Sandinista government awards outgoing US ambassador Nicaragua’s highest honor

(US Government photo)

September 23^rd, 2015 (ICR News) Nicaragua’s Sandinista government honored outgoing US ambassador, Phyllis M. Powers with its highest award of honor on Tuesday, the first American to ever receive the award from the administration of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), in a move that demonstrates how much the relationship between the two countries has changed since the Sandinistas swept to power after the country’s 1979 revolution.

Nicaragua’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Santos awarded Powers the Order of José de Marcoleta Grand Cross, the country’s highest distinction.

Santos praised Powers’ respect for “the sovereign right of self-determination of the Nicaraguan people.”

Santos also praised the United States’ lifting of restrictions last month that formerly required the Nicaraguan government to seek an annual waiver to receive access to international credit and bilateral assistance, after Nicaragua resolved the remainder of property claims by US citizens related to property seized during the revolution that dated back to the 1980’s.

Santos also cited US cooperation on health issues, natural disasters, and the fight against drug trafficking.

Before her mission in Nicaragua, Powers was previously assigned as Ambassador to Panama.

Prior to Panama, Ms. Powers was Director of the Office of Provincial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq.  From 2005 until June 2007, she was Deputy Chief of Mission of the U. S. Embassy in Lima, Peru and before that she was posted in Colombia as the Director of the Narcotics Affairs Section responsible for the Counter-Narcotics program known as Plan Colombia.

Some information from this report comes from AFP.