies and individuals who were of Japanese, German or Italian origin or descent who, and I quote, "ARE FOUND ON THE LIST PROCLAIMED BY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA."

2. Decree No. 71, Gaceta No. 275, December 18, 1941, which prohibited international commerce with Japan, Germany and Italy or with their nationals.

3. Decree No. 72, Gaceta No. 275, December 18, 1941, which provides "THAT COMPANIES OR INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE FOUND ON THE LIST PROCLAIMED BY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" will deliver their harvests to the National Bank of Nicaragua, their assets and property are frozen and will be administered by the State, and the persons affected can not be involved in exporting.

Which brings us to the last and most all-encompassing law which:

"COMPLEMENTS AND REGULATES" the three above-mentioned decrees and is found at Gaceta No. 38, February 20, 1942: which basically took everything away from Germans and Italians in Nicaragua, and placed their nationality or migratory status in a state of limbo, and exposed them basically to what is known as civil death. They would be arrested, jailed, and then without any due process, equal protection, or any other known right emanating from the Magna Carta or the Bill of Rights, or the Fundamental Freedoms of Man, deported by being turned over to the US Military who transported them to the US to imprisonment, to become hostages for prisoner exchanges.

And, on 9 December 1941, most all of the Constitutional Guarantees were suspended due to the attack on Pearl Harbor and stayed suspended until the end of the War.

All of these legislative (Nicaragua was ruled by a dictator put in place by the US Government many years before) actions took place in the 73 day period from December 9, 1941 to February 20, 1942.

So far, this legislative activity appears to have been a massive charade because Nicaragua was not threatened by any Wartime Activity except that coming from the USA which resulted in all of the above. There are many, many people here who remember the whole show, what happened et cetera. So, I am in the process of finding them. Let me know of anything else that may help me in the matter, and I'll do likewise.

To be continued and modified as the information is developed.

ADJ
September 10, 1998