UN General Assembly
1987

The goal of United States policy towards Nicaragua is simple. It is the goal of the Nicaraguan people and the freedom fighters as well: it is democracy - real free, pluralistic, constitutional democracy. Understand this: we will not, and the world community will not, accept phoney "democratisation" designed to mask the perpetuation of dictatorship. In this 200th year of our own Constitution, we know that real democracy depends on the safeguards of an institutional structure that prevents a concentration of power. It is that which makes rights secure. The temporary relaxation of controls - which can later be tightened - is not democratisation. Again, to the Sandinistas, I say: we continue to hope that Nicaragua will become part of the genuine democratic transformation that we have seen throughout Central America in this decade. We applaud the principles embodied in the Guatemala agreement, which links the security of the Central American democracies to democratic reform in Nicaragua. Now is the time for you to shut down the military machine that threatens your neighbours and assaults your own people. You must end your stranglehold on internal political activity. You must hold free and fair national elections. The media must be truly free - not censored or '