WASHINGTON -- March 15 -- The Nicaragua Network, a network of local grassroots groups headquartered in Washington, DC, is calling on activists around the country to urge their Senators to oppose the confirmation of John Negroponte as the nation's first national Intelligence Director. Career diplomat John Negroponte has been nominated by President Bush to be National Intelligence Director and the Senate Intelligence Committee has now scheduled his confirmation hearings for Tuesday, April 12, 2005, at 10:00am. If approved, Negroponte would have authority over 15 intelligence agencies and be the President's chief advisor on intelligence.

Katherine Hoyt, National Coordinator of the Nicaragua Network said, "Negroponte's record on human rights and respect for international law makes him uniquely unqualified for this important post."

She went on to cite some of Negroponte's history:

• Negroponte was political officer at the US Embassy in Vietnam from
  1964-1968, the height of the war, during a period of extrajudicial executions and gross human rights abuses, including massacres by the infamous "Tiger Force" of the Army's 101st Airborne Division.
  
• Negroponte was ambassador to Honduras from 1981-1985 during which
  he oversaw a ten-fold increase in staff and an embassy that housed one of the largest CIA deployments in all of Latin America. He lied to Congress about his knowledge of the infamous Battalion 316 death squad, and managed illegal aid to the Contras fighting the Nicaraguan government in direct contravention of Congress' ban. He supervised the creation of the El Aguacate air base, where the US trained the Contras. The base was used as a secret detention and torture center where, in August 2001, excavations at the base discovered the first of the corpses of the 185 people, including two Americans, who are thought to have been killed and buried there.
  
• Negroponte was ambassador to Mexico from 1989 to 1993, where he
  shepherded the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to its conclusion. NAFTA has caused one million Mexican farmers to lose their land and livelihoods and undermined labor and environmental protections in Mexico, the US, and Canada.
  
• Negroponte served as US ambassador to the United Nations from
  September 2001 until May of 2004. He is guilty of lying to the UN about justifications for the war in Iraq. He successfully pressured Mexico and Chile to fire their UN ambassadors after they clashed with him over the war.
  
• During Negroponte's tenure as U.S. ambassador to Iraq, a proposal
  was put forth to set up U.S. funded Central American-style death squads as a way to quell the insurgents fighting to end U.S. occupation. Negroponte's denial that he has been involved in discussions of the so-called "Salvador option" is not believable. Those forces may be gearing up for action as this is being written!
  

Hoyt emphasized that "Negroponte's lack of democratic credentials and his record of support for, or turning a blind eye to, gross violations of human rights and international law delayed his nomination for UN ambassador in 2001." "But the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a quick approval vote on Sept. 12, 2001," she noted, "rushing him through during the chaos following the tragedy of the day before." His appointment as ambassador to Iraq aroused opposition only from human rights activists, among them the Nicaragua Network, she said.

Hoyt added, "We must not allow the Senate to sweep his terrible record under the rug a third time. Call in shows are discussing the Negroponte nomination. Call in and offer your opinion! Write letters to the editor of your local paper! The fact that hearings on the nomination will not be held until April 12 gives us time to mobilize!" Hoyt said that the Nicaragua Network is telling activists that if one of their Senators is on the Intelligence Committee (see list below), they should call and demand a thorough hearing and rejection of Negroponte's nomination. They should set up a meeting with their Senators when they are at home over the Holy Week/Easter recess or call their Senators' offices. The Capitol switchboard is (202) 224-3121." "Then," she said, "if neither of their Senators is on the committee, we are asking people to call both Senators anyway and tell them to demand that Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KA) and Ranking Member Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) conduct a thorough hearing and reject the worst man for the job."

Senate Intelligence Committee

Republicans

Pat Roberts, Kansas, Chairman
Orrin G. Hatch, Utah
Mike Dewine, Ohio
Christopher S. Bond, Missouri
Trent Lott, Mississippi
Olympia J. Snowe, Maine
Chuck Hagel, Nebraska
Saxby Chambliss, Georgia

Democrats

John D. Rockefeller IV, West Virginia, Vice Chairman
Carl Levin, Michigan
Dianne Feinstein, California
Ron Wyden, Oregon
Evan Bayh, Indiana
Barbara A. Mikulski, Maryland
Jon S. Corzine, New Jersey

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