SANDINISTA TREATMENT OF JEWS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85M00363R001102530003-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 13, 2007
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: July 13, 1983
• Content Type: MEMO

Approved For Release 2007/09/13: CIA-RDP85M00363R001102530003-1
LUNFIDENTIAL
13 July 1983
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: Sandinista Treatment of Jews
1. Nicaragua's small Jewish community was persecuted after
the triumph of the Sandinista revolution, but Probably not
because of its religion. US Embassy
discussed the issue with numerous contofiale
actslacr' who eapothe spectrum, report that most believe Jews were notssingledloutcfor
special retribution because of their religion. While the
Embassy is currently attempting to generate more specific
information by meeting with some of the few remaining Jewish
residents, our preliminary conclusion is
primarily victims of Sandinista efforts " to the Jews were
sector and punish those who supported Smmo weaken the private
~-p -.
2. The Sandinistas' close ties to the PLO during the
revolution and resentment of Israeli arms
probably contributed to suspicion of the Jewish c to
unity also
Sandinista leaders. They do noL, however, necesssaricomml unty by
. t
anti-Semitism. The Sandinistas continued nominal pl mimpic ties
Israel until August 1982, when they were broken tonrotestes
the invasion of Lebanon. Sandinista
virulently anti-Israeli since then, Propaganda has been
can there be found statements bL~ only in rare instances
which can be characterized as antihSemiticnmen, r lled press
3. The Sandinistas admit to wide ranging confiscations
although they maintain that many Jews had fled the country before
they took power, leading to the forfeiture of
Subsequently, a few other Jews lost their their property.
decrees that prohibited abandonment under
recent bandonment or decapitalizati?n.
p- ress article quotes Jewish exiles as A
business links to Somoza, but some of them didehavecthesenties
and were penalized for them.
?.4. The Sandinista sponsored humaned r
maintains that the synagogue was abando 19ats the Jewish
copulation declined during the civil war. In mid-July 1979,
Approved For Release 2007/09/13: CIA-RDP85M00363R001102530003-1
 Approved For Release 2007/09/13: CIA-RDP85M00363R001102530003-1
several homeless families began to use the building for shelter,
and it currently is a youth center. The government' has justified
confiscation of the synagogue on narrow legal grounds, claiming
it was not legally registered as a house of worship. The
synagogue was included when the property of Abraham
Gorn--president of the Jewish community-was sized for
decapitalization in September 1980. 25X1
5. The Sandinistas have stated that Jews are free to come
.to Nicaragua and have no cause to fear persecution.
Nevertheless, the Nicaraguan goverment is unlikely to go out of
its way to.welcome back Jewish exiles. While the government's
human rights commission has extended its good offices if a croup
of Jews were interested in finding a location for a new
synagogue, Sandinista officials have resisted talks with Jewish
exiles, and we believe that the regime would not return most of
their property. 25X1
2
CONFIDENTIAL
Approved For Release 2007/09/13: CIA-RDP85M00363R001102530003-1