Copyright by Gregory Krauss 2007 - The University of Texas at Austin

The Reagan administration also began a campaign to publicize human rights
abuses by the Nicaraguan government. 31 The campaign was successful in raising
public concerns even though government human rights abuses were much worse in
neighboring countries such as Guatemala and El Salvador than they were in
Nicaragua. 32 Although Lister was actively trying to generate negative publicity for the
Nicaraguan government, he still insisted that the U.S. treat Nicaraguan human rights
abuses objectively. In August 1984, the White House requested that the human rights
bureau write a special paper on human rights violations in Nicaragua. 33 Lister wrote
to Abrams to urge that the paper include “at least a couple of passing references” to
the Nicaraguan government’s education and health initiatives and the “lousy record”
of Somoza. 34 “An honest, objective evaluation of GRN performance will be far more
effective than heavy-handed propaganda, and no Government’s record is all bad,”
Lister wrote. 35 The person slated to draft the paper, Ken Peoples, wrote back to Lister
that he agreed with Lister’s suggestions. 36
Altogether, in both the Carter and Reagan administrations, Lister nudged U.S.
policy on Nicaragua slightly, though his impact was marginal. Under Carter, he
established the first links between the Sandinista Foreign Minister and the State
Department. These links, however, did not form the basis of any lasting working
relationship between the U.S. and the Sandinistas. Under Reagan, Lister may have
kept the administration more honest about its allegations of human rights abuses by
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